Dissertation Guidelines

1. Dissertation Proposal: This is an extremely important step. The dissertation proposal is similar to a contract between the committee and the student. If the student conducts the research described in the proposal, then the research will be viewed as suitable for the dissertation. Therefore, issues raised in the defense of the dissertation will focus on whether the research was conducted as planned in the proposal, the analysis of the data, and the conclusions that the student makes from the obtained results. The dissertation proposal defense must be documented on a Departmental Proposal Defense form signed by your entire committee at the conclusion of the successful proposal meeting.
2. IRB Protocol Approval application for dissertation research.
3. As you near completion of your dissertation, you need to become very familiar with the Graduate School's (GS) deadlines for the term you intend to graduate. You will need to coordinate the efforts of several people in order to complete the series of interrelated steps in a timely manner.
4. Conduct research and write dissertation. Format must follow Guide to Theses and Dissertations available on the Graduate School's web page.
5. Graduation Check - complete and electronically submit to the Graduate School your request for graduation check no later than the last day of the semester BEFORE the semester you intend to graduate (see Calendar for dates). If you do not graduate during the semester for which you ordered a graduation check, the graduation check will carry over from one term to the next.
6. You must be registered for the term in which you defend your dissertation AND the term in which you graduate (if different from the term you intend to defend). If you do not register by the first day of classes you may not make it onto the graduation list (see Calendar for registration dates) The only exception to this is that students who have completed all requirements for the degree, including successful dissertation defense and submitting the required copies of the final draft to the Graduate School, and who have secured a certificate of completion from the Graduate School by the end of the semester preceding the semester in which they intend to graduate do not have to be registered during the semester in which they graduate. If you think this applies to you, call the Graduate School during the semester before the semester in which you will graduate to make sure.
7. Give a copy of your dissertation draft to your committee members four weeks prior to the Dissertation First Draft Approval Form deadline (see Calendar for dates). This is a suggested deadline. In practice, the timing of your committee's receipt of the draft in relation to the date of submission of the draft to the Graduate School (#8 below) is a detail you will need to work out with your major professor and committee.
8. After your committee has reviewed a first draft of the dissertation and worked with you to resolve problems, submit 2 copies of the the draft of the dissertation - one to the Graduate School with the First Draft Approval Form (see Calendar for GS deadline) and one to the Outside Reader. The First Draft Approval form must be signed by your entire committee. If you know who you would like to use as outside reader, your major professor should indicate the nominee on the First Draft Approval form. When the Graduate School gets their draft with the First Draft Approval form they will e-mail the outside reader an electronic form on which to report his/her review of the dissertation. When the Graduate School receives the Outside Reader's report (allow about two to three weeks for the outside reader's review) they will do a format check and will e-mail GS Form Y "Application for Final Oral Examination" to your major professor which is to be used to schedule the defense. You should pick up your format-checked draft at the Graduate School and discuss any changes with Julie Renfro in the Graduate School. They will not mail the draft to you. (Note: The department does not have the funds to ship dissertation-related materials to students via overnight or express mail. If you find that the only way you can meet the deadlines is by using express mail, you should contact Federal Express and set up your own account, which takes only a minute or so. If you need something Fed-Exed, give Thane your FedEx account number and he will ship it to you at your expense.)
9. Revise Dissertation into final form incorporating feedback from outside reader and GS.
10. Schedule Dissertation Defense (Final Oral Examination) After the GS returns the Outside Reader report to the committee and you have revised the dissertation into final form, you must use GS Form Y - Application for Final Oral Examination (which the graduate school e-mailed to your major professor following the outside reader's report) - to officially schedule the dissertation defense. The form must be submitted at least one week prior to the scheduled exam date (see Calendar for term deadlines). When scheduling the exam, remember that all of your committee members plus the outside reader must attend the exam.
11. Hold the defense. When the GS formally schedules the exam, they will send the major professor a form Z for reporting the outcome of the defense. Make sure the professor has received the form and brings it to the defense. Note: the GS will not provide this crucial form until the exam has been officially scheduled as described above. You may also wish to bring to the defense copies of your signature page on the special paper prescribed by the Guide to Preparation of Theses and Dissertations for your committee to sign. Make certain you have the correct spellings and middle initials of your committee members' names.
12. Documenting the dissertation defense: At the conclusion of your dissertation defense, make sure that the entire committee (including outside reader) signs the Form Z Report on the Final Examination. Give the signed form to Thane immediately. He will make a file copy and deliver the original to the Graduate School. If Thane is not available, make a file copy of the original and put the copy in his departmental mailbox with a note on it indicating when you delivered the original to the GS. Take the original to the GS yourself immediately.
13. Make suggested changes and corrections to the dissertation.
14. Turn in required copies of dissertation and associated paperwork to GS by the GS deadline and upload electronic version of dissertation. (see Guide to Preparation of Theses and Dissertations or consult with Julie Renfro at the GS (844-4700)) (see Calendar for term deadlines)

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Last updated on June 18, 2007