- You must have prepared and submitted a thesis/dissertation proposal (see “section 3.4 for detail) describing fully the work to be done.
- You must obtain tentative approval of the thesis/dissertation as to subject matter and syntax by all members of the Committee before the defense can be scheduled. Specifically, at least one week before the thesis defense is scheduled or four weeks before the dissertation defense is scheduled, all committee members must email the Committee Chair confirming that they have read the thesis and approve your readiness to proceed to defense. After hearing from all committee members, it is up to the Chair to determine that you are ready to defend and with you coordinate the scheduling of a defense date. Note, the thesis/dissertation need not be in its final version for tentative approval; the Committee may require amendments following the defense.
- A memo requesting that the Final Doctoral Oral Examination be announced must be signed by the GPD or the Department Head/Chair and submitted to the Graduate Student Service Center one month prior to the examination date. Staff at the Graduate Student Service Center will review the requirements below and, if complete, will send an announcement to the Inside UMass "Weekly Bulletin" section of the UMass website:
- Course work completed
- Residency requirement satisfied and verified by Department (Residency requirement is two consecutive semesters enrolled as a full time student taking at least 9 credits each semester)
- Registered for the appropriate number of dissertation (899) credits
- Preliminary Comprehensive Examination passed
- Dissertation Committee appointed by the Graduate Dean
- Dissertation Prospectus/Outline approved and filed with the Graduate School
- There has been 7 months between submission of Prospectus/Outline and Final Doctoral Oral Examination/Dissertation Defense date
- Your major professor must distribute an announcement of the defense to all faculty and graduate students in the program at least one week before the defense. The announcement will include your name, thesis/dissertation title, the place and time of the defense, names of the examining committee members (and the Moderator, if there is one), and a list of your graduate courses. Defenses should be scheduled only when the University is open and not on holidays or religious holy days.
- The entirety of the defense, including the seminar presentation, Q&A involving non-committee members, and examination by the Committee, is by default open to any interested persons, including other students, faculty, and the general public. However, you and your major professor may petition the GPD to have the committee examination portion of the defense closed to students and the public. Faculty cannot be excluded from any portion of the defense. This petition must be received by the GPD, as appropriate, at least one week before the defense. If approved, the Committee Chair will announce the closed exam during their review of the ground rules of the defense at the time of the defense (below).