Students: Graduate Information

Advising: Dissertation and Graduation Information

Dissertation and Graduation | Contents of the Prospectus | Final Oral Examination | Finalizing the Dissertation Manuscript

Dissertation Prospectus and Prospectus Conference

The student must present a draft of her or his prospectus to the Dissertation Committee in a Prospectus Conference no more than six weeks after the completion of the Candidacy Exam and must submit a revised and approved prospectus to the Director of Graduate Studies within eight weeks following the Candidacy Exam. The approved prospectus should be accompanied by a Prospectus Approval form, available in the Graduate Studies office. Students who have not submitted an approved prospectus by the end of their third year will not retain their funding for the fourth year.

The Dissertation Committee consists of a minimum of three faculty members chaired by a “P” status faculty member and selected by the student in consultation with his or her director. This Committee is constituted separately from the Candidacy Examination Committee and can have faculty members who did not serve on the Examination Committee.

Return to top of page.

Contents of the Prospectus

The prospectus should

state the problem that the candidate proposes to solve;
explain the significance of the project and its relation to current scholarship in the field;
describe the candidate’s current knowledge of the subject;
indicate the direction his or her investigation will take;
reflect his or her familiarity with relevant bibliographical materials and critical methods.

Students and faculty should keep in mind that the prospectus is a preliminary project, not a mini-dissertation, and not a goal in itself or a time-consuming major “hurdle.” It should be no longer than 8-12 pages, double-spaced, plus a working bibliography.

Prospectus Approval Form For a hard copy of this form, please see Kathleen Gagel in the Graduate Studies office (Denney 425).

Sample Prospectus For a hard copy of this prospectus, please see Kathleen Gagel in the Graduate Studies office (Denney 425).

Return to top of page.

Final Oral Examination

This two-hour examination is held after the Dissertation Committee has approved the dissertation by signing the Draft Approval form, available from the Graduate School. The Draft Approval Form must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than two weeks before the date of the Final Oral Examination. At the time the student submits the Draft Approval form, he or she must also present a hard copy of the approved dissertation draft to both the Graduate School and the dissertation committee members. The oral examination deals intensively with the candidate’s field of specialization and need not be confined exclusively to a dissertation defense. A successful examination is one that is awarded a “pass” by the entire examining committee, including the outside Representative (appointed by the Graduate School). This Representative must receive a hard copy of the approved dissertation draft at least one week in advance of the examination.

If a candidate fails to complete the dissertation and final oral examination within five years after the Candidacy Examination, admission to candidacy is canceled. To be re-admitted to candidacy the student must take a supplementary Candidacy Examination. This supplementary examination will typically be tied to the student’s dissertation and could consist of the presentation and oral defense of a chapter or a substantial part of a chapter. In short, the purpose of requiring the supplemental Candidacy Examination is not to punish the student but to help move him or her along to completion of the Ph.D. and to ensure that he or she has kept up with the current scholarship in the field. On passing the supplementary Candidacy Examination, the student is readmitted to candidacy and must complete the dissertation and final oral examination within two years.

Return to top of page.

Finalizing the Dissertation Manuscript

All doctoral candidates must submit the final draft of the dissertation electronically; students are no longer required to submit a final paper copy to the Graduate School. However, hard copies of the dissertation are still required for distribution to the student’s reading committee and the outside Representative. For more details about the electronic submission process including how to delay Internet dissemination of the dissertation (strongly recommended), and about formatting the dissertation, visit the Graduate School Web site.

Final approval of the dissertation cannot occur until the Final Oral Examination has been passed. Each Dissertation Committee member signs the Final Approval Form. This form must be submitted no later than one week before commencement.

Students should be aware that the deadlines imposed by the Graduate School do not always allow enough time for readers of the dissertation to evaluate the work. Most reading committees will need to have a complete draft of the dissertation in the quarter before all formal requirements are met, so that sufficient time for revision will be assured. A student who does not present a draft of the dissertation until the quarter of anticipated graduation may encounter obstacles and delays. No faculty member is obliged to sign the Draft Approval form until he or she is satisfied that the work is ready for scrutiny at the Final Oral Examination.

Petition to Delay Dissemination of Thesis/Dissertation For a hard copy of this form, please see Kathleen Gagel in the Graduate Studies office (Denney 425).