Doctoral Support

Doctoral Support Center (DSC) Administrative Assistant

The Mission of the Doctoral Support Center administrative assistant is as follows:

• To provide central administrative services to assist prospective and currently enrolled doctoral students
• To promote the timely completion of doctoral degrees through active oversight of the doctoral process
• To provide students and faculty with accurate and timely information regarding the Ed.D./Ed.S. program
• To encourage the fair and equitable treatment of all Ed.D./Ed.S. students as they complete their doctoral journey

Doctoral Support Center (DSC) Assistant Director

The Doctoral Support Center assistant director provides assistance to doctoral committees as they guide doctoral candidates throughout the dissertation process. From the initial conceptualization of a research project to the final review of a completed dissertation manuscript, the DSC is prepared to provide support. The DSC staff are versed in APA Style, research design, the UWF Ed.D. Structural Guidelines for Proposals and Dissertations, and the 12-Step Dissertation Submission Process. The DSC staff are not editors and do not provide extensive changes to students’ manuscripts; rather, they provide direct guidance regarding proper writing standards and alignment with institutional policies. It is students responsibility to ensure manuscripts meet all UWF and APA Guidelines for rigor and quality during the review process. 

Roles and Responsibilities

It is important to note that dissertation committee members are responsible for directly supporting their respective doctoral candidates, while the DSC is directly responsible for supporting dissertation committee members. Therefore, it is highly recommended that doctoral candidates submit their manuscripts at the ‘pre-proposal’ and ‘proposal’ stages of development, in great part because a post-defense review of dissertation manuscripts by the DSC is required prior to receiving college approval for it to successfully advance to the UWF Graduate School.

DSC Supports Include

Manuscript Review

• Ensure students submit all documents required by the 12-Step Process when submitting their manuscripts for review.
• Run iThenticate, Reciteworks, and Grammarly reports on submitted manuscripts to determine whether manuscripts are free of plagiarism and are of publishable quality to qualify for a comprehensive review.
• Complete and send an Appendix E and Review (short) Form to the respective unit head (i.e., C&I or IDT) related to each manuscript that contains plagiarism and/or is not of publishable quality, and thus is not ready for a comprehensive review.
• Perform a comprehensive review of students’ manuscripts to ensure compliance with APA guidelines, UWF Dissertation Template, Rubrics, and Structural Guidelines.
• Review methodological research questions, designs and analyses to identify issues or misalignment.
• Review all manuscripts and all accompanying documents (review forms, rubrics, checklists, etc.) in a timely period (typically within 10 business days).

Workshops and Other Support Services

• Plan and conduct workshops related to research design, scholarly writing, referencing sources, plagiarism, DSC review process, etc.
• Assist in organizing workshops sponsored by departments or organizations (e.g., create and present workshop materials).
• Respond promptly to all email and/or phone inquiries about the DSC process and its review feedback.
• Meet with faculty and/or students about the DSC process and/or review feedback (note that the DSC meetings with students for the purposes of research planning and/or reviewing manuscript feedback are done so with the support of the respective committee chairperson. Therefore, the DSC cannot meet students without their committee member(s) present).