Procedures for Ph.D Dissertations
A Ph.D. student becomes a Ph.D. candidate as soon as he or she passes qualifying exams.
When coursework is completed and a Ph.D. student is studying for exams, they register for research hours. Having passed exams, Ph.D. candidates writing dissertations are required to register for 15 dissertation hours per semester, continually (including summers) from the first semester after the candidate passes exams through the graduation semester. You register for Dissertation I hours until you have accrued 30 hours. Then you register continually for Dissertation II hours until you graduate. Contact the Graduate Secretary for instructions on how to register for Dissertation hours.
When the prospectus is approved by the dissertation committee, candidates are required to submit a Notification of to the Graduate Secretary, which requires the signatures of all committee members (including the fourth member from outside the Department). Candidates are required to submit this form no later than the semester before their graduation semester. If the topic or title of the dissertation change, a new form must b