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The dissertation is
the culminating event in one’s doctoral program. It is at this
stage that all one’s preparation is put to the test. When a
dissertation is completed successfully, it becomes the starting
point of a productive career.
For this reason, it is important for students to have a complete
understanding of the process and the procedures that are
involved in writing and defending a dissertation. For a complete
discussion of the process, students should utilize the graduate
manual. Within its pages is a complete guide to the steps
necessary to carry out the project. However, on this page, we
will provide a short reference to the process.
Before beginning the dissertation and prior to taking
comprehensive exams, a student must file an Advisory Committee
form. This form is the first step in putting together the
committee that will guide your work. Students then take their
comprehensive exams, and when they are passed, the student is
considered to have met the requirements for doctoral candidacy.
It may be that the composition of your Advisory Committee will
change. If this is the case, the form can be filed again with
the adjustments after comprehensive exams are complete.
The first stage of the dissertation is actually the prospectus,
which is discussed on another page on this web cite. After the
prospectus is defended, YOUR major professor files a form with
the department telling the graduate program that you have
defended your prospectus and you have a green light for your
dissertation.
While you are working on the dissertation, your major professor,
as designated on your Advisory form, will play the lead role in
providing direction. When your major professor has deemed your
research ready for distribution to the rest of the committee, it
will be disseminated to them and comments provided prior to the
defense.
During the defense, your committee may find additional areas
that need work, thus there are modifications required prior to
passing the dissertation as complete. Your major professor will
have a form with him or her on the day of your defense, and your
committee members will sign off on the appropriate outcome. This
form will also, when signed by all the required individuals, be
filed at the graduate office. It must make the deadlines that
are set forth by the Graduate School if you are to graduate
during the semester in which you defend. Those are important
deadlines, and the student is required to be aware of these.
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