Congratulations! You have made great progress in your capstone and are now nearing the time to carry out your capstone project. Below are a variety of resources to facilitate your work at this stage.
If you are seeking a source for your data, you’ll find helpful information on the Office of Research and Doctoral Services’s website:
Give yourself ample time to analyze your data. Generally, this process takes a longer commitment than what you’d originally expect. Here are some resources on analyzing your data:
If you’re seeking guidance on your writing, consider one of Walden’s writing workshops, offered within the Office of Academic Support, where you’ll receive writing-related guidance from writing faculty that is catered toward your scholarly interests and the general timeline of your doctoral work.
Ideal Students
Doctoral students who have a working draft of the postproposal sections (e.g., results, discussion, conclusion, recommendations) of their dissertation, project, or doctoral study but find themselves needing writing guidance and support. (NOTE: Students must already have an approved proposal to be eligible for this workshop.)
Remember that, even though your proposal was approved by your committee, you may need to revise it if your data collection and analysis reveals something new or unexpected. Keep an open mind for that possibility, and stay flexible. Continue to revisit all the support services at Walden during this time so that your evolving study stays aligned and retains a logical narrative. Also, stay in touch with your committee throughout this time. It’s generally a good idea to hold regular meetings with your mentors as you collect and analyze your data so that they know how you’re doing.
Once you have written your proposal, it will be reviewed by a University Research Reviewer (URR) to ensure that your work meets university requirements. See below:
As you work on your capstone proposal, you should prepare yourself for the feedback you will receive on your writing. You will receive this feedback from your instructors, your committee members, your chair, and your University Research Reviewer (URR). You’ll also have a full Form and Style review of your capstone before you defend your final study. Consult the following resources for guidance on your scholarly writing:
Once you’ve received your form and style review, you will work with your committee to incorporate the feedback and get your capstone polished for Walden University-and APA-related compliance. Once you and your committee members are confident that the capstone is finalized, it is time to schedule the final defense. See below:
Looking ahead, this is a good time to think about submitting your graduation application, as it should be done at the term start in which you anticipate completing your capstone. The Student Success Advising website has the information you need to submit your graduation application.
Once the CAO has approved your capstone study, the Registrar’s Office will verify completion of your degree requirements, and you will then receive instructions for publishing your capstone study in ProQuest/UMI, as well as in Walden’s open access repository, ScholarWorks.
As you wrap things up, here are the final steps to follow:
You’ve made it! Remember – you should submit an application for graduation if you haven’t already done so, in order to notify the graduation team of your intent to graduate. Congratulations!
Degree conferral starts at the end of a term after final grades have been received for that term. The process can take about 2-4 weeks, after which you’ll be notified that your degree was conferred and that your diploma is being sent to you. It may take another 2-4 weeks for the diploma to reach you, depending on your location, once the degree has been conferred.