Completing the Dissertation

Within one semester of the qualifying oral examination, students will submit a written dissertation proposal to the dissertation advisor. (See http://www.gsbs.utmb.edu/current/candidacy.html for GSBS guidelines and required format. Students who are not admitted to candidacy within one year of the date they pass their qualifying examinations are dismissed from the Graduate School.) The advisor, supervisory committee, and student will then meet to discuss the proposal and suggest revisions before the proposal is submitted to the graduate program director, who must review and approve the proposal before it goes to the dean of the Graduate School. When the proposal is ready to submit, the chair of the student's dissertation committee must complete a Dissertation Proposal Review Assessment form and turn it in to the graduate program coordinator. This form is a requirement of the SACS accreditation review of UTMB in 2008.

Students will also present a ninety-minute dissertation colloquium based on the proposed dissertation research. A maximum of five years may elapse between the dean's official acceptance of the proposal and completion of the dissertation.

Graduate students may take unlimited research hours before being admitted to candidacy. GSBS policy states, however, that “after successful completion of the written portion of the Qualifying Examination . . . students will be allowed to register for Research (6097) a maximum of three (3) terms. Failure to be admitted to candidacy by the end of the third term after successfully completing the Qualifying Examination is grounds for dismissal from the graduate school.”

When mentor and student agree that a dissertation is ready to be reviewed by the committee, the student should plan a tentative dissertation defense date. SIX WEEKS before that date, the student should submit a complete draft of the dissertation. FOUR WEEKS before the tentative defense date, the supervising committee–having read the entire draft–should meet with the mentor and student to develop a consensus on what work remains before the dissertation is ready to defend. After the dissertation has been accepted by the supervisory committee, an oral defense, announced and open to all members of the UTMB community will be held.

Beginning in July 2008, each committee member must submit a completed evaluation form for the dissertation defense. These completed forms should be turned in to the graduate program coordinator immediately after the defense. This form is a requirement of the SACS accreditation review of UTMB in 2008.

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