Dissertation Defense

The student is responsible for ensuring that the dissertation document is prepared correctly with regard to type set and formatting requirements prior to submission of the dissertation. The College maintains guidelines for dissertation formatting.

In conjunction with their advisor, a student is responsible preparing an abstract of their final dissertation document, securing the signatures of all dissertation committee members on the abstract, and distributing the abstract electronically to the faculty of the Department of Health and Human Services before the oral defense. Instructions for electronic distribution of the final dissertation abstract can be obtained by contacting the Chair of the GRD Committee.

At least ten (10) working days must elapse between the electronic distribution of the final dissertation abstract and the student’s oral defense of the dissertation.

In conjunction with their advisor, a student is responsible for scheduling a room for the final defense.

In consultation with the advisor, the student must notify the GRD Committee and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences of the date, time and place of the final defense of the dissertation at least ten (10) working days prior to the defense.

Students are required to provide a complete copy of the final dissertation to committee members at least ten (10) working days prior to the final dissertation defense.

The oral defense of the dissertation may not take place if more than one member of the committee is absent at the time of the student’s defense. The quality of both the dissertation document and the candidate’s oral defense will be evaluated. The dissertation must be approved by the dissertation committee with no more than one dissenting member and this member’s name shall not appear on the final dissertation face page.

If approved, the student is responsible for securing the signatures of all committee members and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences on at least three copies of the dissertation face page and delivering at least three copies of the completed dissertation to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences for binding.

The Chair of the Dissertation Committee will ensure that the Chair and entire Dissertation Committee have approved and signed the original of the dissertation face page. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee will also be responsible for assigning a grade to the student’s dissertation hours and notifying the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences that the dissertation is approved before the applicable deadline for graduation.