Doctoral dissertation examination and oral defence

  1. This procedure applies to all dissertations submitted for doctoral degrees, whether they are professional projects or research projects.
  2. Students may make a preliminary submission before the final submission. The supervisory committee may either carry out the final assessment on the preliminary submission, or advise the student on ways to meet any unmet criteria before the final submission.
  3. The student’s supervisory committee will act as the examiners.
  4. When the committee is satisfied that the dissertation is ready to be examined, they will independently read the whole of the dissertation. They will then confer privately and decide whether the dissertation is of a suitable standard to progress to an oral examination.
  5. If the dissertation is of a suitable standard, they shall meet and:
    1. determine the scope of their assessment based on the student’s dissertation and particular field of expertise,
    2. prepare a list of key questions,
    3. set a mutually suitable time and place for the oral examination,
    4. decide whether the oral examination is a private or public event, and
    5. inform the student.
  6. The oral examination shall be conducted as follows:
    1. The chairperson of the committee shall act as moderator.
    2. The student will be permitted only a copy of his/her dissertation during the oral examination.
    3. The examination may be done by videoconference at a distance if the committee is satisfied that it meets examination conditions.
    4. The committee will ask the questions it has set as follows:
      1. They will start with introductions and overview questions.
      2. They do not need to follow the order of the questions as written in the list.
      3. They may add follow-up questions as they see fit.
  7. They will then confer privately and decide on an assessment outcome:
    1. Pass.
    2. Not passed for a doctoral degree but passed for a lower award. (Corrections could not bring it up to doctoral passing standard.)
    3. Pass subject to specified minor corrections in the dissertation to be completed satisfactorily within a specified time for which reassessment is not required.
    4. The student is required to resubmit the dissertation with major alterations to be completed satisfactorily within a specified time and for which full reassessment is required.
    5. The dissertation is passed but not the oral examination. The student must take the oral examination again.
    6. Not passed.
  8. If WU has any award for outstanding performance at the time, the committee may also recommend the award to the faculty for approval.
  9. The majority of committee members must agree on an assessment outcome. The committee may co-opt other advice if it wishes. The committee shall record its decision in writing and its reasons for the decision, and all committee members shall sign it. They shall then inform the student of their decision.
  10. Students may have only one more dissertation submission and/or oral examination, after which the outcome must be either pass or not passed.

DEAC accreditation manual (2020 ed.), p. 77.

An appropriately credentialed doctoral committee approves dissertation and capstone project topics.

Dissertations or capstone projects are appropriately defended by doctoral candidates before a doctoral committee via distance or in person.

Professional doctoral degrees are awarded upon final approval by a majority of the doctoral committee.

(Cf. DEAC 2020, p. 77)

4. DISSERTATION SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE

A doctoral committee of at least three faculty members is assigned for each student. Doctoral committee members possess appropriate credentials, scholarship, experience, and practice in the field of study. At least one member of the doctoral committee is a member of the awarding institution’s faculty. At least two members of the doctoral committee have earned doctoral degrees from appropriately accredited institutions other than from the awarding institution. All committee members are qualified in the subject area of the dissertation or research project topic. The institution has final approval for students who nominate faculty to the doctoral committee.

(Cf. DEAC 2020 p. 85)

Note

All committee members are qualified in the subject area of the dissertation or research project topic This could be interpreted to mean either of two things:

  1. All must have expertise in the subject area (e.g. all three in Old testament)
  2. All must have expertise relevant to the students' dissertation, e.g. one might be in Old Testament studies, one in research methodology, and one in dissertation writing and presentation.