Part Three: The Dissertation

28. Dissertation Committee

Once a student has completed the Preliminary Requirement, they acquire a Dissertation Committee, which then oversees the rest of their work for the PhD. This Committee is formally appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, on the recommendation of the GPD. The Committee has four members, three of whom (including the Chair) must be members of the Graduate Faculty of Philosophy, and one of whom (the "outside member") must be a member of the University’s Graduate Faculty, but in some Department other than Philosophy. Students must form their committee, and have it formally appointed, by the end of the semester after completing the Preliminary Requirement.

29. Forming the Committee

In forming a Dissertation Committee, a student first chooses the Chair of the Committee. Having established the Chair’s willingness to serve, the student reports this choice to the GPD. The latter then chooses the three additional members, after consulting with the proposed Chair and the student, and submits the whole slate of members to the Dean of the Graduate School for formal approval.

30. Role of Committee Members

Most of the actual writing of the dissertation is done under the supervision of the Chair of the Dissertation Committee. The three remaining members serve primarily as readers of the dissertation and as examiners at the Final Oral Examination, though they may provide guidance during the writing as well.

31. Prospectus

Once the Dissertation Committee has been appointed, the student, in consultation with the Chair, prepares a dissertation prospectus, which must then be approved by each member of the Committee. When the prospectus has been approved by the members of the Committee, the GPD submits the approved prospectus to the Dean of the Graduate School.

32. Philosophy 899

In order to receive the PhD, a student must register for at least 10 credits of Phil 899, Doctoral Dissertation.

33. Seven Month Rule

The Graduate School requires that at least seven months elapse between the submission of the prospectus and the Final Oral Examination.

34. Final Oral Examination

When the dissertation itself is finished, it is submitted to the Dissertation Committee for judgment. If, and only if, the Committee approves it unanimously, the dissertation is submitted to the Chair of the Department, who, if they also approve, then instructs the GPD to place a copy of the dissertation in the main office and to schedule the Final Oral Examination.

The dissertation does not yet need to be in its final form, or formatted fully according to the University’s specifications, at the time it is submitted to the Committee. It must, however, be complete, properly proofread, and clearly legible.

The time and place of the Final Oral Examination are announced by the GPD not less than two weeks beforehand. The copy of the dissertation placed in the Main Office by the GPD must be available for a period of at least two weeks prior to the Final Oral Examination.

The Final Oral Examination is conducted by the Dissertation Committee. The Examination is open to the University community at large, students and faculty, and any member of the Department may participate in the questioning of the candidate. Only the members of the Dissertation Committee, however, vote on the candidate’s performance. Their vote must be unanimous in order for the student to pass the Examination.

35. Submission of Final Version of Dissertation

Having passed the oral exam, the student then submits the degree eligibility form to the department and the final version of the dissertation to the University. (For complete details of what is required, see the “Checklist for Doctoral Degree” in the Graduate Student Handbook.) Filing deadlines for the May, September, and February degree granting dates can be found in the Graduate Academic Calendar. A printed, bound copy of the dissertation should be submitted to the Department to be displayed in our dissertation collection.