PhD Proposal and Dissertation

Dissertation Proposal and Defense – General Information

• Some concentrations require students to write a dissertation proposal and present a defense of the proposal. The dissertation proposal consists of Chapters 1-3 of the dissertation.
• For concentrations that require a dissertation proposal defense, students must be admitted to doctoral candidacy prior to the defense, and be registered for dissertation credits during the semester of the proposal defense.
• The following forms must be submitted no later than 2 weeks prior to the dissertation proposal defense:
  • Proposal Defense Form must be submitted in Archivum. Students that started before 2017, (and that have not submitted the required COPH doctoral forms in Archivum), should contact cophdoctoral@usf.edu for the required defense forms.
  • PhD Dissertation Proposal Announcement (form should be sent to cophdoctoral@usf.edu two weeks prior to the proposal defense date). Announcements are posted to the public prior to the scheduled defense date. 
• The Proposal Defense Chair is not required. The Major Professor can serve as Chair for the Proposal Defense.
• Students should meet with their (Co-) Major Professor(s) to discuss the requirements of their specific concentration regarding the dissertation proposal and defense. 
• The students and their doctoral committee will determine that date and time of the exam.

For the USF policy on Dissertations please refer to the USF Catalog.

Dissertation Defense – General Information

• Students must submit the dissertation draft to their committee for feedback at least 4 weeks prior to their defense date. Committee members should return feedback to the student within 2 weeks. The revised draft must be sent out to committee members at least 7 days before the defense. No changes should be made to the dissertation until after the defense.
• The following forms must be submitted two weeks prior to the dissertation defense:
  • Final Defense Form must be submitted in Archivum. Students that started before 2017, (and that have not submitted the required COPH doctoral forms in Archivum), should contact cophdoctoral@usf.edu for the required defense forms.
  • PhD Dissertation Defense Announcement (form should be sent to cophdoctoral@usf.edu 

• Students should meet with their doctoral committee to discuss the requirements of their specific concentration regarding the dissertation defense. It is recommended that students schedule their defense several weeks or months in advance.
• The dissertation defense must be scheduled by the COPH published deadlines. Students must work with their committee to determine a date and time for the defense.

For the USF policy on doctoral degree requirements please refer to the USF Catalog.

• USF Requirements

• Complete Application to Degree in OASIS.
• Register to participate in the Commencement Ceremony (optional)
• Graduate Studies Requirements
  • Deadlines for these requirements vary by semester, check the Electronic Thesis & Dissertation (ETD) website for the deadline for the semester that the student intends to graduate.
• Complete the ETD Online Registration 
• Submit the required ETD forms to etd@grad.usf.edu
• Attend an ETD Workshop or Help Session (the workshop is not required, but it is highly recommended)
• Follow the ETD Formatting requirements

• COPH requirements
  
  • The student will need to submit their signed Plan of Study to cophgraduation@usf.edu. Only the student’s major professor needs to sign the Plan of Study.
  • Completion of Competencies – if admitted to the program prior to Fall 2017
  • Complete the COPH Graduation Information Survey 

Complete the COPH exit survey. Link will be emailed to the student.