PhD Dissertation and MA Thesis Defense Policy:
The oral defense of a masters thesis or doctoral dissertation is open to the public. The Candidate and all members of candidate's committee must be present. For the oral defense:
- The candidate's presentation and defense are to be a singular public event and the duration for presentation and defense is not to exceed two hours for Dissertations and one-and-a-half hours for Thesis.
- The dissertation defense consists of a presentation of the work by the candidate (15 minutes maximum).
- A defense of the work before the candidate's dissertation committee and the public.
- A question and answer period from members of the public (committee chair's discretion).
- The dissertation committee then convenes privately to determine the merit of the candidate's dissertation/defense.