Overview

Successfully defending your dissertation - also called the Final Oral Examination - is a requirement for the Ph.D. (UT Graduate Catalog). Before your defense, you should talk with your supervisor to clarify expectations, including how the meeting will be structured. We also recommend reviewing the Graduate School's Final Oral guidelines early in the process.

During the defense, students typically give a brief (10-15 minute) overview of the dissertation - summarizing key hypotheses, methods, and findings. Visuals or handouts are optional. Keep your presentation concise; the majority of the meeting is dedicated to questions and discussion with your committee. 

Working with your Supervisor

Throughout the dissertation process, your dissertation supervisor will be your main point of contact. Together, you'll decide when you are ready to schedule your defense. Your supervisor's feedback helps ensure your work is in strong shape before it goes to the rest of your committee. 

Review your Program of Work

Your Program of Work must be reviewed and approved as part of the defense requirements. At the start of the semester you're defending, be sure to review your official Program of Work (via the Graduate Degree Planner), and notify the EDP Graduate Coordinator if you see any issues. 

Scheduling your Defense

Once you and your supervisor have set a date, you will:

• Submit your Dissertation to your Committee for review
• Schedule a room through EDP

Submitting your Dissertation:

Your committee needs time to review your work before your defense. You must provide your committee a copy of your dissertation at least one month before your defense. Some faculty will not sign off without adequate review time. Be sure to:

• Ask whether each member prefers a hard copy or electronic version
• Encourage members to share any major concerns early

Booking a Room:

You will book a room for your defense through the EDP Department. Note these scheduling requirements:

• Final Orals must be held on campus and during regular business hours
• They cannot be scheduled after noon on Fridays without prior Department Chair approval.
• At least 4 committee members, including your supervisor, must be present
• In-person attendance is not required, but if you are defending in person, you and your supervisor must be in the same room
• If any member cannot attend (in person or remotely), list them on Page 2 of the Final Oral Request Form. 

Request for Final Oral Form (RFO)

The RFO is the Graduate School's official notice of your defense and must be submitted at least 2 weeks before your planned defense date. Start early (at least 3 weeks before your defense) to allow time for gathering signatures. Make sure to send your dissertation to your committee before submitting the form. The completed form must be emailed to the Graduate School, at GradStudentSVCS@austin.utexas.edu 

There are two ways to collect signatures for your RFO:

•  Instructions

  • Request for Final Oral Exam Form Submission via DocuSign

    Before beginning the submission process, inform your committee members that you will be sending the Request for Final Oral Examination Form to them via DocuSign.

    Required Information for Request for Final Oral form

    • The names and email addresses of your Supervisor, Co-Supervisor or Member 2, Member 3, Member 4, and EDP Graduate Adviser are required. Members 5-7 are optional.
    • Planned date, time, and location (building and room number) of your Final Oral exam.
    • You will also need to indicate on the form if IRB approval is required and, if so, enter the IRB study number.

    Submit the Request for Final Oral via Docusign

    NOTE: Do not begin the process until you have all the required information listed above. If you start the form without finishing it, it will create abandoned documents in the DocuSign system. Abandoned forms cannot be accessed again and you will have to start over.
    
    DocuSign Request for Final Oral Examination Link: http://links.utexas.edu/bkbpwfs
    

    Tracking Form Progress

    Once submitted, DocuSign will automatically send the form to all committee members for their eSignature. The Graduate Adviser will be the last one to sign.

    DocuSign will send you an email with a Document Review link. Save this email and use the link to monitor the progress of your form signatures.

    Submit the Form to the Graduate School

    You will receive a final email from DocuSign when all signers have completed the signing process. Click “View Completed Document” link in that email. When the document opens on the DocuSign website, click the “Download” button at the top of the document. Select the “Combined PDF” option and save the document to your computer. A combined document includes the form and the certificate of completion. The certificate provides a full audit trail of your DocuSign transaction. Send the Request For Final Oral Exam pdf to the Graduate School at gradstudentsvcs@austin.utexas.edu.

    Electronically (recommended) via Docusign: instructions below

• Hard copy: Download the form, collect physical signatures, and email the completed form to the Graduate School. If needed, your supervisor may sign on behalf of an absent member (with written approval from the member).

After your RFO is processed, the Graduate School will send you a Report of Dissertation Committee (RODC) form. This form is used to report your defense results and will need to be signed by all committee members after your exam.

1. Digitally via Docusign -

Final Oral Results

Dissertation defense meetings generally go well! Some revisions of the document are almost always requested. Be sure to leave time to complete any requested revisions before the graduation deadline to upload the dissertation to the Graduate School. 

The committee may choose other options than Pass. These include the following: Reconsideration, Not Pass, and Fail. Reconsideration indicates that extensive revision is necessary, but the committee is willing to examine the rewritten dissertation without a second final oral defense meeting. Not Pass indicates that the committee is not satisfied with the dissertation but believes it could be made satisfactory with rewriting, and another final oral is scheduled. Fail indicates that at least one member of the committee has decided the dissertation is unsatisfactory and the candidate may not rewrite. 

Report of Dissertation Committee Form

After your defense, the Report of Dissertation Committee Form (RODC) must be signed by all committee members. The Graduate School no longer allows proxy signatures on this form. All signatures must be on the same form. Once all signatures are obtained, the supervisor or student must then have the GSC Chair sign it and return it to you.

SUBMITTING THE DISSERTATION AND RODC: Students will hold on to their signed Report of Dissertation Committee Form - as well their corrected dissertation and any other required materials -  until the semester they plan to graduate. Once they have applied to graduate, the final edited dissertation document must be uploaded through the Graduate School portal. Once the dissertation is uploaded, you will then email the Graduate School your Report of Dissertation Committee Form as well as any other required forms to gradstudentsvcs@austin.utexas.edu. 

For CP and SCCP students enrolling in only Internship in the semester(s) following successful dissertation defense, students should contact the EDP Graduate Coordinator to request a petition to the Graduate School to waive the dissertation enrollment requirement for the subsequent semesters.

Students should be careful to ensure their dissertations are ready to upload and that all materials are in the Graduate School office before the deadline. Failure to have everything turned in by the deadline means a student will have to register for dissertation hours again the following semester, and may also be subject to fees for past semesters of waived dissertation hours.