Dissertation Proposal Examination / Defense

At the doctoral level, students are also tested to ensure that they have adequate foundation and in-depth knowledge to write a dissertation. The Proposal Defense Committee at the doctoral degree level consists of five members, and may or may not include a qualified examiner from outside the University.

Students must submit their dissertation proposal to the Program Examination Committee for approval along with the names of their advisors and members of the dissertation defense committee.

Following are procedures and timelines as announced by the Faculty Board:

(1) Ph.D. program students must submit their dissertation proposal within three years of entering the program.

(2) Ph.D. students registered through the continuing program may submit their thesis proposal at any time but not less than 60 days prior to the thesis defense.

Thesis advisors or thesis defense committee members may be changed if there is sufficient reason or if circumstances dictate. All such changes require the approval of the Program Administration Committee and the Faculty Board.

Students whose thesis proposals have not been approved within the time limit lose their student status, unless they have a good reason for which the Faculty Board may extend the deadline by one semester.

The dissertation proposal examination committee must comprise five members, and may or may not include a qualified examiner from outside the University. There are two types of the committee, i.e.:

(1) The Dissertation Proposal Examination Committee, formed by the Program Committee.

(2) The Dissertation Proposal Examination Committee for a particular dissertation proposal, appointed by the Program Committee.

The Dissertation Proposal Examination Committee has the following responsibilities:

(1) Examining a student’s knowledge and understanding by considering the scope of the study, its duration and benefits gained from the study.

(2) Report the result of the examination to the Program Committee and the Faculty Board, respectively, for consideration.

The Program Committee, with consent from the Faculty Board, may require the students in the program to take an examination and gain approval of their thesis proposals before the above mentioned periods of time. Failure to gain approval of their thesis proposals within the aforementioned period of time shall result in the termination of the student’s status as graduate student. Exceptions may be granted in extreme cases where the Faculty Board will grant an extension of another semester following the last semester when the proposal was due for submission.

After the thesis proposal has been approved, the Faculty must make an announcement of the topics and the names of persons writing the thesis as well as the names of the thesis advisors for submission to the Graduate School to publicize.

Changes of thesis/dissertation supervisors or the thesis/dissertation examination committee can be made only for extreme cases. The change must be approved by the Program Committee and the Faculty Board, respectively, before it is submitted to the Graduate School for information.