Final Defense (FD)

....There will be a public defense in the form of a seminar. After this, there will be a closed door final examination that can cover questions in his/her thesis and any related subject. The student has a second chance to pass the defense based upon discretion of his/her Thesis Committee. The student can fail the defense and final examination twice at most.

Timeline: The Final Defense should be presented no later than the 4th year after admittance with a master’s degree and no later than the 6th year after admittance with a bachelor’s degree.

....A thesis is required of all candidates for the Doctoral Degree. A student must enroll for dissertation credits in the semester in which he or she expects to be admitted to candidacy, and must maintain continuous enrollment for not less than 3 credits of dissertation every semester, including summers, until the semester in which the doctoral degree is awarded. Upon completion of the thesis, the degree candidate will submit to the Dean of Graduate Studies an application for thesis defense signed by the student’s Thesis Committee with sufficient time to allow for publishing a notice in the monthly calendar of thesis defenses to invite members of the university community to observe the defense.

....Following the successful defense of the thesis, as determined by a unanimous vote of the student’s Thesis Committee, the thesis must be forwarded to the Dean of the College of Engineering and the Dean of Graduate Studies for their approval.

....All theses submitted in fulfillment of requirements for graduate degrees must conform to University guidelines (see "Thesis and Dissertation Preparation Manual" located in the Graduate Students Web Site). Once final, the approved copy of the thesis must be delivered to the Chairperson. Library copies must conform to University guidelines, also published in the "Thesis and Dissertation Preparation Manual."