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 Chair nominate additional members of the Advisory Committee.
The dissertation advisory committee is composed of at least four members. It is permissible and desirable to have a highly qualified individual from outside of Stevens serve as a committee member. A Stevens faculty member from another department or program may also serve as an external 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 Dissertation 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.
Doctoral students in an Interdisciplinary doctoral program are required to have 5 committee members. The committee must consist of 2 co-advisors, 1 member from outside of both programs but within Stevens, and 2 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 on Workday for final approval.
Publication of Dissertation
After a student's 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 their dissertation defense. All dissertations must be scheduled through the Office of Graduate Academics & Student Success. Students must submit their dissertation announcement details at least 10 business days prior to the date of their scheduled defense, to allow ample time for the event to be promoted and posted on the external website.
The dissertation defense must take place at least 3 weeks prior to Commencement. The last date to defend for each academic year can be found in the Academic Calendar.
Details on how to schedule a dissertation can be found on this page of the Graduate Academics & Student Success Intranet site.