This policy establishes the parameters for when a doctoral student can defend their dissertation.
Definitions:
Dissertator
A graduate student pursuing a PhD who has completed all requirements for a doctoral degree except for the dissertation. The Graduate School automatically places a graduate student who passes the preliminary examination into dissertation fee status which restricts enrollment to exactly 3 graded research credits per term. A student may opt out if they wish to enroll in other than 3 graded research credits. Dissertator status is not a requirement to graduate with a doctoral degree.
Warrant
A program’s recommendation that a student be admitted to doctoral candidacy (a preliminary examination warrant) or be granted a degree (master’s or doctoral), and it is the Graduate School’s notification that a student has met both the Graduate School and the program requirements. Warrants are requested electronically by the Graduate Program Coordinator and must be returned to the Graduate School with faculty signatures upon completion of the degree requirements.
Scope:
Graduate students pursuing PhD degrees in academic programs under the purview of the Graduate School.
Policy:
The dissertation defense (final examination) encompasses a student’s dissertation and area(s) of study. A student cannot defend their dissertation until all other requirements for their degree are satisfied.
A student’s record must be cleared of all incomplete grades and progress grades (other than research) before they can defend their dissertation.
A student must defend and submit their dissertation no later than five years from passing the preliminary examination for the doctoral degree. The five-year limit begins on the first day of instruction of the term (fall, spring, or summer) immediately following completion of the preliminary examination.
Arrangements for the dissertation defense (final examination), including procurement of the final examination committee member’ssignatures, are the responsibilities of the student and the program.
The graduate program coordinator must submit the final doctoral warrant to the Graduate School at least three weeks before the dissertation defense (final examination).
After the graduate program coordinator submits the doctoral degree warrant , the Graduate School will review the request and return the approved doctoral degree warrant to the graduate program coordinator. The committee members must sign the warrant after the defense.
To pass the dissertation defense (final examination), a student may receive no more than one dissenting vote from their dissertation defense (final examination) committee. A missing signature is considered a dissent.
Once the final warrant is signed:
An electronic copy must be uploaded to the administrative documents section of the ProQuest/UMI ETD Administrator website.
