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3.1.6.2 Dissertation Process

Following approval of the membership of the Dissertation Committee by the Executive Committee, the dissertation process proceeds as follows:

 

  1. The student, in consultation with his/her Dissertation Chair, prepares a Prospectus document that will essentially outline the body of work that will comprise the required three research articles. The Prospectus will include a detailed description of the methods that will be used to complete all the research being proposed for the three studies that will comprise the dissertation. Some students will have already been pursuing some of this research prior to the prospectus stage, and that the results of this work would be included in the prospectus document. All work included in the prospectus and resultant dissertation will reflect the contributions of the members of the Dissertation Committee in submitted articles, abstracts, and presentations.   

  2. The student distributes the prospectus document to his/her Dissertation Committee, per instructions of the Dissertation Chair. Then the Chair of the Dissertation Committee schedules a “Prospectus Meeting/Hearing” of the entire Committee to occur at least two weeks after the distribution of the prospectus document. The prospectus meeting provides an opportunity for the student to receive feedback about both conceptual and methodological issues involved in the proposed research prior to completing the studies. 

  3. At the Prospectus Meeting the student gives an oral presentation that is based on the prospectus document, and answers questions raised by the Committee about the proposed work. The Committee will then decide if modifications need to be made to the proposed work and these will be documented as requirements for the dissertation research to proceed.

  4. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee is responsible for communicating in writing the outcome of the prospectus meeting to the PhD Program Director and Primary Academic Advisor (if not a member of the Dissertation Committee).  Students are expected to complete the prospectus process as soon as possible after passing the Qualifying Examination – typically by the end of the second year in the program.

  5. Once the Prospectus is approved and the dissertation is underway the student must:

    1. Meet at least once per as a group with the student's Dissertation Chair (plus any other interested faculty) to briefly describe and discuss the student's progress. A written summary (not to exceed 500 words) of the progress made since the last group meeting must be provided to the Dissertation Chair and Academic Advisor prior to the meeting. 

    2. The update should include a review of summary of specific activities made since the last update, problems encountered, planned changes/modifications to the research plan (must be approved by the committee), and plans for the next semester. It is strongly recommended that this be done via collaborative synchronous media with the committee. A detailed written report to the committee may be substituted when synchronous meetings with the committee are not possible, at the Dissertation Chair's discretion. 

  6. The student completes all the work that is required by his/her Dissertation Committee including the submission of manuscripts for publication – this process is expected to take two-three years. The dissertation document is then completed and shared with the Dissertation Chair for approval to be distributed to the Committee at least two weeks before the scheduled oral defense.

  7. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee schedules the oral defense, which will include a public and private session. The public session is open to the public and consists of an oral presentation about the dissertation by the student and a brief period for questions from the audience following the presentation. The private session occurs after the public session and involves the student responding to questions from just the Dissertation Committee in a closed meeting.

  8. After the oral defense is completed, the Dissertation Committee will meet in executive session to decide by majority vote if the student has successfully fulfilled the dissertation requirement, or if additional steps must be taken. The student may be asked to make changes to the dissertation, without having to hold and pass another oral defense. These changes should be shown to and approved by the Chair of the Dissertation Committee before the student is allowed to graduate.