The committee must consist of a total of 4 members: At minimum 3 of the members (including the supervisor) must be members of the Social Work GSC. One of the members can not be a member of the Social Work GSC. The non – GSC member can be a non-faculty member at UT or a scholar outside of UT.  Scholars chosen from outside of UT must submit a curriculum vita.

Students who want to make committee changes must submit a Request for a Change in Doctoral Committee that has be signed by both the Graduate Adviser and the dissertation supervisor. The committee change must be submitted no less than 30 days before the Dissertation Defense.

The form can be found here: Request for Change in Doctoral Committee

Students must make a decision about what dissertation format the student will be using – Traditional Dissertation OR Three Article Dissertation

Traditional Dissertation

Traditional Dissertation Proposal Defense consists of: 1) Problem Statement, 2) Preliminary Literature Review, 3) Proposed Methodology

The purpose of the proposal is for the committee to reach a consensus that students has designed a rigorous scientific study that is feasible to complete and will contribute to the knowledge base of the profession. A Dissertation Proposal Defense Approval Form must be completed by the dissertation supervisor and signed by all members of the dissertation committee once the Dissertation Proposal is accepted.

Upon completion of the Dissertation Proposal, students must complete this form: Dissertation Proposal Approval 

Traditional Dissertation Defense

Students should contact the Office of Graduate Studies to schedule a defense date at least 2 weeks in advance. Dissertation defenses must be held at least two weeks prior to the Graduate School’s final submission deadline for dissertations.

Three Article Dissertation

Student must form a cohesive body of work that supports a theme or themes. The dissertation should include a minimum of three articles. The Dissertation Committee have to approve the three articles. Two of the three articles should contain an empirical analysis of data.

The dissertation should include

1) Abstract. Synthesizes the articles

2) Introduction. Describes the collective meaning and contribution of all the articles.

1. 1. 1. A definition or statement of the problem
      2. Importance (or significance) of the problem (e.g., why is it worth researching)
      3. Theoretical foundations supporting the problem
      4. Overview of the relevant important literature
      5. Limitations or gaps in the current knowledge identified through literature review to be addressed by the dissertation
      6. Research Questions
      7. Methodology used to answer those questions

3) Conclusion

1. 1. 1. Summary of the major discussion points
      2. Limitations
      3. Implications
      4. Recommendations
      5. Discussion of similarities and differences between the different manuscripts
      6. Discussion of future research

Three Article Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal for the three-article dissertation must include

1. Introductory chapter
2. Copy of any pre-published article to be included in the dissertation
3. Outline of any articles in progress
4. List of proposed journals
5. Timeline for the completion of work

The defense of the three article dissertation proposal is intended to include the same content as the traditional dissertation proposal defense (please see above).

Upon completion of the Dissertation Proposal, students must complete this form: Dissertation Proposal Approval 

Three Article Dissertation Publication Guidelines

A maximum of one article published or accepted for publication after the proposal defense may be included. Students can not be listed as co-authors. The committee must approve the journals to which the articles are being submitted. In a revise and resubmit, the committee must approve all changes to the manuscript. If an article is rejected by a journal during the dissertation process, the students may submit to another journal approved by the dissertation committee.

Requirement for Traditional and Three Article Dissertation

Students must submit a signed Request for Final Oral Examination form AND

• Dissertation abstract
• Title page
• Dissertation committee membership page
• Dissertation Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Statement on Research with Human Participants form with IRB materials
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