4. Dissertation Process

4.1 - Dissertation Credit & Continuous Enrollment

After passing the comprehensive exams, students must register for at least one dissertation credit hour each Fall and Spring semester until the dissertation process is completed. Enrollment in dissertation hours during Summer is required only if the dissertation defense will take place during the Summer term.

Only students who have passed the comprehensive exams are permitted to register for dissertation credits. Eligible students need a permit to register for dissertation hours. Permits will be issued in accordance with a student’s approved Program of Study.

4.2 - Dissertation Committee

Each student selects a dissertation chair and committee consisting of at least three graduate faculty members. The committee's role is to provide guidance as the student develops and completes the dissertation. They provide the first review and initial acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. The committee chair must hold Full Graduate Faculty status.

Faculty who are not employed full-time by the University of Memphis may be eligible to serve on the PhD dissertation committee upon receiving External Graduate Faculty status. Only one External Graduate Faculty member may serve as a voting member of a dissertation committee and does not count toward the three-member minimum. The external faculty member cannot chair or co-chair the dissertation committee.

• The external graduate faculty status eligibility is described here: https://www.memphis.edu/gradschool/resources/gradfac_guidelines.php
• The procedure for adding an external faculty member is described here: https://www.memphis.edu/gradschool/resources/gradfac_app.php

A dissertation will not be submitted to the Graduate School until it meets the committee's approval. See the "Final Semester Check List" for guidelines on the review process.

4.3 - Human Subjects Research

Research involving human subjects requires approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Applications should be submitted well in advance of data collection. Depending on the level of potential risk to subjects, as determined by the committee, the application may be subject to full committee review, expedited review, or exempted from the review process. Please allow up to four weeks for a response from the committee.

4.4 - Dissertation Proposal

Students must submit and defend a written dissertation proposal before conducting their research. Faculty and PhD students are encouraged to attend proposal defenses.

Notification of the scheduling of the proposal defense will be made to all faculty by email from the Graduate Programs Office. The dissertation committee decides the outcome of the proposal defense.

4.5 - Dissertation Defense

The dissertation defense provides an opportunity to ascertain: that the student is the primary author of the research document, possesses knowledge of the broad range of research related to the study, can justify the research methodology and design and defend the conclusions, possesses the ability to collect and interpret data for empirical manuscripts, and is capable of presenting the study in a coherent, understandable, and scholarly manner.

Upon committee approval, students defend their dissertation in a public presentation. Successful defense and committee approval are required before final submission of dissertation to the Graduate School.

4.6 - Dissertation Submission

A copy of the defended and corrected dissertation must be converted into a PDF and submitted to ProQuest. The committee approval form must be submitted to the Graduate School. After the Graduate School has reviewed the final draft in ProQuest, the student must make all additional corrections.

For details and instructions, refer to the Graduate School Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Guide.