Final Dissertation Defense - Graduate Handbook

Content

• The Final Dissertation Defense consists of two parts: a written Dissertation and an oral examination in which you present and defend your dissertation.
• Details on formatting guidelines are available from the Graduate School. Templates can be downloaded from OIT.
• Plan to use “paper format” in which each of your publications is formatted into a chapter, with summarizing introduction/conclusion sections. Include a table of abbreviations. A sample outline follows:
  • Chapter 1 – introduction (if written, a review paper can serve as the introduction)
  • Chapter 2 – first publication
  • Chapter 3 – second publication
  • Chapter X – overall conclusions, and recommendation for future work on topic
• The format of the Dissertation will be a 30-40 minute prepared presentation of the Dissertation. The presentation will be open, followed by general audience questions. After the open question period, the audience will leave and the committee will ask addition questions.
• Your advisor may help with organizing the presentation outline, but will not thoroughly edit the presentation – the presentation itself is part of the exam.
• Be able to verbally defend HOW and WHY you did every aspect of your research. It cannot be over-emphasized that you need to know what and why you did everything you present.

Timeline

• A memo requesting announcement of the defense must be submitted to the graduate school one month before the defense date. The advisor should send following information to graduate program administration and the graduate program director:
  • Student’s full name
  • SPIRE ID
  • The degree program
  • Day of week/date/time/place of the exam
  • Major
  • Title of dissertation.
  • Once submitted, the defense is announced in the Inside UMass “Weekly Bulletin.”
• Once your advisor approves your written draft dissertation, it must be submitted to the committee before the defense (typically 1-2 weeks before the defense date).
• The student requests Moriah to send a defense notification to the Department two days before the scheduled defense.
• The dissertation defense should be the last step in getting the Ph.D. This means that you should have submitted the first drafts of each publication you intend to submit before defending your dissertation.
• There are three deadlines per year for awarding degrees (posted on the graduate school website). Generally, mid-December for a February degree, mid-April for a May degree, and the last working day of August for a September degree. These deadlines are firm.
   

However, you can defend your dissertation on any date – this just means if you submit your final paperwork in January, you will have a May date on your diploma. This doesn't mean you have to stay in Amherst, MA. 

Notes

• The Dissertation defense committee will be the same as your Prospectus/Outline exam committee members.
• After passing the Dissertation defense, the signature page of the dissertation must be signed by all committee members, the department head, and submitted to the graduate school.
• The dissertation must be submitted electronically to the graduate school through SPIRE (see the graduate school website for details).
• Students should complete the Doctoral Degree Eligibility Form, which includes the necessary approvals from the Department Head and Graduate Program Director. This form should be submitted through the SPIRE system for departmental review and approval.
• A bound copy of your dissertation can be given to your committee chair (optional). Binding can be done through Copy Cat, acmebook.com, UMI, or a number of book binderies.
• More information can be found in the Graduate Student Handbook.