A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF GRADUATE AND ADVISOR PERCEPTIONS OF SELECTED COMPONENTS IN THE UNIFIED, NON-TRADITIONAL DOCTORAL PROGRAM, TEACHERS COLLEGE, THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN

The purpose of this study was to identify relationships that might have existed between certain perceptions held by graduates concerning various aspects of the new doctoral program and views or attitudes maintained by faculty advisors concerning these same elements. Four major components of the present doctoral program in Teachers College served as the focus of the major elements examined in this study which were: (1) academic program, (2) residency, (3) dissertation, and (4) advisee-advisor relationships. In addition, biographical data were obtained and profiles of graduates were constructed. A review of literature pertaining to (1) the historical development of the doctoral programs in the United States in general, (2) the development of the Doctor of Education degree program in the University of Nebraska Teachers College, and (3) the four components of the study was conducted. The data were collected from graduates of the revised doctoral program through questionnaires and from the selected faculty through interviews. Major findings of this study follow: (1) Graduates and faculty both agree that the humanistic qualities of an advisor are more important than mechanical writing abilities or past accomplishments. The advisement process was generally rated in very positive terms by both graduates and faculty. (2) Both the graduate and faculty groups felt the residency requirement was a very important part of the doctoral program. The graduate who had part of the doctoral program. The graduate who had spent a year, or more, of residency on campus reported moderate to extreme financial hardship during the residency period. Advisors and graduates who had spent their residency on campus both felt the on campus resident graduate was exposed to experiences that could not be obtained by the off campus resident graduate. (3) Both graduates and faculty have very positive feelings about the development and value of the dissertation. It was found that graduates who pursued the doctorate as a means of changing career goals were more inclined to feel positive about the dissertation than those who received the degree and returned to the same employment pattern. (4) Both graduates and faculty felt the academic program for the off campus resident student was not of less quality than the academic program for the student who spent a year of residency on campus. Graduates who had spent a year, or more, in residence on campus were more prone to name materialistic motivators, when asked to name the reasons they had sought the doctorate, than the graduates who had completed their residency through credit hour accumulation within a given time period. As a result of the findings of this study, the following conclusions seem warranted: (1) How a graduate perceives selected components of the doctoral program is closely correlated to the type of advisor the graduate had during the program. (2) The perceptions of a graduate about selected components of the doctoral program may be influenced, in part, by the method of assignment of an advisor. (3) The absence of a clearly defined process of advisor assignment amplified the feelings of the graduates who were assigned advisors without regard to the preference they had when they entered the doctoral program. (4) The number of doctoral students in residence on campus will be diminished in the future unless means of financing the residency are made available to the student which will off-set the inflationary trends now present