Statement of Mutual Expectations between GEOLOGY and its Doctoral Graduate Students

The defense of a student's dissertation will be scheduled after the main advisor has seen a draft of the thesis and has determined that the thesis is in a defensible form. A copy of the dissertation in final form will be distributed to the Committee members no less than two weeks before the date of the exam.

Committee

The Ph.D. Committee will preside over the dissertation defense and will normally consist of five members, all of whom must be members of the UM Graduate Faculty. The Chair of the Committee will normally be a member of the Graduate Faculty of the Geology Department and is normally the advisor. This Committee must also include a Dean's representative who is approved by the Dean of the Graduate School and is not a member of the Geology Department. The membership of this Committee must be approved by the Departmental Director of Graduate Studies prior to the examination. The defense of the dissertation will consist of a public presentation with opportunity for questions and a subsequent private meeting between the Dissertation Committee and the candidate. The possible results of this examination are: 1) pass or pass with minor revisions; 2) deferral of decision; or, 3) failure. The student passes if one member refuses to sign the Report, but the other members of the Dissertation Examining Committee agree to sign, before or after the approval of recommended changes. Two or more negative votes constitute a failure of the candidate to meet the dissertation requirement. In the event of deferral, re-examination is required, normally by the same committee. In the event of a pass, any final revisions will be given to the successful candidate at this time. The final copy to be presented to the Graduate School must be in proper University form and must be presented for inspection to the main advisor before the final signing of the form. It will be expected that this final copy of the dissertation would then be filed with the Graduate School during the same day.

Please reference the following when preparing to write your Ph.D. Dissertation Defense:

• Doctoral Dissertation template
• UMD Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Style Guide - 2015

Timelines and Forms

1. Apply for Graduation
   Students typically apply for graduation in the term they anticipate defending their dissertation. Please note that the registrar will roll the student's graduation term to the next term should the student not complete their dissertation in the term indicated on the application to graduate. Deadlines to apply for graduation can be found at the Grad School website.

   Ph.D. Dissertation Policy and Forms
   **Normally, Ph.D. candidates are expected to complete all requirements for the Ph.D. Degree before the beginning of the eleventh semester of enrollment.**

   For questions regarding dissertation templates and the EDT Style Guide, please visit the Grad School website for Thesis & Dissertation Filing.

2. Dissertation Defense

   1. Nomination of Thesis or Dissertation Committee Form
      At least three months prior to the defense the student, after consultation with the advisor, must submit a completed Nomination of Thesis or Dissertation Committee Form to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval. Please provide the signed and completed form to the Graduate Coordinator. The Graduate Coordinator will scan and email the completed form to the Registrar's office.

      For more information about procedures for the oral dissertation presentation and the Dean's representative, please visit the Grad School website.

      If you would like to nominate an external member to your committee, please follow the directions provided below:

      Procedure to Nominate an External Committee Member

      Committee members from outside the University may be appointed as Special members of the Graduate Faculty to serve on Ms/PhD student committees. This process takes time, as the materials must be evaluated and approved at multiple levels within the University. The process including approval by the Graduate School must be completed prior to submitting the committee approval form.

      If you wish to nominate an external member to your committee, please have your advisor submit a formal request to the Graduate Director with the following information:

      1. Up-to-date CV of the nominee.
      2. Text describing the suitability of the individual to serve on the student's committee.

      Please note, advisors should submit this request to the graduate director at least two (2) months before the Nomination of Thesis/Dissertation Committee Form is due (and therefore at least 5 months before they plan to defend the dissertation).

      Special members are appointed for five-year terms.

      Students are encouraged to initiate the process prior to their proposal defense.

   2. Report of Examining Committee
      Once the advisor receives the confirmation email from the Registrar that the Nomination of Thesis or Dissertation Committee Form has been processed, the advisor can then submit a request for the Report of Examining Committee form. (Instructions on how to submit this form will also be provided in the confirmation email sent from the Registrar’s office.)

      Please note: The Report of Examining Committee Form can only be generated once the Nomination form has been completed and confirmed by the Registrar’s office.

      About 3-5 business days prior to the student’s scheduled defense, the Grad School will send the Report of Examining Committee Form to the student’s advisor. This form is in Adobe Sign format. All committee members will receive a link via email to the Electronic Report of Examining Committee in Adobe Sign.

      Please note that it is OK to defend on a different date than what is listed on the Report of Examining Committee form. A new form will not need to be submitted for a date change. However, should there be a change in committee, a new form must be completed and submitted to the Registrar.

   3. Schedule Dissertation Defense
      After consultation with advisor and Director of Graduate Studies, the student should schedule date and time of defense and schedule a conference room and a room for the public seminar. The Graduate Coordinator will help schedule a seminar room via the 25Live room booking system. The Graduate Coordinator will add the date and time of the defense to the Geology Department Calendar. It is the student's responsibility to advertise their defense via email listserv and paper announcements.

   4. Completed Thesis Forms - The Report of the Examining Committee will be sent to the Grad School after the successful completion of your defense and when all members of your committee have electronically signed the form.

      *Effective December 2, 2021, thesis and dissertation students are no longer required to submit the Electronic Publication Form as part of their graduation requirements, although submission and publication of the thesis/dissertation is still a requirement for graduation. Students may place an embargo of up to two years on electronic access to their document through ProQuest's Digital Dissertations and DRUM without approval from the Graduate School. Approval from The Graduate School via the form above is required to place an embargo for a maximum of six years or indefinitely.

      Please visit the Grad School website for questions regarding Thesis and Dissertation Filing.

3. Deadlines
   Graduation deadlines can be found at the Grad School website. Please consult the Graduate Coordinator if a deadline may be missed.

4. Exit Survey
   Upon completion of your dissertation defense, the Department asks that graduates complete an Exit Survey. Click here to access the short (<5 minute) survey.