Dissertation Committee Formation Guidelines
On the recommendation of the advisor, students may elect a directed study course to prepare for the preliminary examinations.

Upon successful completion of the preliminary examination, each candidate, in collaboration with his/her major professor, forms a Dissertation Committee. The Dissertation Committee must have at least four members chosen by the student in consultation with his/her major advisor and approved by the Program Chair prior to presenting the proposal. These members will include: one outside or cognate member who holds at least a 50% appointment in a Rackham doctoral program, but does not hold any fraction of an appointment in the Architecture Program. At least two members must be faculty from the Doctoral Program in Architecture. Three members must have an appointment as professor, associate professor, or assistant professor with an earned Doctorate degree. For detailed dissertation committee formation guidelines visit the Rackham graduate school website.

A student should make every effort to complete his or her dissertation proposal within one year of advancing to candidacy.

Dissertation Proposal
Before embarking upon dissertation research, each student is required to submit a Dissertation Proposal for review and approval by his/her Dissertation Committee. The proposal should:

1. Build on the outcome of the research practicum and demonstrate the student's mastery of the literature on the subject area of the dissertation
2. Contain a clear, detailed description of the proposed dissertation topic and its underlying hypothesis or objective
3. Present an account of the research methodology to be used in the dissertation
4. Conclude with a discussion of the contribution that the proposed dissertation will be expected to make both to the subject area in question and to the discipline of architecture

The candidate will give a public, oral presentation of the proposal at a time and place designated by the dissertation committee chair. The oral presentation schedule and copy of the proposal must be submitted to the Program Office.

A student should make every effort to complete their dissertation and oral defense within the five years from the date of first enrollment.

Dissertation and Final Examination
Each candidate is required to prepare a dissertation, which will give satisfactory evidence of his/her ability to conduct original, advanced research and to present the results of that research in effectively organized and well-written form. The dissertation is expected to contribute substantive new knowledge both to the subject area of the dissertation and to the discipline of architecture as well as to exhibit the student's mastery of the source material. The complete dissertation draft should be submitted to the committee at least one month prior to the defense date. Prior to the dissertation defense, a pre-defense meeting with the full dissertation committee (including an abbreviated presentation by the candidate) is recommended to fully prepare for the oral examination and to refine and augment the written dissertation. Based upon an assessment of the quality of the work at this meeting, the committee will reach a decision on scheduling the defense.

Once all members of the Dissertation Committee find the dissertation acceptable, the final oral examination or defense of the dissertation is completed and conducted by the Committee. The dissertation defense is open to the members of the faculty and students of the University.

Upon successful completion of the procedure, the candidate is recommended by the Dissertation Committee to Rackham for conferral of the Ph.D. degree.

Completed dissertations must be submitted in a form suitable for publication in print or other media. In addition, the candidate is required to prepare a written abstract of the dissertation for publication in the Dissertation Abstracts. Rackham requirements regarding the number of dissertation copies to be submitted by the candidate apply to the Doctoral Program in Architecture.

NOTE: Students must be enrolled for 8 hours of candidacy during the term in which he/she defends.

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