PhD Degree

Dissertation Completion and Defense

After completing the dissertation, it must be defended during a final oral examination attended by the student’s five-person committee. The committee chairperson should announce the time and place of the final oral examination, by memorandum to the entire department, at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled date of the examinations. The student is responsible for placing one copy of the final draft of the dissertation on file in the departmental office at least one week before the final oral examination. Any non-committee member who wishes to attend the final oral examination must inform the committee chairperson at least three days before the date of the defense. While not a formal degree requirement, it is expected that students will make a public presentation based on their research on or near the day of their defense.

Students will not be permitted to defend dissertations between Fall and Spring semesters, or during the summer, scheduled holiday periods or within semester breaks, except with the prior unanimous consent of faculty.

The committee chairperson is responsible for determining that the manuscript is in a form appropriate for evaluation. It is the student’s responsibility to distribute sufficient copies of the dissertation to the committee to allow each member the opportunity to evaluate the document well before the defense.

After the final oral examination, it is the responsibility of the committee chairperson to complete and submit the Doctoral Exam Report, in duplicate, to the Student Services Manager. This form is forwarded to the Graduate School.

It is the student’s responsibility to deposit two copies of the dissertation with the Graduate School, in final form, along with two extra copies of the abstract. The title page must be signed by at least three members of the committee.

These submissions complete the student’s PhD program.