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The purpose of the defense is to provide a thorough evaluation of the dissertation and the student's understanding of the research, as well as the student's ability to report information to the scientific community in a well-organized and interesting form.
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The student will deliver a 45 to 60 minute public presentation on campus, including a detailed description of the background, rationale, materials and methods, results and conclusions appropriate to the research. Following the presentation, the student will respond to questions from the audience.
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If a member of the Advisory Committee is unable to attend the defense, a substitute who meets the same criteria (e.g., outside the student's major interest or from another department/Program) must be added. The individual must be a GSBS faculty member. The student should send an email to Dr. Mattox and copy the Advisor as well as the substitute member to request approval of the substitution. The substitute member will sign the Results of the Defense form, but will not sign the student's dissertation. The committee member who was unable to attend the defense shouldn't sign the defense results form, but will still be required to approve and sign off on the dissertation.
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Immediately thereafter, and at a location announced at the end of the seminar, the Advisory Committee will examine the student on the dissertation. Any member of the GSBS Faculty who attends the public presentation may participate in the examination to the extent described below. Others wishing to attend must be approved by the Advisory Committee.
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The student's Advisor will serve as moderator of the examination. The student will be expected to respond to questions from those attending on any aspect of the written dissertation or the material presented at the seminar.
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After the defense, the student will meet privately with the Advisory Committee to discuss the results. Finally, the Advisory Committee (in executive session, if desired) will determine what recommendation to make to the Dean and the Academic Standards Committee (ASC). The Committee may conclude that the student has passed, or it may require additional research, modifications to the dissertation, and/or another defense.
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Within one week after the defense, Academic Affairs will communicate the results to the Dean and the ASC for their information and approval.
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Also within one week of the defense, any GSBS faculty member who has read the student's dissertation and has attended the defense may write directly to the Dean to provide an evaluation of the student's performance.
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In reaching a final decision on whether to award the Ph.D. or require further work and/or another defense, the Dean will take into consideration the recommendation of the Advisory Committee and other comments received from GSBS Faculty. In particular cases, the Dean may solicit additional evaluations of the dissertation from experts in the field either within or outside the GSBS Faculty.
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The decision of the Dean will be communicated to the student and the Advisory Committee within one month of the defense.