Dissertations

Doctoral students who have completed all required coursework and passed comprehensive exams are ready to begin the dissertation stage of the program.

Step 1: Enroll in SOCI 998: Dissertation Proposal  Prior to requesting enrollment in SOCI 998, you must identify a dissertation topic and have an acting dissertation chair who has agreed to work with you to develop the proposal. The acting chair must be a member of the graduate faculty in the Department of Sociology. You must submit Dissertation Form #1 (see below) to the Graduate Director prior to the start of the semester in which you first enroll in SOCI 998.

Step 2: Schedule a Dissertation Proposal Defense.  Once you have prepared a proposal and selected a dissertation committee, you must schedule a dissertation proposal defense. All members of the committee must be present at the defense (it is acceptable for a committee member to participate via videoconference or teleconference if necessary).  The Graduate Director should be notified of the date, time and location of the proposal defense.  You must submit Dissertation Form #2 and a copy of your dissertation proposal to the Graduate Director immediately after your successful dissertation proposal defense in order to have your paperwork processed by the department for you to advance to candidacy (ATC). College-level ATC deadlines for each semester are available here.

Step 3: Enroll in SOCI 999: Dissertation Research.  You must submit Form #3 to the Graduate Director to receive approval to enroll in SOCI 999.  Once you have approval, follow these instructions to receive an enrollment code for SOCI 999.

Step 4: Schedule a Dissertation Defense. Once you have completed your dissertation research and have received approval from your committee to move forward, you must schedule a dissertation defense.  All members of the committee must be present at the defense (it is acceptable for a committee member to participate via videoconference or teleconference if necessary) and the public is invited to attend.  At least three weeks prior to the scheduled date, you must notify the Graduate Director of the date, time and location of the defense, and provide your title, abstract, and list of committee members. Please note that if you want your name and dissertation title to appear in the May commencement program, you must provide this information to the Graduate Director prior to March 15.

Step 5: Dissertations should be formatted using American Sociological Association style, in consultation with University Dissertation and Thesis Services. Schedule your UDTS format review using the schedule on their website to ensure you will be able to meet the format deadlines for graduation.