Thesis Preparation and Registration Process

The University establishes all guidelines and policies regarding preparation and submission of a doctoral thesis. Students are responsible for following the current rules, but the Program Coordinator is responsible for completing and submitting all the required forms. Communication and advanced planning are essential parts of this process. Therefore, after discussing plans with the Thesis Advisor and entire Thesis Advisory Committee, the student needs to inform the Program Coordinator and Program Directors via email of plans to move forward with thesis preparation. This is typically done about 6 months prior to the dissertation defense. To be more specific, there must be an intentional discussion about moving towards the defense and permission to begin writing, all of which must be documented in the committee evaluation.

The timeline for the thesis defense is detailed and changes frequently. Thus, it is best to be in regular contact with the Program Coordinator and to ensure that the paperwork is submitted in a timely fashion. The thesis defense timeline can be found in the graduate trainee handbook.

Below is some general information about scheduling the defense:

• Working with the thesis advisor, 3 individuals will be nominated to serve as Chair for your defense. Brief guidelines regarding who may and may not serve as the Chair:
  • Must be a faculty member in the tenure track or with tenure
  • Must NOT be in the same Program or academic department as any of the other committee members
  • Must NOT be a collaborator (i.e., the student, mentor, nor any members of the thesis advisory committee should have no co-authored papers with chair nominees in the past 3 years, nor should the chair nominee be working on something with the student or mentor that is not yet published).
• The student contacts members of the Thesis Advisory Committee AND the appointed Defense Chair to set a specific date and time for the defense. Check the Academic Calendar for updates and ‘blackout dates.
• Poll your Advisor, Advisory Committee, and Defense Chair to determine their preference for thesis format (hard copy/pdf).
• At least 25 full business days prior to the scheduled defense date, a copy of the thesis must be given to the Committee members and the Defense Chair.