In Academic Year 2022–23, NLU launched the Doctoral Norming Initiative, a university-wide effort to strengthen coherence and consistency across its doctoral portfolio. At the time, NLU offered nine doctoral programs across three colleges and its Chicago and Florida campuses. Differences in program structures, academic practices, faculty expectations, and administrative processes had resulted in inconsistencies across the University.

The Doctoral Norming charter identified areas requiring greater alignment:

• Dissertation expectations and processes: research requirements, dissertation deliverables, defenses, and submission practices.
• Faculty roles and compensation: workload expectations, committee structures, and compensation models.
• Student progress and administration: documentation and tracking, completion timelines, and policy application.
• Curriculum and program structures: methodology coursework, registration, course structures, and financial aid practices.
• Faculty preparation and support: standardized training, guidance, and resources for dissertation committee service.

A collaborative, multi-year effort

Over multiple academic years, Doctoral Program Leaders worked with the Provost Office and Deans of colleges offering doctoral programs to identify opportunities for greater alignment. FP310 is an important outcome of this work. It establishes a common framework while allowing programs to maintain discipline-specific academic standards.

Faculty serving on dissertation committees make substantial contributions to doctoral education through mentoring, research guidance, manuscript review, and evaluation. Historically, the structure and administration of this work varied across programs. FP310 supports four institutional priorities:

• Equity: comparable dissertation committee responsibilities are treated consistently across programs.
• Clarity: faculty, students, and academic leaders understand roles, eligibility, and expectations.
• Consistency: appointments, workload assignments, compensation, and milestones follow common standards.
• Student success: defined responsibilities support timely feedback, continuity, and progress.

The policy strengthens dissertation supervision without eliminating appropriate distinctions among doctoral programs.

Committee structure and eligibility

Each dissertation committee must include at least three members: one Chair and two Committee Members. The Methodologist role may be fulfilled by the Chair or a Committee Member. Members must ordinarily hold a relevant doctoral degree and appropriate academic or professional expertise. Program leaders may establish additional criteria or approve exceptions, particularly for interdisciplinary or practice-based research.

Chairs must be affiliated with NLU. Eligible individuals outside NLU may serve as Committee Members. All appointments require approval by the program leader or designated administrator; faculty should not commit to service before approval.

Roles and responsibilities

• Chair: mentors the student, guides manuscript development and institutional requirements, coordinates the committee, facilitates defenses, and approves the final manuscript.
• Committee Members: review dissertation work, provide scholarly feedback, and participate in proposal and final defenses.
• Methodologist: advises on research design, methods, analysis, and interpretation while also serving as Chair or Member.

Committee service expectations

• Service ordinarily continues from appointment through the final defense.
• Faculty provide constructive feedback on drafts, typically within two weeks.
• Faculty coordinate with program leaders if circumstances affect their availability.
• Faculty should ordinarily chair no more than 15 active dissertation committees; exceptions require approval.

As part of Doctoral Norming, the Provost Office reviewed payment practices, dissertation completion timelines, peer practices, faculty compensation data, and workload expectations. Following review and consultation, the University announced a standardized compensation model in spring 2026.

The established compensation model

The University established a standard amount of $3,504 per dissertation committee, equivalent to three semester hours or 150 clock hours under its faculty labor benchmark. The model allocates compensation by role, pays stipends at successful proposal and final defenses, separates committee compensation from course enrollment, and aligns the rate with the University’s FLAC rate.

The standard model became effective July 1, 2026, for newly starting dissertations, with transition provisions for dissertations already in progress. The standardized compensation model is an established administrative decision and is not being reconsidered through the FP310 faculty governance process.

For additional rationale and implementation details, see the Standardizing Dissertation Committee Compensation page.

Stipend compensation

Stipends are tied to approved committee roles and successful dissertation milestones. Faculty serving two roles, such as Chair and Methodologist, receive compensation for both responsibilities.

Teaching workload credit

Under the proposed policy, eligible full-time faculty may elect teaching workload credit instead of stipend compensation, subject to approval and documentation. Faculty may not receive both workload credit and stipend or overload compensation for the same student. Once workload credit is selected, the faculty member cannot switch to stipend payment for that dissertation.

Compensation conditions

• Stipend payments are released upon successful completion of the applicable milestone.
• Committee changes require program approval; withdrawal compensation depends on circumstances and required approvals.
• Workload credit is limited to three academic years per student.
• Dissertation work must be documented through the University’s centralized tracking system.
• Dissertation committee service does not qualify for separate additional summer compensation or 1/6 or 1/12 summer contracts.

For faculty, FP310 clarifies eligibility, appointment, role expectations, feedback, workload, and compensation. For Doctoral Program Leaders, it establishes a framework for appointments, exceptions, oversight, and student progress. For students, it makes committee composition and mentoring expectations clearer. For the University, it improves equity, consistency, and documentation.

FP310 does not replace program-specific research standards or disciplinary expectations. It establishes shared expectations for the faculty work of guiding students through the dissertation process.