Phase 3: Approval of a dissertation proposal, followed by the successful defense of a dissertation. The research and writing of the dissertation may not be less than three semesters and 24 graduate credit hours of WA7391 (Dissertation).
The student must submit and present a dissertation research proposal to their dissertation committee. The student will form a doctoral dissertation committee and name a dissertation adviser. The committee must consist of at least the student’s adviser, another faculty member from CEWA, and one faculty from another department or another institution. Once the committee is formed, the student will prepare an annotated bibliography, which will form the basis for a literature review, and submit it to the committee along with a dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal is a 5 to10-page document that summarizes the topic, research gap, methods, and anticipated results. After receiving written feedback, the student will meet with the committee to discuss the research plan and the committee will vote to approve or not approve the dissertation proposal. Upon approval, the student will proceed to dissertation research and writing. If the proposal is not approved, the student must submit a revised proposal no sooner than six months after the first submission.
After the dissertation proposal has been accepted, the student will engage in dissertation research and writing, working closely with their dissertation adviser and meeting with the assembled dissertation committee at least once each term, either in person or by distance. The purpose of these meetings is to provide evidence of advancement in the student’s research and to receive input and direction from the committee members. The dissertation must be completed no sooner than two semesters after the semester in which the dissertation proposal is approved. It is expected that the research and writing of the dissertation will be completed within three years of achieving candidacy status. If the dissertation defense has not occurred in this time period, the student may petition for a maximum two-year extension. The candidate will not be awarded a PhD if the dissertation is not successfully defended within five years after reaching candidacy.
The dissertation defense is arranged by the student in coordination with the members of the student’s committee. The defense must occur no sooner than four weeks after the committee has received a defense draft of the dissertation. The dissertation defense is a formal presentation of the student’s dissertation research. During the dissertation defense, the committee will ask the student any question regarding the dissertation, and then vote to unconditionally accept, conditionally accept, or not accept the dissertation. Only the latter requires another formal dissertation defense. There is no required waiting period for a second dissertation defense. A second “fail” for any candidate defending the same doctoral dissertation is final and will require termination from the program with “all but dissertation” (ABD) status. The dissertation adviser will be responsible for reviewing the final submission copy of the dissertation before it is submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs, after which time the student graduates from the program.