Dissertation Proposal Defense

Structure and procedures for the dissertation proposal defense are in the Ph.D. Handbook .

The Department is allowing remote dissertation proposal defenses. Remote participation must include audio and visual (audio only not allowed) participation. To request a remote defense, the dissertation committee chair must send an email to the Graduate Director requesting the remote proposal defense. The Grad School's guidance on remote dissertation defenses is also applicable to remote dissertation proposal defenses: https://gradschool.umd.edu/newsroom/remote-dissertation-thesis-defense-advice

Timelines:

At least one and no more than 3 months (within the 9.5 month academic calendar) prior to defense: Meet with dissertation committee for a final non-defense meeting.

Ten business days prior to defense: provide each committee member with a copy of proposal

Five business days prior to defense

  • Announce defense (with date/location/time and committee members) to geoglist listserv
  • Upload dissertation proposal to the shared Google Drive folder "PhD Dissertation Proposals." From Google Drive, select the shared drives link on the left hand panel. From there you will see the PhD Dissertation Proposals folder. If you cannot access this shared folder from your terpmail account, contact geoghelp@umd.edu. 

 

Forms:

Bring/email to committee for defense and turn in following defense:

  • 1 Committee Report on Defense of Dissertation Proposal Form (return to Rachel).
  • 1 Graduate School application for advance to a candidacy form (https://gradschool.umd.edu/forms); the 899 # is your advisor's independent studies code - same as your advisor's code for 898 or 789 credits Form on this page: (return to Registrar).

 

After you have successfully passed the dissertation defense:

Submit a Dissertation Proposal Poster to @email to print:

  • Save your poster template as a PDF file. Poster templates and More Guidelines 
  • Send your PDF to geoghelp@umd.edu and request that it is printed on the GEOG plotter using the dimensions of 30x36 inches. The IT team can print up to 42 inches of width if needed. Submit your request at least 5 days ahead of time from when the poster is needed.
  • Hang the printer poster in Lefrak 1158.

Change your graduate student profile on the GEOG website from "PhD" to "PhD Advanced to Candidacy:"

  • Log onto the GEOG website.
  • Click "My Account," and "My Grad Student Profile" in the yellow righthand panel.
  • Change "Department Status," and save.

 

Faculty: beginning August 2024, after your student passes their dissertation proposal defense, each DSAC member is required to submit a DSAC rubric as part of the Graduate School's Graduate Learning Outcome Assessment. Use this link to submit your rubric: https://forms.gle/PxKcz1xF2d2nXFVLA