Students: Graduate Information
About Our Programs: The PhD program
Dissertation Prospectus and Prospectus Conference
Procedure for Prospectus Approval
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.
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.
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Finalizing the Dissertation Manuscript
Beginning in Autumn Quarter 2002, all doctoral candidates must submit the final draft of the dissertation electronically; students will no longer be 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, or to consult the Graduate School Handbook for information on the required format of the dissertation, visit the Graduate School Web site at www.gradsch.ohio-state.edu. The Graduate School Handbook is also available in hard copy form in the Graduate Studies office.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.Return to top of page.
