Dissertation Proposal

The Dissertation Proposal format and defense are College of Nursing procedures not overseen by the Graduate School. The dissertation proposal defense occurs after successful completion of the Candidacy Examination.

  1. The student, in collaboration with the advisor, selects committee members following guidelines found in the PhD Handbook. The dissertation committee membership must be approved by the PhD Subcommittee (faculty members) prior to the student moving forward with the proposal defense. The Dissertation Committee Approval Form can be found on the StudentWeb.
  2. Once the dissertation committee membership has been approved, the dissertation advisor should contact the PhD Program Director to determine room availability for the public presentation. After that, the advisor and student may set the date and time for the dissertation proposal defense.
  3. The public presentation and defense of the proposal should not be scheduled before the advisor and committee believe the student is ready to present and defend.
    1. The dissertation proposal defense cannot be scheduled until after completion of candidacy.
    2. The proposal defense includes a public presentation followed by a meeting of the committee with the student. The dissertation proposal defense should be scheduled during standard work hours (9-5, Monday- Friday), in Newton Hall.
  4. The public presentation should last 30 minutes and is a public forum for students and faculty and the “examination” (aka defense) portion should be scheduled for 1.5 hours.
  5. The student and/or adviser will forward all relevant information including dissertation title to the Student Data Manager who will distribute an announcement of the public presentation via email 2 weeks prior to the defense. The announcement will followed by a calendar invitation to all CON faculty and students with a Zoom link for remote attendees from the Academic Program Assistant.
  6. Prior to the presentation and defense, the student must obtain a copy of the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form from the Student Affairs area of the StudentWeb. NOTE: This is not the same as the Graduate School’s “Application for Final Oral Examination” form or any other paperwork available at gradforms.osu.edu.
  7. The dissertation proposal must be provided in written form to all members of the dissertation committee at least 2 weeks prior to the proposal defense. Members should have reviewed prior drafts and given substantive feedback to the student prior to the final (defense) proposal being distributed.
  8. After discussion, a satisfactory/unsatisfactory decision is reached by means of a vote.
  9. Each member of the committee indicates judgment by signing (electronically or otherwise) the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form. The completed form is sent to the Student Data Manager to be archived.
  10. An electronic copy of the dissertation proposal with any corrections or updates must also be sent to the Student Data Manager within two weeks of the dissertation proposal defense.
  11. Acceptance of the proposal by the student’s dissertation committee indicates agreement that it meets the standards and requirements for dissertation research that will be a scholarly contribution to nursing science.