Thesis Writing Tutorials

Hints For Organizing A Dissertation Proposal Defense Presentation

The process of organizing a dissertation proposal defense presentation is not an easy task. The candidate must be able to cope up with all the paperwork that he is required to submit before the final defense. A lot of people are also involved in the presentation because they are the ones who will listen, comment and evaluate the candidate’s overall rating and performance. For those who are now preparing for the same academic endeavor, you can try out this resource from the University of Texas and Austin School of Information website. The following are the basic steps to follow:

  • There is a close collaboration between the student and the Chair of the committee in the process of writing the academic paper and in determining whether or not, it is ready to be defended.
  • The Chair of the committee will require the student to furnish a hard copy of the dissertation to each of the other committee members, including the Vice-Chair (whenever possible). Each committee member will provide the necessary feedback on the proposal being presented.
  • After the committee members have given their positive feedback on the paper, the Chair will inform the student to schedule the defense.
  • When the schedule is set, the activity will be made public because it is a very important University event. The schedule is usually set during regular class and working days. In some rare or special cases, a proposal defense presentation may be held during summer or University semestral breaks.
  • The student must and should make sure to comply with all the Graduate School requirements before the defense.
  • An electronic and a hard copy of the proposal must be submitted to the Chair and the committee members, a month before the scheduled defense. The candidate is also obliged to submit the same to the University workroom and prepare an electronic copy for uploading purposes.
  • During the actual day of the defense, the Chair gives the doctoral community a warm welcome, enumerates the procedure and introduces the candidate and all the committee members.
  • The activity and the time frame are summarized in the chart below:
ACTIVITY _________________________________ 1. Presentation of the proposal _________________________________ 2. Chair allows questions from the floor _________________________________ 3. The chair closes the questions from the floor and gathers the candidate, the committee members and one from the audience for a deliberation _________________________________ 4. Reaching the committee consensus _________________________________ 5.Result and evaluation TIME FRAME _________________________________ 20 minutes for proposal and 30 minutes for dissertation _________________________________ 20 minutes _________________________________ 45-60 minutes _________________________________ 30 minutes _________________________________ 10 minutes

After all, things have been set, the committee does all the paperwork mandated by the Graduate school, in cooperation with the student. After one week, the result is given to the student. Finally, all the requirements are submitted to the Graduate School.