Dissertation Defense Guide

Dissertation Information

The Doctoral Dissertation research will be the second (or third, or fourth) in a series of studies conducted over the course of the program.  Through successive research projects, you practice and refine research skills in applied settings while making a difference in their local educational communities. The dissertation represents a more sophisticated and complete iteration of a process that is a career-long quest to discover local knowledge, create local change, study the effects, and implement more informed change.

The completed Dissertation will include:

• a targeted review and synthesis of relevant literature;

• an innovation, selected on the basis of published research, to address the identified problem

• a design that includes the collection of data, scheme of analysis, and framework for assessing the effects of the proposed action project;

• an analysis of data collected;

• a presentation of results and conclusions; and

• a discussion of the implications of findings for policy, practice, and research, as well as a discussion of the leadership lessons learned.

The public defense of the dissertation will consist of an oral presentation followed by questions from the candidate’s doctoral dissertation committee.

Dissertation Defense Guide

What You Need to Know to Schedule Your Defense

• • The Dissertation Defense will be similar in structure and tone to the Dissertation Proposal Defense.  According to ASU Graduate Education, defenses are occasions for significant intellectual exchanges; recognition of candidates' research accomplishments; and observation of candidates' research by members of the University community

  • For the Dissertation Defense to be valid, you and all the members of your Graduate Education-approved Doctoral Dissertation Committee must be present in a room on an ASU campus during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) for students enrolled in the campus-based version programs. The event must occur during ASU regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday).

  • For students in the online version of the Ed.D program only, your chair and 2nd and 3rd committee members will be able to join via video conference. The event must occur during ASU regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). 

  • The Dissertation Defense is public. Guests may attend, but room size is limited

  • The Dissertation Defense is a formal event. Any planned celebrations are to occur off site

Before Your Defense

• • Consult the ASU Graduate College website and review information related to degree progress and dissertation defenses.

  • Review the Graduate Education Graduation Deadlines

  • Apply to Graduate (available via MyASU)

  • RSVP for the University Graduate Commencement and Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Convocation (Via MyASU)

  • Contact your Chair to schedule the date, time, for your defense. 

  • Book a Room for your Defense

  • Schedule your Dissertation Defense in iPOS. 

    • On MyASU in the My Programs box, select  your degree, then click the "Defense Tab," review "Next Steps," and "Schedule your Defense."

    • It is mandatory that you do this at least 10 working days before the defense

  • Begin  Format Review and upload a defense-ready copy of your dissertation for format review no less than 10 days before your event. The document can be in word or pdf and is uploaded through the "Format" tab of your iPOS.

During Your Defense

• • Your Dissertation Committee Chair will open the meeting with an informal call to order, extend a welcome, and introduce you and the members of the committee to each other.  Your Chair will notify everyone that this is the culminating experience of your doctoral program (it is your final exam, commonly known as the oral defense of the dissertation) then provide an overview of the defense process

  • Your Chair will invite you to present a 30-minute overview of your professional background and your dissertation study

    • A handout limited to one or two pages is appropriate

    • A handout is useful for contextualizing your study briefly and highlighting your findings and conclusions at some length

    • PowerPoint presentations may be used if they were previously approved

  • Following your presentation, your Chair will invite each committee member to direct questions and comments to you for your response. Committee members (including your Chair) will ask questions and raise issues until they agree that the important matters have been addressed.

  • Your chair may invite guests to direct questions and comments to you, also.

  • When your Chair and other committee members are satisfied that the relevant questions have been asked and answered, the Chair will ask you and any guests to leave the room but remain in the immediate area.

  • The committee will deliberate in closed session, deciding

    • Pass

    • Pass with minor revisions

    • Pass with major revisions

    • Fail

• The committee will record the outcome of the event electronically on the "Announcement and Report for Doctoral Dissertations Defense" form. The form will be emailed to all committee members using a secure link approximately 1 week prior to the event.

  • The Chair will invite you back into the room for congratulations and a brief discussion of next steps. Edits and revisions will need to be completed within the time determined by your Chair and Committee.

  • You and your Chair will see to it that the remaining materials are submitted in a timely manner according to ASU Graduate Education Graduation Deadlines and Procedures.

After Your Defense

• • Submit Survey of Earned Doctorates (PhD Only)

  • Review the Graduate Education Graduation Deadlines

  • Complete any revisions

    • Complete any format revisions

    • Complete any revisions requested by your committee

  • Submit your dissertation to UMI/ProQuest once directed to do so by the Graduate College Format team. Notification will take place through your iPOS of necessary next steps

  • Verify your iPOS coursework

  • Close out your IRB form

Formatting Your Dissertation

Formal papers submitted throughout the program and for the dissertation are to follow the style guide presented in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (latest edition). It is the candidates responsibility to prepare the dissertation manuscript in accordance to the guidelines set by Graduate Education.

• Format Manual guidelines and updates: https://graduate.asu.edu/current-students/completing-your-degree/formatting-your-thesis-or-dissertation

• ASU dissertation format tool instructions: https://graduate.asu.edu/current-students/completing-your-degree/formatting-your-thesis-or-dissertation/asu-graduate-college

• ASU dissertation format advising tool: https://graduateapps.asu.edu/formatadvising