Ph.D. Final Examination
Dissertation Defense
PH.D. FINAL EXAMINATION
A Ph.D. Final Examination may be scheduled if:
- the student passed a General Examination in a previous quarter
- the student completes a minimum of 30 dissertation credits (EE 800)
- the student is registered for minimum of 2 credits for the quarter of expected graduation
- a reading committee is officially established with the Graduate School
- a reading committee has read an entire draft of a dissertation and voting members of a supervisory committee agree that a candidate is prepared to take a Final Examination
Dissertation Reading Committee
The student's first step toward appointment of the Dissertation Reading Committee is to assess the membership of the Ph.D. Supervisory Committee and to make changes if there are faculty who need to be added or deleted. This should be done approximately two to three quarters before the anticipated date of the Final Examination. The student should notify the Advising Office of any changes to be made to the Supervisory Committee, so that the Graduate School can be notified to make the formal changes.
The second step is to formally establish the Dissertation Reading Committee approximately one quarter before scheduling the Final Examination. Students should consult with the faculty advisor to determine which faculty on the Supervisory Committee would be appropriate Reading Committee members (three members including the faculty advisor and of course excluding the GSR). These are the faculty who will actually read the dissertation thoroughly, and who will sign the signature page of the dissertation. After determining the reading committee choices, the student should contact those individual faculty to get their agreement to serve on the Reading Committee. The student should then notify the Advising Office of the selection, and an official memo will be sent to the Graduate School to have the committee appointed. The Graduate School will send email confirmation to the student and to the Reading Committee members.
Scheduling the Final Exam
When the student's advisor determines the student to be ready to defend the dissertation, the student may proceed to schedule the Final Examination.Note that the Grad School does not make GSR substitutions because of scheduling conflicts, so students should plan ahead, particularly when planning a summer exam, so that the GSR will be able to attend, and so that the Request to Schedule form can be submitted by the deadline of 3 weeks in advance of the exam date.
THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITIES ARE:
- Submit a complete draft of the dissertation to the Dissertation Reading Committee 4-6 weeks before the exam.
- Confer with advisor and other Reading Committee members to determine if they agree that the draft is
acceptable and that the exam can be scheduled.
- At least 4-6 weeks before the exam, and after the Reading Committee has agreed that the student may
proceed to schedule the exam, consult with the faculty advisor to find up to
three 2-hour blocks of times which the faculty advisor
has available for the exam. Relay these choices to the remaining members of the Ph.D. Supervisory
Committee so that they can choose the time that works best for them. Keep in mind that all arrangements
must be relayed to the Graduate School 3 weeks ahead of the exam date.
- After the date/time has been determined, reserve a room for the exam, using
EE Departmental Calendars.
- Notify all committee members of the final date/time/room, then as stipulated by the Graduate School,
ask that they confirm via email stating "The Reading Committee has read a draft of the dissertation and
they agree to the
scheduling of the Final Exam. I agree to the [state date/time] and [state location]." Forward all of the
emails at once to the EE grad advising office, and be sure to include the title of the dissertation. Note that the
EE grad advising office must forward the emails to the Graduate
School (see next step), and the Graduate School will *not* accept emails that do not include all of this information.
ALL members of the
Supervisory Committee including the GSR, regardless of whether or not they intend to attend the exam,
must agree to the scheduling of the exam and will need to confirm their agreement via email.
- At least 3 WEEKS before the exam date,
notify the Grad Advising Office staff of the exam date, time and location, the title of the
talk, abstract, and forward the collected email confirmations
from the committee members.
The Advising Office staff will then complete the required 'Request To Schedule Final Exam' form and will forward it to the Graduate School. Upon receipt of the completed form, the Graduate School staff will review the student record for approval and then will forward the Final Exam warrant paperwork to the department. The Supervisory Committee Chair will take the Final Exam warrant to the defense, and it will be signed by the committee members after the defense.
- Remind the committee members of the exam date a day or two ahead of the exam. A minimum of 4 members are required to attend: the chairperson, the GSR, and 2 other committee members.
Dissertation Format
The Graduate School publishes a manual, Style and Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations, which outlines format requirements. This manual should be read thoroughly before a student begins writing a dissertation. A dissertation must meet all format requirements before being accepted by the Graduate School. Thesis advisers are available in the Graduate School and students are encouraged to consult with them throughout a dissertation preparation process; students may arrange for a preliminary check of the dissertation format by dropping off the thesis at the Graduate School in Communications Building, G1, 685-2630.
Final Examination
The Final Examination is an oral defense of the dissertation.
If a Final Examination is satisfactory, the Ph.D. Supervisory Committee members who participate at the examination sign the warrant and return it to the Graduate School by the last day of the quarter (last day of finals week). Any members of a supervisory committee who participate at an examination but do not agree with the majority opinion are encouraged to submit a minority report to the Dean of the Graduate School. If an examination is unsatisfactory, a supervisory committee may recommend that the Dean of the Graduate School permit a second examination after a period of additional study.
Submitting Dissertation
After the Final Examination, the candidate has 60 calendar days in which to submit a dissertation to the Graduate School.
Required registration:
- Registration (minimum of 2 credits) for the quarter that a Final Examination is held.
- Registration (minimum of 2 credits) for the quarter the dissertation is submitted, should the dissertation be sumitted the quarter following the defense. EXCEPTION: Students may take advantage of the LATE FEE OPTION
Appointments (15 minute) for final submission of the dissertation may be made by phone: 685-2630. After appointment is made, the dissertation may be submitted at the Communications Building, G1.
Part of the obligation of research is publication of the results and, in the case of doctoral research, this means microfilm publication of the dissertation and/or abstract. This is a Graduate School requirement in addition to any previous or planned publication of any or all of a dissertation, and provides worldwide distribution of the work. A candidate signs a publication agreement when a dissertation is presented to the Graduate School. Publication in microfilm does not preclude other forms of publication.
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This page was last updated Thursday, 26-Jun-2008 15:05:15 PDT