Final Dissertation Guidelines

Guidelines for the final dissertation document and defense are established by the Graduate School. For a list of important milestones related to scheduling and completing the final dissertation process, please review this important deadline chart.

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 work to a public audience and to the dissertation committee. The final dissertation cannot be scheduled in the same semester as the candidacy exam. The dissertation defense can be completed on-campus, remotely, or hybrid. If remote or hybrid options are used, all defense participants must be able to see and hear each other during the entire defense. Please see Appendix B of the Graduate School Handbook for all guidelines of remote or hybrid exams. The dissertation defense should be scheduled during standard work hours (9 am-5 pm, Monday- Friday) and in Newton Hall if the on-campus option is selected. 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 preferred format and  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. Three potential dates and times are only needed if the proposal defense will be completed on-campus.
      1. Items for the PhD Final Dissertation Defense Scheduling survey: The three preferred dates and times (if needed) for the Dissertation Defense must be approved by the faculty advisor and committee members before completing the survey. All committee members should hold the three selected dates and times on their calendars until a final invitation is sent. The Final Dissertation Defense is required to be completed 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. If the on-campus options is selected, 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. Preferred format of the dissertation defense
         5. Three preferred dates and times for the defense
         6. If the on-campus option is selected: 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
         7. If the closed portion of the Dissertation Defense will be held in an office space, please list the Newton Hall office number
         8. Please indicate your AV needs
   2. The results of the PhD Final Dissertation Defense Scheduling survey will be routed to the Graduate Academic Program Coordinator. The Graduate Academic Program Coordinator will reserve the appropriate classroom space if on-campus format is requested and reserve a Zoom link for the Final Dissertation Defense. If rooms are not available during the three preferred dates for on-campus exams, 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 calendar invitation for the PhD Final Dissertation defense upon receiving the results of the PhD Final Dissertation Defense survey. The calendar invitation will include the room location and/or Zoom link, date and time, formatted using the standard template, and will be sent to the following individuals. 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:
      1. The Graduate Data Manager
      2. The PhD Program Director
      3. The student
      4. All committee members.
   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 new potential times for the rescheduled dissertation defense. 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.
3. Announcing the PhD Final Dissertation Defense: The Graduate Academic Program Coordinator will send the first email announcement, formatted using the standard template, on the Monday three weeks prior to the first PhD Final Dissertation Defense. The email announcements will continue to be sent each Monday until all graduate student presentations are completed (both PhD and DNP). The announcement emails will include information for all defenses scheduled for the upcoming three weeks. The email announcements will be sent to the following groups or individuals:
   1. 1. All-Faculty distribution list
      2. All-Staff distribution list
      3. PhD student listserv
      4. DNP student listserv
      5. CON-Defense
4. 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. The dissertation defense can be conducted on-campus, remotely, or hybrid. If utilizing a remove or hybrid option, PhD students will designate the platform for their exam on the Application for Final Examination form. Petitions are not required for remote or hybrid options. 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 student being required to resubmit the form with the correct NURSING-PH faculty profiles.
5. The draft approval form and a copy of the dissertation must be submitted 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. Please visit https://gradsch.osu.edu/format-review-and-submission for information on how to complete the format review.
6. 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.
7.  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.
8.  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.