Final Dissertation Guidelines

Guidelines for the final dissertation document and defense are established by the Graduate School.

1. The final dissertation document must be provided in written form to each dissertation committee member at least three weeks prior to the final oral examination (dissertation defense); members should have reviewed prior drafts and given substantive feedback to the student prior to the planned dissertation defense. The final defense should not be scheduled before the advisor and committee believe the student is ready to defend. The final dissertation cannot be scheduled in the same semester as the candidacy exam. The dissertation defense should be scheduled during standard work hours (9-5, Monday- Friday), in Newton Hall. The advisor and student should notify the PhD Program Director as soon as a defense date and time are known and should preferably clear the defense date with the Director’s schedule.
2. Steps for Scheduling the PhD Final Dissertation Defense:
   1. Student Responsibility: In collaboration with the committee members and advisor, the student determines three potential available dates and times of the dissertation defense. Once the three potential dates and times for the defense are determined, the student must complete the PhD Final Dissertation Defense Scheduling survey: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1G4XmnyYkm1NzY9. NOTE: Due to the extenuating circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, all defenses will be held virtually during the 2020 Autumn and 2021 Spring semesters. Students are only required to submit one date and time for their defense through this survey for these semesters only.
      1. Items for the PhD Final Dissertation Defense Scheduling survey: The three preferred dates and times for the Dissertation Defense must be approved by the faculty advisor and committee members before completing the survey. The Final Dissertation Defense is required to be completed in person, over the course of two hours, with the first 30 minutes reserved for the public presentation and the last 90 minutes reserved for the private defense with committee members. A larger classroom space may be reserved for the public presentation, with a smaller meeting space or faculty office being used for the private defense.
         1. Student’s name/email/phone number
         2. Title for the Dissertation
         3. Names and Ohio State email addresses of Committee Chair and all committee members
         4. Three preferred dates and times for the defense
         5. In addition to the public presentation classroom space, please indicate if an office space has already been designated for the closed portion of the Dissertation Defense OR if a secondary location is needed for the closed portion
         6. If the closed portion of the Dissertation Defense will be held in an office space, please list the Newton Hall office number
         7. Please indicate your AV needs
   2. The results of the PhD Dissertation Defense Scheduling survey will be routed to the Graduate Academic Program Coordinator. The Graduate Academic Program Coordinator will reserve the appropriate classroom space and Zoom link for the public portion of the Proposal Defense. If rooms are not available during the three preferred dates, the Graduate Academic Program Coordinator will contact the student for three new potential meeting dates.
   3. The Graduate Academic Program Coordinator will send the Outlook invitation upon receiving the results of the PhD Final Dissertation Defense survey, but no later than two weeks prior to the defense. The meeting invitation will include the room location and Zoom link, formatted using the standard template, to the following individuals:
      1. The Graduate Data Manager
      2. The PhD Program Director
      3. The student
      4. All committee members. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure all information included in the Outlook invitation is accurate and all committee members have been included on the invitation.
      5. All-college using the following list-serves:
         1. CON-Defense@osu.edu
         2. All-students
   4. If the defense must be rescheduled, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the Graduate Academic Program Coordinator. The Graduate Academic Program Coordinator will cancel the Outlook invitation and the student will be required to resubmit the PhD Final Dissertation Defense Scheduling survey with three new potential times for the rescheduled dissertation defense.
3. To schedule the final oral examination the student must submit an Application for Final Examination on Grad Forms and have this approved by each dissertation committee member at least two weeks before the proposed defense date; a dissertation committee member’s approval of the dissertation draft means that the committee member judges it to be of sufficient merit to warrant holding the final oral examination. When submitting the form, students should ensure they are selecting the faculty profile that is associated with the “NURSING-PH” program for any College of Nursing faculty members. Failure to select the appropriate faculty profile for College of Nursing faculty will result in the the student being required to resubmit the form with the correct NURSING-PH faculty profiles.
4.  The draft approval form and a copy of the dissertation must be taken to the Graduate School at least two weeks before the final oral examination for a format review. A Graduate School Faculty Representative (GFR) will be assigned only after the format review is complete.
5. After the Graduate Faculty Representative has been assigned and the final oral examination committee has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School, the Report on Final Examination and Report on Final Document are made available to the examination committee through Grad Forms.
6.  A final draft of the complete dissertation must be distributed to the Graduate School representative at least one week prior to the Final Oral Examination.
7.  The oral examination will be held as a closed committee meeting following the public presentation. A student is considered to have completed the Final Oral Examination successfully when there is unanimous approval by the Final Oral Examination Committee members. Satisfactory completion of the research, the written dissertation document, and the oral examination will constitute fulfillment of the dissertation requirement for the PhD degree.