Dissertation proposal
Ph.D. students will complete a dissertation in partial fulfillment of degree requirements.
After passing the comprehensive examination and identifying a dissertation topic, a dissertation committee is appointed and the student must pass a proposal defense (some programs refer to the proposal defense as a prospectus or colloquium). The dissertation committee will take the place of the advisory committee and the faculty adviser is superseded by the dissertation chair. The dissertation committee must be approved by the Graduate School using the Appointment of Master's Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation Committee form (GO-16).
Ph.D. dissertation committees must consist of at least four and not more than six faculty members. The chair of the dissertation committee must be regular, full-time PSU instructional faculty, tenured or tenure track, assistant professor or higher in rank; the other three to five committee members may include non-tenure track or adjunct faculty and/or members of the OHSU faculty. At least one of the committee members must be from the student's program; the others may be from the student’s program or may be PSU faculty from another department or OHSU faculty. If it is necessary to go off campus for a committee member with specific expertise not available among PSU faculty, a CV for that proposed member must be submitted with the GO-16 form; this off-campus member may substitute for one of the three to five regular committee members. Members with a courtesy appointment will count as PSU faculty members in terms of determining PSU vs. off-campus membership, but the majority of the committee members must be PSU employees. All committee members must have doctoral degrees. At the discretion of the program, the designation of co-chair can be requested on the GO-16 form for one regular member of the committee. The designation of co-chair recognizes the significant academic advising role of the committee member, but oversight of the process and procedures and all administrative responsibilities remains with the chair.
No proposal defense shall be valid without a dissertation committee approved by the Graduate School. The GO-16 form should be submitted to the Graduate School a minimum of six weeks in advance of the estimated date of the dissertation proposal meeting. The student must deliver a draft of the dissertation proposal to all members of the approved committee no fewer than 14 days before the proposal defense.
A dissertation proposal should be scheduled during a regular academic term. If necessary, a dissertation proposal can be scheduled between terms; see information about enrollment for defenses and exams held between terms.
A dissertation proposal must take place in a meeting with the student and the entire, appointed committee. While it is expected that all members should be physically present, remote participation is permitted under specific conditions. The student will make an oral presentation of the written proposal for discussion, evaluation, and suggested modification. The final proposal submitted to the committee for approval should be sufficiently detailed and clear to provide a blueprint for the study to follow. The proposal is expected to include the following:
- General nature and present status of knowledge of the problem.
- The theoretical and empirical framework within which the proposed problem exists.
- The significance of the proposed research and its likely contributions.
- The research methodology to be used.
The Ph.D. program recommends the student for advancement to candidacy once the dissertation proposal has been approved.