>From: "Dap Louw" <[email protected]> >Subject: [tips] Info needed on appraisal of M and PhD
> I would therefore appreciate it if I could hear from > colleagues in other countries and especially the US > about the systems that they are using. I am > especially interested in the US system where there > are apparently no external examiners. A > supervisor(s) and a committee, consisting of > colleagues in the Department, are appointed whose > decision on whether the thesis/dissertation should > be accepted is final. Is this correct? I would > appreciate more detail in this regard, e.g., how > many members in the committee, what happens if there > is a conflict in opinion between the supervisor and > committee, or among the committee members? > In my own experience at Purdue University in Indiana, the student made arrangements with a member of the graduate faculty to be their "Major Professor" who was essentially the overall guide and director of the student's research. In addition there were, most often, 3 additional members of the faculty (one from their major area of study, and one each from their two minor areas of study) who served on the doctoral committee. The Major professor was responsible for overseeing a "Preliminary Examination" by which it was agreed by the committee that this student was ready for completing his or her doctoral work or whether there were some deficiencies in their preparation. When it was agreed that the individual was ready to do their doctoral research, a proposal was submitted to the committee for approval or revision. This proposal was to contain relevant research which led up to the hypothesis that would be tested. When the dissertation topic and methods were approved, the candidate collected data, analyzed the data, and wrote the dissertation. This was under the guidance, advice, and approval of the Major Professor (and usually with a cursory review of the other members of the Committee. At the completion of this process, the candidate was required to meet with the committee and "defend" their dissertation. If the members of the committee all agreed that the work was sufficient for the conferral of the doctoral degree, it was done. One side point, dissertation proposals were announced to all of the faculty who were eligible to attend the dissertation and ask any questions that they might have. While final approval was the responsibility of the individual's committee, any questions from the invited faculty were considered as a meaningful part of the defense, I hope this is helpful. Robert W. Wildblood, PhD (Retired) Adjunct Professor Germanna Community College & Northern Virginia Community College --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=18597 or send a blank email to leave-18597-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
