The dissertation and abstract must be submitted to the supervisory committee chair (faculty advisor) at least six weeks prior to the oral defense. The faculty advisor should be involved in helping the graduate student develop their dissertation into a publishable form.
Once approved, the dissertation and abstract must be submitted to all supervisory committee members at least four weeks prior to the oral defense. All major revisions to the dissertation should be completed before the submitting Application for Final Oral Examination form and oral defense.
Once approved, the Application for Final Oral Examination form must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies Doctoral Program Coordinator and NHS Graduate Coordinator at least two weeks prior to the oral defense. When the Application for Final Oral Examination form is signed by the two readers and supervisory committee chair (faculty advisor), the supervisory committee is saying it is done and ready to defend. Minor revisions (such formatting or spelling) are permitted after the oral defense.
An electronic copy of the dissertation and abstract must be submitted to Office of Graduate Studies Doctoral Program Coordinator for approval at least two weeks prior to the oral defense.
The graduate student is responsible to submit the completed Report of Completion form and deposit their dissertation by the Office of Graduate Studies deadlines.
Written Requirements
- Office of Graduate Studies Written Format Guidelines: https://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/degrees/guidelines
- Make revisions based on corrections and recommendations after each evaluation
Oral Defense
- 45-minute public seminar presentation with 10 minutes for questions, open to faculty, graduate students, and guests
- Followed by oral examination by the Supervisor Committee (please allow 2 hours)
Reporting Examination Results
- If the committee agrees unanimously that the student has passed: A Report of Completion is signed by all committee members present for the defense.
- If only one member dissents: The dissenting member files a letter of explanation to the NHS Graduate Chair, NHS Graduate Coordinator and the Office of Graduate Studies, but the student is approved for the degree and a Report of Completion is signed accordingly.
- If more than one member dissents: The student fails to pass the final oral exam. The committee files a report on the failure to the NHS Graduate Chair, NHS Graduate Coordinator and the Office of Graduate Studies, indicating what the student must do before attempting another examination. A student may attempt a final oral exam only once per term.
Minors
Minors are not required in NHS. Consult with your faculty advisor if you are interested in pursuing a minor. Information about minors is here: https://catalog.unl.edu/graduate-professional/policies/academic-program-requirements/
A minor for the doctoral degree must include at least 15 credit hours with 6 hours in courses open exclusively to graduate students (900 level or 800 level without an undergraduate level counterpart). It may be taken in any department that has been approved to offer a major leading to a master’s degree. In addition, the minor for the doctorate in certain departments may be completed in a subdivision of the administrative department. Approved fields of study, which may be selected within each administrative department, must be approved by the Graduate Council for use as a minor.
Procedures Specific to Program
Information listed here is specific to individual programs in the department. Assume that the statements related to the proposal, defense, and comprehensive exam above apply unless otherwise stated here.