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The Ph.D. Dissertation Defense

This page is working on the Ph.D. Exam.

Guide for the Electronic Submission of Dissertations (from Graduate School).
The committee to conduct the final examination of a candidate for a doctoral degree consists of four or more persons approved for this purpose by the Dean of the Graduate School. In most cases the committee is the same as the supervisory committee for the candidate. In every case at least one member of the committee must represent the student’s related minor work. All members of the approved committee are expected to be present for this examination. In the event a member fails to appear for a defense, permission must be obtained from the Associate Dean to proceed with the examination. Otherwise, the exam must be rescheduled. Normally the chair of the supervisory committee will preside; however, any committee member may preside or the candidate, the chair or any member of the committee may request an outside presiding officer.
Questions asked on the examination should concern the candidate’s dissertation or related matters. The candidate is expected to be prepared both to defend the dissertation and to answer questions in the major field of study. The examination is to be oral and approximately two hours in length, but not to exceed three hours.
At the conclusion of the examination, each member of the committee votes by written ballot on whether the candidate has passed the examination and is therefore recommended for a doctoral degree. An affirmative vote means that both the dissertation and the candidate’s examination are accepted as satisfactory. If all members of the committee vote affirmatively, they sign their names on two Dissertation Title pages, two Abstract Title pages, and on the Final Examination certificate provided by the Graduate School. Note: In the case of a dissertation that requires revision, the committee may opt to sign the title pages only after the revisions are completed.
If the committee conducting the examination includes four or more examiners, a candidate fails if two adverse votes are cast by members of the committee or if a single adverse vote is cast by the professor supervising the dissertation. A single adverse vote by a member of the committee other than the supervising professor does not prevent a candidate from passing unless the person casting the negative vote records his protest in writing within three days with the Dean of the Graduate School for submission to the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty. After hearing the members of the committee state the reason for and against passing the candidate, the Executive Committee shall decide the matter. In all cases the certificate carries a complete record of the vote as cast, and, if passed, the dissertation bears only the signatures of the committee members voting affirmatively.

NOTE: An increasingly common problem is that of committees passing dissertations that may require extensive revisions. Ideally, the committee should be able to determine in advance of the defense whether the dissertation is truly ready to defend. If, while reviewing the dissertation, the committee suspects major revisions may be required that will take longer than 30 days, the final examination should be postponed. If it only becomes evident during the course of the final examination that revisions to the dissertation cannot easily be completed during the prescribed 30 days, the student should be failed. There is no such thing as a “provisional pass.”
A candidate who has failed the final doctoral examination may be granted a re-examination on the recommendation of the supervising professor no sooner than six months after the date of his failure. The examining committee should be the same as that for the first examination, but changes may be made in the personnel of the committee whenever in the judgment of the Dean of the Graduate School it is necessary or desirable. Voting requirements and other procedures on the re-examination are the same as for the first examination.
A candidate who has twice failed to pass the final examination for a doctoral degree shall not be given another opportunity in any department of the Graduate School.