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Psychology
Mailing Address: Porter 200

Checklist and Timeline for Psychology Ph.D. Degree

Dissertation Proposal

Register for dissertation hours (PSY 8950).

  • Keep in mind, you cannot go above 35 hours of dissertation hours.
  • Also, if you are a sixth year or beyond, you only need to take 0.5 hour of dissertation credit (in the semesters you propose and/or defend) to be considered a full-time student. Taking more will result in a large sum owed to the university. You should only take 15 dissertation hours if you are on stipend.

Fill out and submit the "Psychology Department Thesis and Dissertation Committee Approval Form [PDF]" (department-level form) and the "CAS#5 Dissertation Committee and Faculty Representative Information [PDF]" (college-level form).

  • Submit both to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies at least 17 to 21 days before the oral dissertation proposal meeting (because Arts & Sciences requires the form to be in their hands at least 14 days before proposal meeting).
  • Department Requirements: Dissertation committees consist of five members and three of them must be Group I psychology faculty. One of the three Group I psychology faculty members must chair the committee. The fourth member must be a Group I faculty member from another department at Ohio University who serves as the college representative. The fifth member may be anyone with a doctorate in his or her field (e.g., Ed.D., M.D.) and may or may not be affiliated with Ohio University. Exceptions to this committee structure may be permitted with the pre-approval of the Assistant Chair of Graduate Studies. Once the committee has been formed, its membership should not change. If some need arises for changing the membership, see the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies. All members of a dissertation committee must approve the dissertation proposal as well as the completed dissertation.

Schedule a date and time that works for you and all Committee members so you can propose your dissertation.

  • Submit a copy of your dissertation to your committee members at least 14 days prior to your scheduled oral dissertation proposal.
  • Take the "Department of Psychology Report of the Dissertation Proposal Meeting [PDF]"  form with you to your meeting and have the committee members sign the form after you successfully propose your dissertation. And congratulations!
  • Submit a copy of the completed form to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies after successfully proposing your dissertation.
  • Note: If forms are approved by appropriate parties, you will not receive word about this approval unless you email Arts & Sciences to verify. You will receive word if there is an issue with any of the forms. You will, however, receive word back from the College of Arts & Sciences regarding the approval of the designation of college faculty representative.

After your dissertation proposal, fill out the college "Recommendation to Advance Student to Ph.D. Degree Candidacy [PDF]" (CAS #6 college-level form).

  • Note: You can put "NA" for "Scholarly Discipline" as the department does not require a scholarly discipline (although it does require a scholarly tool for experimentals, see other parts of this checklist/timeline and the master's degree checklist/timeline).
  • Note: After you "type name of graduate chair here," the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies of the Psychology Department will need to sign his or her name above that typed line.
  • Submit it the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies.

After your dissertation proposal, check your DARS (Degree Audit Report System) to ensure that you have completed all the necessary coursework and do not have any "incompletes" prior to graduation.

  • If you have questions about coursework requirements, visit the Advising Center in Porter 206.

DARS is an acronym for the Degree Audit Reporting System. DARS analyzes degree requirements for a major, minor, or certificate according to the catalog year in which you entered the program. DARS reports are the printed results of the analysis. However, the graduate student DARS do not typically list the actual coursework requirements. For questions regarding those, see the manual for your section or visit the Advising Center in Porter 206.

Find your DARS via the Registrar's website.

Dissertation Defense

Apply for Graduation in the semester you expect to defend your dissertation.

  • Go to the Registrar's Graduation site to find the application deadline and information.
  • The deadline to defend the thesis to graduate in a certain semester is usually at the beginning of April of that semester (if spring) or mid-November of that semester (if fall).
  • The deadline to apply for graduation to graduate in a certain semester is usually late February of that semester (if spring) or late September of that semester (if fall).

If you apply for graduation on time, but then miss the defense deadline or another university-related deadline, you will need to reapply for graduation the next semester or the semester you plan to graduate. (There is a reapplication fee.) In addition, you will need to be taking at least one thesis (PSY 8950) hour the semester you actually graduate.

Clinical Only: If you are defending prior to internship, do not graduate the semester you defend. See the Director of Clinical Training for what you should do. If you are defending post-internship, these guidelines should apply to you.

Fill out and submit the "TAD Submission Form" to TAD services (TAD-level form) at some point before you defend your dissertation.

At some point before you defend your dissertation, email your updated dissertation in Word format to TAD services for the "Pre-oral defense document format review."

Fill out and submit the "Arrangements for the Oral Thesis Examination/Dissertation Defense [PDF]" (CAS #7) form at least 14 days prior to your scheduled oral dissertation defense (college-level form).

  • Submit to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies.
  • Submit a copy of your dissertation to your committee members at least 14 days prior to your scheduled oral dissertation defense!

Experimental Only (and only if not completed prior): Bring the "Approval of Scholarly Tool" (department-level form) to your dissertation defense to ensure that three members of your committee (two must be Group I Psychology faculty) approve the content of your scholarly tool.

  • Submit to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies.

Fill out and submit the "Report of the Oral Thesis Examination/Dissertation Defense [PDF]" (CAS #8) form after successfully defending your dissertation orally (department-level /university-level form).

  • Submit to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies.

Fill out and submit the "Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)" to TAD services (TAD-level form).

  • Retrieve this form online or from the Advising Center in Porter 206.

Fill out and submit the "Publication Delay Request Form" to TAD services (TAD-level form).

Retrieve the form online or from the Advising Center in Porter 206.

Email the FINAL post-defense Word file to TAD services.

  • You may need to go back-and-forth with TAD a couple of times to perfect your formatting.

Complete the OhioLINK ETD Center process for submitting your dissertation electronically.

  • A TAD email should arrive with instructions.
  • Confirm that the TAD process is complete (TAD email should arrive with confirmation).

Congratulations!