Student and Academic Advisor Guide

 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES STUDENT AND ACADEMIC ADVISOR GUIDE  
 
Dear Students and Academic Advisors,
In this guide created by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences you can find every steps and necessary information regarding all the procedures from graduate education registration to thesis/dissertation defense and finally graduation. 
We present detailed information on the procedures of masters or PhD programs incrementally. Besides, there is detailed information on thesis/dissertation writing as well as necessary documents to get summitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences. We hope this guide helps to students and academic advisors. Good luck for your studies.
  
 
   PHD PROGRAMS STUDENT GUIDE  

 

    Click here for visual guide of PhD program...   
 
 Accepted to a PhD program, what to do now?
Students registration. You should personally visit the Graduate School of Educational Sciences with the registration documents within the student registration period stated in academic calendar.
   
Student Affairs Information System (OBS) Activation. Click here to create student e-mail and password.
   
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) registration. Click here to create an ORCID.
   
Assignment of an academic advisor. You should fill the academic advisor choice and assignment form and submit it to the head of related department.
   
  Congratulations! Now you pass to course stage.
 PhD program courses, what to do now?



 		 Course registration. Students register to the related courses within the course registration period stated in academic calendar thorough Student Affairs Information System (OBS). The registration should be approved by the academic advisor. Students can take 30 ECTS in total each semester. Students can choose up to 50% of the courses (4 out of 8) which are taught by the academic advisor.
   



 		 Course attendance. Students should attend to at least 70% of the theoretical and 80% of the practical courses. Final grade of the related course should be at least CB. Students should present a seminar in order to be successful from the course of seminar. After the seminar presentation, the seminar evaluation form should be filled and submitted to the department secretary. 
   




 
Are you succeeded at least 8 courses and the seminar course, and your overall grade score is 3.00 or higher?
 Yes, congratulations! Now you are ready for PhD proficiency exam.
 No, have you completed 4 semesters (except scientific preparation)?  
 Yes, student drops out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 No, repeating the procedure starting from the step 1.
Critical warning: If the student’s average grade score is below 2.00 in the end of second or further semesters, student drops out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 PhD program proficiency semester, what to do now?


 		 PhD program proficiency course. In this semester, students should take the PhD proficiency course. The jury assignation form should be filled and submitted to the related department secretary at least 1 mouth before the official end of the semester.
   


 		 Assignment of the PhD proficiency exam jury. PhD proficiency exam committee is approved by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee. The date and the place of the exam are announced. The exam should be carried out within the determined time and at the determined place.
   



 		 PhD proficiency exam. PhD proficiency exam is carried out in two stages: verbal and written. If the student fails the written exam (75 and below), s/he cannot take the verbal exam. If the student doesn’t take the PhD proficiency exam though s/he meets the conditions, s/he is automatically counted as failed. In the end of PhD proficiency exam, PhD proficiency exam report is filled by dissertation advisor and submittedto the Graduate School of Educational by the related department in 3 days.
   







 		 Result of the PhD proficiency exam, 
 Succeed: Congratulations! Now you are ready for PhD dissertation. Once the Graduate School of Educational Sciences approves your exam result, dissertation monitoring committee should be listed and submitted to the related department in 1 mount.
 Failed: have you failed for the second time?
 Yes, student drops out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences. Second failure in proficiency exam or not taking the exam for twice though s/he meets the conditions, s/he is automatically counted as failed and dropped out of Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 No, repeating the procedure starting from the step 1.
 PhD dissertation, what to do now?







 		 Assigning dissertation monitoring committee. After the PhD proficiency exam, PhD dissertation monitoring committee list is filled by dissertation advisor and submitted to the Graduate School of Educational by the related department in 1 month. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee assigns 3 academics (1 of whom is the academic advisor) as the dissertation monitoring committee. One of the committee members should be in the same department and the other one should be in a different department. If there is a second academic advisor, s/he could attend to the dissertation monitoring committee meetings without right to vote.  Upon the decision of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee, academicians assigned from another university could attend to the dissertation monitoring committee meeting via video conference.
   
Dissertation proposal preparation course. Dissertation proposal preparation course should be taken. Dissertation proposal form is prepared with the approval of academic advisor.
   




 		 Appointment of dissertation proposal defense date. Before the semester ends, dissertation proposal defense date is determined. This should be done through dissertation proposal defense date form and submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences by the related department. A written report of the dissertation proposal is submitted to the dissertation monitoring committee by the student 15 days before the dissertation proposal defense date. Before the dissertation proposal defense, 3 copies of dissertation proposal defense report and dissertation proposal defense evaluation forms should be printed out for the committee.
   



 		 Dissertation proposal defense. Dissertation proposal defense takes place at the predetermined time and place. In the end of proposal defense, dissertation proposal defense report forms, dissertation proposal defense evaluation forms, dissertation proposal forms should be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences by the related department within three days. If the student doesn’t defense the dissertation proposal within 6 months without any excuse, s/he is automatically counted as failed and dissertation proposal is denied.
   










 		 Result of the dissertation proposal defense,
 Succeed: Congratulations! You successfully defensed your PhD dissertation proposal. Concurrentlyyou should get official permission ondata collection of your dissertation and you should attend to dissertation monitoring committee meetings. Once you get the ethics committee approval, you should submit it to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 Correction: 1 month is allowed for correction. The same procedure is applied starting from step 3.
 Failed: If the dissertation proposal defense is failed, student has wright to choose a new academic advisor and dissertation topic. In such situation, a new dissertation monitoring committee could be assigned. If the student chooses to continue with the same academic advisor, s/he should have a new dissertation proposal defense within 3 months. If there is change on the dissertation topic or academic advisor, the student should have a new dissertation proposal defense within 6 months. Second failure on dissertation proposal defense is automatically counted as failed and student drops out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
If there is to be change on academic advisor, academic advisor change form is filed and submitted to the Graduate School of Educational by the related department.
 How can I get official permissions for data collection of my dissertation?


 		 Application for ethics committee approval. You should apply to ethics committee for ethics committee approval. Once you get the ethics committee approval, you should submit it to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences for official approval of your dissertation proposal. Then the dissertation is approved by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee.
   

 		 Dissertation record to Higher Education Council (YÖK) National Theses Center. The dissertation is recorded to Higher Education Council (YÖK) National Theses Center with the ORCID number. A record number for the dissertation is created.
   

 		 Application to The Ministry of National Education (MEB) for data collection. If the data is to be collected from the education institutions, then you should apply for MEB permission. Before the application, you should have the ethics committee approval and Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee approval on your dissertation.
   
Application to Graduate School of Educational Sciences. Required official application forms and annexes should be submitted to Graduate School of Educational Sciences through to departmental
   
Data collection. You are to be informed once you have official permission of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences. You can collect your data from the related institutions or people.
 PhD dissertation monitoring committee meetings, what to do now?



 		 Conducting PhD dissertation monitoring committee meeting. PhD dissertation monitoring committee meetings are organized twice a year (one for the January- June term and one for July- December term) with the call of the academic advisor. There must be at least 3 dissertation monitoring committee meetings before defending the dissertation. Before every meeting, PhD dissertation monitoring committee meeting date form is filled and submitted to the secretary of related department.
   



 		 Before the PhD dissertation monitoring committee meeting. Dissertation mid-term evaluation form is prepared and submitted to the PhD dissertation monitoring committee members at least one month before the meeting date. Right before conducting the meeting, one dissertation monitoring committee meeting form and dissertation mid-term development report form for each committee member should be printed out.
   



 		 Conducting PhD dissertation monitoring committee meeting. Student presents detailed results of the studies carried out in that term. S/he also presents future study plan. After the meeting, dissertation monitoring committee meeting form and dissertation mid-term development report forms are submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences by the department. If these forms are not submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences till end of the term, the student is automatically counted as failed.
   






 		 Result of PhD dissertation monitoring committee meeting.
 Succeed: If there has been at least 3 successful PhD dissertation monitoring committee meetings, you are ready to defense your dissertation. You should write your dissertation according to Thesis/Dissertation Writing Guide and Thesis/Dissertation Writing Template of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences. If there have been less than 3 successful PhD dissertation monitoring committee meetings, you should repeat the procedure starting from step 1.
 Failed: You should repeat the procedure starting from step 1. However, if you fail twice in a row or three times at intervals you are automatically counted as failed and dropped out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 PhD dissertation defense, what to do now?







 		 Meeting the publishing requirements for PhD dissertation defense. Student must have at least 1 article published/accepted in one of the journals indexed in SCI, SSCI, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, ERIC, SCI-Expanded or other international indexes or ULAKBIM (Turkish Academic Network and Information Center) data base. Besides, student must have at least one proceeding (vermal or poster) presented in scientific meetings such as national/international congress or symposium. These publications should be after PhD program registration date, carried out by the student him/herself or with the academic advisor. The student should be the first or the second author of these publications. Publications produced from the Master thesis are not counted within this scope.
   












 		 After meeting the publishing requirements, the student sends email to ebetez@mu.edu.tr with the note “dissertation before defense” and the attaching the following documents:
  • Official document, stating that the dissertation is written according to the thesis/dissertation writing guide, filled by the academic advisor.
  • Committee assignment form
  • Proof of the publications in PDF form- article and indexing list of the journal; proceeding (participation certificate and related page(s) of the proceeding book)
  • Plagiarism report form
  • Plagiarism report (should be below 20%)
  • PDF form of the dissertation
At least one month before the defense date. There are 5 permanent members of the dissertation defense committee (3 dissertation monitoring committee members including the academic advisor, 2 from other higher education institutions) and 2 substitute members (1 from other higher education institutions).
   



 		 Appointment of dissertation defense date. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee appoints dissertation defense committee, date, and place of the dissertation defense. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee sends dissertation committee members PDF of the dissertation and plagiarism report via e-mail. Academic advisor informs departmental secretary about the dissertation defense at least 1 week earlier than the defense date. 
   











 		 Dissertation defense. Dissertation defense committee members communication form and dissertation evaluation form are to be filled by the dissertation defense committee members. These documents should be sent to The Graduate School of Educational Sciences via e-mail to ebetez@mu.edu.tr within 3 days following The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee appointment date by the student or academic advisor. Open to audience, dissertation defense meeting takes place at the predetermined date and place. After the defense, dissertation defense form, participation form, and dissertation defense evaluation form are submitted to the departmental secretary by the academic advisor. These documents should be submitted to the departmental secretary within 3 days. If the defense meeting is carried out online, then the documents should be submitted to the departmental secretary within 10 days. Before the defense meeting, the below documents should be printed out by the student:
⇒ Committee approval page (4 copies). Student can take it from thesis/dissertation writing template.  Student should keep these pages for later use in dissertation press.
⇒ Dissertation defense evaluation form (one for each dissertation defense committee member).
⇒ Dissertation defense form dissertation defense form and participation form.
   




 		 Result of the dissertation defense.
 Succeed/accepted: Congratulations! You successfully defended your PhD dissertation. You can go further to the next step.
 Correction: 6 months are allowed for correction. The same procedure is applied starting from step 2. If the student doesn’t attend to the defense meeting without an excuse, dissertation defense is accepted as failed.
 Failed: Student drops out of Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 Successful PhD Dissertation Defense, what to do now?




 
First check of the dissertation. Student must send e-mail to ebetez@mu.edu.tr attaching dissertation submission academic adviser check form filled and signed by the academic advisor and the PDF version of the dissertation. In the e-mail, student should include his/her name-surname, student number, Mobile phone number, headline of the dissertation, and department. The dissertation is checked whether written according to thesis/dissertation writing guide. Then the student is informed about the result of the first check via e-mail.
   
If the dissertation doesn’t pass the first check first step is repeated. If the dissertation passes the first check first, you can follow the next step.
   



















 
Submitting the dissertation to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences by the student. Necessary documents need to be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences in 1 month after dissertation defense. Once demanded, this period could be prolonged for a maximum 1 month by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee. Until this procedure is carried out by the student, s/he cannot get his/her diploma neither can benefit from student rights. In such situation, s/he is dropped out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences in the end of standard PhD period.
  • Those below should be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences as hard copy:
    • ⇒ Dissertation data entry form (get from Higher Education Council (YÖK) National Theses Center)
    • ⇒ 2 white-paperback dissertation press (1 for the Graduate School of Educational Sciences and the other for the academic advisor). Dissertation committee approval page and Ethical declaration pages should be in wet-ink signature.
    •  
  • ♦ Those below should be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences via e-mail to ebetez@mu.edu.tr
  • In the e-mail, student should include his/her name-surname, student number, Mobile phone number, headline of the dissertation, and department. The following documents should be attached.
  • ⇒ Dissertation as PDF (name of this PDF document should be the same with the dissertation data entry form reference number). Dissertation committee approval page and Ethical declaration pages should be without signatures.
  • ⇒ Abstract pages in Turkish and English in two different word documents.
   


 
Graduation. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committeecomes to a decision upon student’s graduation.Interim certificate of graduation could be provided. Once the student finishes the PhD program, he gets PhD diploma signed by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Director and the University Rector. Date of graduation is the date when the student submits the signed dissertation copy to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
   MASTERS WITH THESIS PROGRAMS STUDENT GUIDE  

 

    Click here for visual guide of masters with thesis programs...   
 
 Accepted to a masters with thesis program, what to do now?
Students registration. You should personally visit the Graduate School of Educational Sciences with the registration documents within the student registration period stated in academic calendar.
   
Student Affairs Information System (OBS) Activation. Click here to create student e-mail and password.
   
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) registration. Click here to create an ORCID.
   
Assignment of an academic advisor. You should fill the academic advisor choice and assignment form and submit it to the head of related department.
   
  Congratulations, now you pass to course stage.
 Masters with thesis program courses, what to do now?



 		 Course registration. Students register to the related courses within the course registration period stated in academic calendar thorough Student Affairs Information System (OBS). The registration should be approved by the academic advisor. Students can take 30 ECTSs in total each semester. Students can choose up to 50% of the courses (3 out of 7) which are taught by the academic advisor.
   



 		 Course attendance. Students should attend to 70% of the theoretical and 80% of the practical courses at least. Final grade of the related course should be CC at least. Students should present a seminar in order to be successful from the course of seminar. After the seminar presentation, the seminar evaluation form (2 copies) should be filled and submitted to the department secretary.
   



 
Are you succeeded at least 7 courses and the seminar course, and your overall grade score is 2.00 or higher?
 Yes, congratulations! Now you are ready for master’s thesis.
 No, have you completed 4 semesters (except scientific preparation)?   
 Yes, student drops out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences
 No, repeating the procedure starting from the step 1.
Critical warning: If the student’s average grade score is below 2.00 in the end of second or further semesters, student breaks off the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 Master’s thesis, what to do now?
Master’s thesis proposal. Master’s thesis proposal is prepared according to thesis/dissertation writing guide and approved by the academic advisor.
   


 		 Appointment of thesis proposal defense date. Thesis proposal defense date and place are determined by the academic advisor and student. Academic advisor informs Graduate School of Educational Sciences (ens-egt@mu.edu.tr) and departmental secretary for announcement about the thesis proposal defense 1 week earlier than the defense date. 
   
Thesis proposal meeting. Open to audience, theses proposal is presented at the predetermined time and place. Thesis proposal form and thesis proposal participants’ form are filled and submitted to the departmental secretary.
   

 		 Application to ethics committee approval. In order to get ethics committee approval for the thesis, student applies to ethics committee. Thesis proposal is approval after getting the ethics committee approval document. Then the thesis is approval by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee.
   
Thesis record to Higher Education Council (YÖK) National Theses Center. The thesis is recorded to Higher Education Council (YÖK) National Theses Center with the ORCID number. A record number for the dissertation is created.
   
Application to The Ministry of National Education (MEB) for data collection. If the data is to be collected from the education institutions, then you should apply for MEB permission. Before the application, you should have the ethics committee approval and Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee approval on your thesis.
   
Application to Graduate School of Educational Sciences. Required official application forms and annexes should be submitted to Graduate School of Educational Sciences through to departmental
   
Data collection. You are to be informed once you have official permission of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences. You can collect your data from the related institutions or people.
   
Writing the thesis. Thesis is written according to thesis/dissertation writing guide following the thesis/dissertation template.
 
  Congratulations, now you are ready for thesis defense.
 Master’s thesis defense, what to do now?
Submitting the thesis to the academic advisor. Academic advisor checks whether the thesis is written considering the thesis writing guide and makes decision whether the thesis is ready for defense. 
   





 		 Thesis defense committee members assignation form, plagiarism report (should be below 20%) and plagiarism report form should be submitted to the departmental secretary at least 1 month earlier than the thesis defense date. PDF of the thesis should also be sent to ebetez@mu.edu.tr. There are 3 permanent members of the master thesis defense committee (1from other higher education institutions) and 2 substitute members (1 from other higher education institutions). If there is a second academic advisor, and s/he would be in the committee with the right to vote, then there should be 5 permanent members of the master thesis defense committee.
   


 		 Appointment of thesis defense date. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee appoints thesis defense committee, date, and place of the thesis defense. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee sends thesis defense committee members PDF of the dissertation and plagiarism report via e-mail. Academic advisor informs departmental secretary about the thesis defense for announcement at least 1 week earlier than the defense date. 
   








 		 Thesis defense. Thesis defense committee members communication form and thesis evaluation form are to be filled by the thesis defense committee members. These documents should be sent to The Graduate School of Educational Sciences via e-mail to ebetez@mu.edu.tr within 3 days following The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee appointment date by the student or academic advisor.
Open to audience, dissertation defense meeting takes place at the predetermined date and place. After the defense, dissertation defense form, participation form, and dissertation defense evaluation form are submitted to the departmental secretary by the academic advisor. These documents should be submitted to the departmental secretary within 3 days. If the defense meeting is carried out online, then the documents should be submitted to the departmental secretary within 10 days. Before the defense meeting, the below documents should be printed out by the student:
♦ Committee approval page (4 copies). Student can take it from thesis/dissertation writing template.  Student should keep these pages for later use in dissertation press.
♦ Dissertation defense evaluation form (one for each dissertation defense committee member).
♦ Dissertation defense form dissertation defense form and participation form.
   




 		 Result of the dissertation defense.
  •  Succeed/accepted: Congratulations! You successfully defended your PhD dissertation. You can go further to the next step.
  •  Correction: 6 months are allowed for correction. The same procedure is applied starting from step 2. If the student doesn’t attend to the defense meeting without an excuse, dissertation defense is accepted as failed.
  •  Failed: Student breaks off the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 Successful Master’s Thesis Defense, what to do now?



 
First check of the thesis. Student must send e-mail to ebetez@mu.edu.tr attaching dissertation submission academic adviser check form filled and signed by the academic advisor and the PDF version of the thesis. In the e-mail, student should include his/her name-surname, student number, Mobile phone number, headline of the thesis, and department. The thesis is checked whether written according to thesis/dissertation writing guide. Then the student is informed about the result of the first check via e-mail.
   
If the thesis doesn’t pass the first check first step is repeated. If the dissertation passes the first check first, you can follow the next step.
   



















 
Submitting the thesis to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences by the student. Necessary documents need to be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences in 1 month after dissertation defense. Once demanded, this period could be prolonged for a maximum 1 month by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee. Until this procedure is carried out by the student, s/he cannot get his/her diploma neither can benefit from student rights. In such situation, s/he breaks off the Graduate School of Educational Sciences in the end of standard PhD period.
  • Those below should be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences as hard copy:
    • ⇒ Thesis data entry form (get from Higher Education Council (YÖK) National Theses Center)
    • ⇒ 2 white-paperback thesis press (1 for the Graduate School of Educational Sciences and the other for the academic advisor). Thesis committee approval page and Ethical declaration pages should be in wet-ink signature.
    •  
  • ♦ Those below should be submitted to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences via e-mail to ebetez@mu.edu.tr.
  •  In the e-mail, student should include his/her name-surname, student number, Mobile phone number, headline of the thesis, and department. The following documents should be attached.
    • ⇒ Thesis as PDF (name of this PDF document should be the same with the thesis data entry form reference number). Thesis committee approval page and Ethical declaration pages should be without signatures.
    • ⇒ Abstract pages in Turkish and English in two different word documents.
   




 
Graduation. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee comes to a decision upon student’s graduation. Interim certificate of graduation could be provided. Once the student finishes the Master’s program, he gets Master’s diploma signed by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Director and the University Rector.
Date of graduation is the date when the student submits the signed dissertation copy to the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
   MASTERS WITHOUT THESIS PROGRAMS STUDENT GUIDE  

 

    Click here for visual guide of masters without thesis programs...   
 
 Accepted to a masters without thesis program, what to do now?
Students registration. You should personally visit the Graduate School of Educational Sciences with the registration documents within the student registration period stated in academic calendar.
   
Student Affairs Information System (OBS) Activation. Click here to create student e-mail and password.
   
Assignment of an academic advisor. You should fill the academic advisor choice and assignment form and submit it to the head of related department.
   
  Congratulations, now you pass to course stage.
 Masters with thesis program courses, what to do now?



 		 Course registration. Students register to the related courses within the course registration period stated in academic calendar thorough Student Affairs Information System (OBS). The registration should be approved by the academic advisor. Students can take 30 ECTSs in total each semester. Students can choose up to 50% of the courses (3 out of 7) which are taught by the academic advisor.
   




 		 Course attendance. Students should attend to 70% of the theoretical and 80% of the practical courses at least. Final grade of the related course should be CC at least. Students should present a seminar in order to be successful from the course of seminar. If the student fails program project course, s/he takes a second exam in three months by the same committee. If s/he fails for the second time, s/he breaks of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
   








 
Are you succeeded at least 10 courses and the seminar course, and your overall grade score is 2.00 or higher?
 Yes, congratulations! Now you are ready for graduation. The Graduate School of Educational Sciences Administrative Committee comes to a decision upon student’s graduation. Interim certificate of graduation could be provided. Once the student finishes the Master’s without thesis program, he gets Master’s without thesis program diploma approved by the related department and signed by the Graduate School of Educational Sciences Director and the University Rector.
No, have you completed 3 semesters (except scientific preparation)?
 Yes, student drops out of the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.
 No, repeating the procedure starting from the step 1.
Critical warning: If the student’s average grade score is below 2.00 in the end of second or further semesters, student breaks off the Graduate School of Educational Sciences.