URP Ph.D. Formation of Dissertation Committee

Immediately after completing the comprehensive exam and advancing to candidacy, the student should form a dissertation committee and schedule a dissertation proposal hearing. (The student may also initiate this process of committee formation even before advancing to candidacy.) The student must receive approval of the proposal within six months after advancing to candidacy. The Rackham Graduate School defines rules and regulations governing dissertation research and preparation. Dissertation committees must have at least four members, three of whom are regular members of the Graduate Faculty, and two of whom are from the doctoral candidate's home program. The chair or one of the co-chairs must be a member of the urban planning program faculty. The committee must also have a Cognate member who is familiar with the standards for doctoral research and holds at least a .50 appointment in a Rackham doctoral program other than the Urban and Regional Planning Program. Finally, the committee may include a University faculty member who is not a regular member of the Graduate Faculty, a University staff member, or a qualified individual outside the University to provide expertise in the candidate's discipline.

Once the dissertation committee is finalized, the student should complete a dissertation committee nomination form and give to the Doctoral Coordinator for submission to the Rackham Graduate School. For detailed dissertation committee formation guidelines visit the Rackham graduate school website.

The Chair/Co-Chairs, as well as the student, should provide the Program Administrator and the Coordinator of Doctoral Studies with periodic progress reports. Both should be kept aware of what is occurring in the dissertation process and all scheduled events (including the proposal hearing and the defense).