Within 2 months of passing their oral examinations, students must submit a dissertation plan. This document should contain a basic description of the planned research and a projected graduation timeline. All members of a student’s thesis committee must review and sign off on the plan. Students whose thesis relies on use of Steward Telescope facilities must also include the following, for use by the TAC: 1) Estimates for expected observing time requests over the next year (telescope, instrument, number of nights), and 2) Short (1 paragraph) contingency plan in the event that the observing time is not obtained (not awarded, scheduled, weather, etc). Dissertation plans should be updated annually following the Fall semester committee meeting. Students who have completed their oral exam must have a dissertation plan on file with the department to enroll in dissertation credits.
Final Dissertation Defense A five-person committee, which may be different from the student's dissertation committee, is appointed when the student's dissertation is completed. (The Grad College requires only four, but the faculty agreed to have five members to ensure that at least four will be present at the exam in the event of an emergency.) All five should read the dissertation at least three weeks in advance -- or some other length of time agreed to by the committee and student -- and forward questions/comments to the student in advance of the exam.
The oral exam consists of a 30-minute talk by the student, to which the "public" are invited. In the private session following, questions are asked by each committee member on the dissertation work and associated topics in the subject area.
The possible outcomes are (1) pass with no reservations, (2) pass conditional upon changes made to the dissertation recommended by members of the committee, or (3) fail. In case (2) the committee may grant discretion to the principal advisor to enforce the changes to be made to the dissertation recommended by the committee. The members would sign the paperwork certifying completion of a satisfactory dissertation, but the advisor would withhold the paperwork until satisfactory changes are made in the opinion of the advisor. All requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must be completed within 5 years of passing the prelim exam. Should a student not finish within that time period, he or she may be allowed to re-take the prelim with permission of the program, and then proceed to complete other requirements, e.g., the dissertation.