Each Ph.D. and Ed.D. student must produce and defend a dissertation showing high scholarly achievement based on his or her original research. The student is expected to present an individual electronic document as evidence of this research. Students in all other doctoral programs should consult their academic programs for the capstone experience required in their programs.

Dissertation Advisor and Committee
When the student has been admitted into doctoral candidacy and has selected a dissertation subject and committee chairperson, a dissertation committee will be appointed by the Graduate School upon recommendation of the program director or director of graduate studies (in consultation with the committee chair and student). Any subsequent changes in the dissertation committee will also be made by the Graduate School upon recommendation of the program director or director of graduate studies in consultation with the committee chair and student. Students have the right to request a change in the committee but must do so in consultation with the graduate program director and submit a formal request to the Graduate School. Preferably, the dissertation committee will include at least one person from outside the program. This might be someone from the university faculty who has competence or interest in the dissertation area or, in special circumstances, someone from outside the university. The committee should be appointed as soon as feasible after the student has selected his or her topic and adviser.

A dissertation committee must be composed of a minimum of three full-time faculty members at UC with professorial rank (tenure-track full, assistant, and associate professors-not adjunct or visiting). Research faculty may serve on the committee and chair. Faculty with emeritus status may remain on the committee if they were members when the proposal was accepted and were full-time tenured, graduate faculty. A faculty member originally on a student’s committee who leaves UC to take an academic position elsewhere may also continue to serve on the student’s committee if both the faculty member and the student agree to continue the relationship. However, neither an emeritus nor a faculty member from another institution may serve as the chair of the committee. If a faculty member or appropriate professional practitioner has special expertise in a dissertation topic, such a person may be added to the dissertation committee if he or she is nominated by the candidate and approved by both the chairperson of the dissertation committee and the director of graduate studies for the academic unit involved, and the Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Such a person would serve as a full voting member of the dissertation committee without compensation from either the university or the candidate.

A copy of the completed dissertation must be submitted to each committee member for critical evaluation. If it is considered to be satisfactory with respect to form and content by the committee, a final defense of the dissertation can be scheduled.

Final Defense of Dissertation

Students should check with their program office for the final deadline for their dissertation defense. The student’s final defense of his or her dissertation will be open to the public and all members of the academic community.  Students are required to enter details of their dissertation defense, such as time, date, and location, online at the Graduate School’s public Thesis and Dissertation Defense Announcements page.

The candidate answers questions posed by members of the committee following an oral presentation of his or her dissertation. After the committee members have completed their questioning, others present may pose questions or comments. At the conclusion of the defense, the committee will withdraw, make a decision with regard to the acceptability of the dissertation and its defense, and report its decision to the candidate. At least ¾ of the voting members of the dissertation committee (including at least one representative of each major area involved, in the case of interdisciplinary programs) must approve the dissertation.

When the student’s dissertation committee chair has approved a defense, the student should assure that they have met all requirements for graduation including those in the graduation information obtained online.

Use of a Moderator
Although an outside moderator is not required, a moderator may be assigned by the Dean upon the request of the candidate, the chairperson of the dissertation committee, or the person empowered to approve the composition of a dissertation committee (the director of graduate studies for the academic unit involved). Moderators should be members of the all-university Graduate Faculty from outside the academic unit involved. The duties of the moderator are limited to observing the oral defense of the dissertation and reporting in writing to the Dean on the academic propriety of the proceedings.

Submission of Dissertation
After a dissertation has been approved, the candidate for the doctoral degree is required to follow the doctoral dissertation electronic submission procedures detailed on the Graduate School website at www.grad.uc.edu, "Graduation," "Submitting Your Thesis or Dissertation." Students in all other doctoral programs should consult their academic programs for the capstone experience required in their programs.

A brief overview of the submission process is provided below, but students are responsible for reviewing the most current and detailed instructions on the website referenced above.

The student must submit the following to the Graduate School in a 9” X 12” brown manila envelope:

• One electronic PDF file of the dissertation.
• A text only/plain-text file abstract on disk. This abstract must be approved by the advisory program and shall consist of not more than 350 words.
• The student is responsible for any conversion of formulas and characters when the abstract is saved in a text-only file.
• Two original Committee Approval Forms with original signatures on each, down loaded on acid-free paper
• A check or money order to pay the university publication fee.
• Copyrighting of the dissertation is optional; a doctoral candidate may request that his or her dissertation be copyrighted by ProQuest. If desired, a check or money order for the $45 fee is submitted to the Graduate School.
• Publication Embargo Form completed and signed.

Publication of Dissertation
All dissertations developed and produced by students at the University of Cincinnati must be made accessible to the public through publication by OhioLINK* and ProQuest. Dissertations must be submitted in electronic format.

IMPORTANT NOTE: An electronically submitted thesis or dissertation will become immediately available for download from the OhioLINK website upon final approval.

At the University of Cincinnati, completed and approved electronic dissertations are submitted to the University of Cincinnati library by the Graduate School and to ProQuest. The reproduction of a dissertation through ProQuest and the library is regarded as publication. ProQuest publishes an abstract of the dissertation in Dissertation Abstracts and prepares and stores a microfilm master negative of the full text. The microfilm negative is kept on deposit by ProQuest, which lists the abstract in its cumulative and annual indexes and services requests for copies of the dissertation from individuals or from libraries. A print of the microfilm is deposited in the Library of Congress. The abstract will be published on OhioLINK and other electronic databases.

A student may apply to the Associate University Dean of the Graduate School, in the Graduate School, to embargo (delay) electronic publication of the dissertation for up to three years. Once the initial request has been granted, additional one-year extensions may be requested. It is the student’s responsibility to request all extensions. If an embargo period expires and no request for an extension has been granted, OhioLINK will automatically release the document for electronic dissemination. The student must complete and return to the Graduate School the Request for Embargo Form, available on the Web at www.etd.uc.edu, along with his or her dissertation prior to the submission deadline.