Dissertation Advisory Committee
Within six months of passing the qualifying examination, a student must select a research advisor and agree upon a research topic. The research advisor will request that the department director nominate additional members of the advisory committee.
The dissertation advisory committee is composed of at least four members, one of whom must be a Stevens faculty member from another department or program. It is permissible to have a highly qualified individual from outside of Stevens serve as a committee member.
The chair or co-chair of the committee must be a tenure-track, full-time professor, professor emeritus or a non-tenure track faculty member who has been approved by the Office of the Provost to serve as a dissertation advisory committee chair. The list of faculty approved to serve as Dissertation Advisory Committee Chair can be found on the Graduate Faculty Intranet page under Graduate Academics & Student Success. Generally, the student’s research advisor serves as the chairperson of the Dissertation Advisory Committee.
The student and Dissertation Advisory Committee are required to meet at least once a year and report to Graduate Academics & Student Success that the meeting was held.
Doctoral students in an interdisciplinary doctoral program are required to have five committee members. The committee must consist of two co-advisors, one member from outside of both programs but within Stevens, and two members from within each program.
Once the dissertation advisory committee has been formed, the Doctoral Dissertation Advisory Committee Nomination form must be completed and submitted to Graduate Academics & Student Success for final approval.
Publication of Dissertation
After the dissertation is accepted, the student and his or her dissertation advisor are required to prepare a manuscript for publication. Details regarding the publication of dissertation can be found on the Graduate Academics & Student Success Intranet site.
Dissertation Defense
After the dissertation has been accepted by the student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee, the student, in conjunction with the dissertation advisor and department, is required to schedule the dissertation defense. The dissertation defense must take place at least three weeks prior to Commencement. The last date to defend for each academic year can be found in the Academic Calendar.
All students are required to defend in person, on campus.
A more detailed description of the Doctoral Program Requirements can be found on the Graduate Academics & Student Success Intranet site.