Final Thesis/Dissertation DefenseProcedure

• 6 weeks before your anticipated defense
  • Confirm with the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies that you have met all procedural requirements to this point. (Thesis-Dissertation Committee Form, Final Course of Study, Research Proposal, Qualifying Exam results (for Ph.D.), Comprehensive Exam Results (for Ph.D.), completion of ET 602).
  • Set day and time of your defense.  Suggest to your advisor that he/she use the university's Oracle Calendar system.
  
  

• 4 weeks before your anticipated defense
  • Reserve room, computer (if needed) and projector.  The ChBE conference room (room 175) and ChBE equipment may be reserved by appearing in person in the ChBE office.
  • Submit the Statement of Originality to the Dean's office.
  • Inform the graduate chair of the time and place of your defense, and he/she will then prepare the appropriate form and submit it to the Dean's office, placing appropriate copies in your file as well.  This process formally informs the Dean's office of your intent to defend, and they will prepare the various letters to your committee members as well as public announcements.  The department secretary will also receive this notification, and she will prepare the signature form needed on the day of your defense and place it in your file.
  
  

• 14 days before your anticipated defense
  • Submit electronic copy of thesis / dissertation in PDF format (and hardcopy if requested) to each committee member personally.
  • Submit electronic copy of thesis / dissertation in PDF format to Ms. Valerie Pettit in the Dean’s Office.  Ms. Pettit will initiate preliminary screening of your thesis/dissertation for plagiarism.
  
  

• 1 day before your anticipated defense
  • Politely ask the department secretary to check that the committee signature form is in your file and ready.  Remind your advisor that he/she must obtain this form and take it to the defense so that it may be signed by your committee members.
  • Double-check availability of room and equipment.
  • Remind committee members via e-mail of time and place.
  
  

• At your defense
  • Briefly (20 to 30 minutes) present an overview of your work. 
  • Answer questions from your committee about your work and its relationship to the broader body of knowledge in the field.
  • Wait outside the examination room until the committee invites you back in to hear the decision.
   
  

• After your defense
• • Your advisor is responsible for obtaining signatures of the committee members and the graduate chair on the "defense" form and returning it to your file.  (A committee member may decline to sign the form until he/she has the final, corrected thesis or dissertation if called for.)

• When you are ready to submit your final copy (at least 1 week before the ETD submission deadline for your graduation quarter)
  • Ask your advisor to obtain the signed “Defense” form from your file.  Take it to Ms. Valerie Pettit in the Dean’s office along with the ETD-ready electronic version of your thesis/dissertation.  Ms. Pettit will initiate screening of your final copy for plagiarism, and then will submit your thesis/dissertation to the ETD office on your behalf for the initial format check.
  • From this point, you should follow the Guidelines for Submission of Electronic Theses and Dissertations, currently available at http://www.ohio.edu/graduate/etd.cfm, to complete final submission of your thesis/dissertation.  (Final submission must be complete by the deadline for the quarter in which you graduate.)

Notes

A member of your committee may refuse to approve the thesis/dissertation if (s)he feels that the proposed work or its presentation does not meet the standard for the degree.  In such a case, the committee member must give reason for refusal.  A student having difficulty understanding the reasons for the refusal or the actions on his/her part required to resolve them may consult the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies in the department for assistance or the Department Chair if the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies is involved directly in the situation.  If the scope of work in the final document is consistent with the scope of work in the approved research proposal, insufficient scope of work will not be grounds for withholding approval. 

Any appearance of plagiarism may result in a delay of the defense, delay of submission of the final copy for ETD approval, or refusal to approve the thesis/dissertation.  Avoid problems by thorough referencing and by carefully following the Russ College Policy On Plagiarism.

This page last revised on September 10, 2009 by Daniel Gulino.