7.1 - DOCTORAL THESIS PROCESS

The student will work with their advisor/committee chair to identify the topic and timeline for their thesis and use the following steps to guide the process. The student in collaboration with their advisor, may choose to select an alternate DSc faculty member, other than the student’s advisor, to be the Doctoral Thesis Committee Chair. Such decisions are made in collaboration with the student, advisor, alternate faculty member, and the DSc Program Director. 

Following the outlined steps of the doctoral thesis process, the student will:

1. Collaborate with advisor/committee chair to determine student research focus.
2. Explore literature and identify research gap/research question.
3. Develop the written prospectus (see Section 7.2) with advisor/committee chair. Advisor/committee chair will work with student to refine prospectus prior to sending to potential doctoral thesis committee members (see 4. & 5. below).
4. Work with advisor/committee chair to identify doctoral thesis committee members (see Section 7.3).
5. After receiving advisor/committee chair prospectus approval, email prospectus to committee members and invite them to serve on committee; cc advisor/committee chair. 
6. Within two weeks of emailing prospectus, confirm with advisor/committee chair the committee members’ willingness to participate on doctoral thesis committee.
7. Develop doctoral thesis proposal in collaboration with advisor/committee chair (see Section 7.4).  
8. Forward doctoral thesis proposal, approved by advisor/committee chair, to committee for review and revisions.  Allow two weeks for committee members to review.
9. Prepare doctoral thesis proposal oral presentation for committee members.
10. After committee approval, initiate IRB, if required, and implement study. Draft and revise doctoral thesis with committee chair (this will likely require several revisions). 
11. Submit well-written doctoral thesis manuscript draft for committee review following committee chair approval, and refine until committee approves thesis for defense. Allow two weeks for each committee members to review and request revisions. Establish defense date/time/place in collaboration with committee.
12. Advisor/committee chair will notify the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (DRS) Student Program Coordinator of date/time/place for defense, at least one week in advance of the defense. The DRS Student Program Coordinator will email student doctoral thesis announcement to student, student’s doctoral thesis committee, DRS faculty members, DSc students, and any others as requested by advisor/committee chair at least one week in advance of the defense.
13. Prepare oral presentation (ppt) of doctoral thesis defense, in collaboration with advisor/committee chair. 
14. Defend thesis. Plan on 2 hours (30-minute ppt presentation; 15-minute attendee question and answer; 15-minute committee question and answer; remaining 1 hour for defense with committee members only)
15. Incorporate changes noted during the defense into a final draft (NOTE: Student is allowed no more than 60 days after defense to incorporate revisions).