Dissertation Proposal Guidelines

·         After advancing to candidacy, the student and the student’s adviser must identify a dissertation committee consisting of at least four P faculty, at least three of whom must have SAMP graduate faculty P status.  The composition of the dissertation committee must be approved by the SAMP Graduate Studies Committee.  The student’s dissertation advisor serves as chair of the dissertation committee.

·         The student must submit a dissertation proposal to the dissertation committee in writing for approval, and must give an oral presentation of the dissertation plan to the dissertation committee.  The candidacy examination should normally serve as the starting basis for the dissertation proposal, though the dissertation proposal may be less expansive than the candidacy examination project.  In this meeting, the research project(s) to be included in the dissertation must be explicitly identified, and pilot data and other evidence of progress must be sufficient for the committee to judge the rigor, originality, scope, and likelihood for success of the proposed project.

·         The student is encouraged to use the dissertation committee in an advisory capacity throughout the dissertation process.  The contents of the completed dissertation should come as no surprise to the dissertation committee.