Research Proposal Preparation Procedure and Suggested Schedule

• 6 weeks before your anticipated oral presentation
  • Draft of written proposal to your advisor for comments
  • Set day and time of your presentation.  Suggest to your advisor that he/she use the univesity's Oracle Calendar system to do this.
  • Submit scheduling information to Graduate Chair for submission to dean's office.
    
• 4 weeks before your anticipated oral presentation
  • Next draft of written proposal to your advisor for comments
  • Reserve room and computer and projector (ChE conference room and ChE equipment may be reserved by appearing in person in the ChE office)
• 3 weeks before your anticipated oral presentation
  • Final draft of written proposal to your advisor for comments
  • Prepare oral presentation (25 slides or fewer for 25 minutes or fewer)
• 14 daysbefore your anticipated oral presentation
  • Written proposal to each committee member (hardcopy assumed; electronic-only by consent of committee member only)
• 1 day before your anticipated oral presentation
  • Fill out Final Course of Study form and hold ready for committee signatures at presentation
  • Double-check availability of room and equipment
  • Remind committee members via e-mail of time and place
  • Practice oral presentation
• At your oral presentation
  • 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 oral presentation
  • As soon as your Final Course of Study (which is also the Research Proposal Approval Form) has been signed by all members of your committee, staple it to a clean copy of your written proposal as approved by your committee and submit it to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies. 

Note

A member of your committee may refuse to approve the research proposal if he/she 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.  The research proposal cannot move forward in the approval process until all members of the committee are satisfied.  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 directly involved in the situation.  Also, your proposal must be reviewed by the departmental Graduate Committee, which may require modifications.

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