Dissertation Defense Checklist
Semester before:
Review the Graduate College Dissertation Defense webpage to prepare for the process.
Submit the Application for Admission To Candidacy to the Graduate College. Form instructions are located here: https://www.boisestate.edu/graduatecollege/application-for-admission-to-candidacy-instructions/
Follow the steps listed on the Registrar's Graduation Checklist and apply for graduation: https://www.boisestate.edu/registrar-help/apply-graduation/
Communicate with your supervisory committee that you’ve applied for graduation and are beginning preparations to defend.
At least two months prior to defense:
Update the Appointment of Supervisory Committee Form if your advisor, committee members or GFR changed since your proposal.
Discuss with your advisor, committee members and GFR their availability to participate in the oral defense, and determine who will attend in person or online.
If no manuscripts have been submitted to a peer-reviewed publication, follow up with your advisor to start the process of obtaining an external independent review of the dissertation.
SIX Weeks prior to defense
Seek dissertation feedback from your advisor and committee members and obtain approval to schedule defense.
With feedback from your advisor and committee members, finish writing your dissertation. Consult with a Graduate Student Success Center writing coach if you need support with your final draft.
If an external reviewer is required, with approval from your advisor forward your final dissertation to the Computing PhD Program Coordinator.
ONE MONTH prior to defense
Submit your final dissertation to your advisor and your committee members.
Schedule the date, time (one hour duration) and location of your proposal defense with your advisor, committee and GFR. Schedule two hours for your defense; 45 minutes for your presentation with discussion to follow.
If presenting in person, contact the Computing PhD Program Coordinator for a room assignment.
If presenting online or in a hybrid format, create a Zoom link using your Boise State student account.
Using your student Gmail account, create a Google calendar event and invite your advisor, committee members, GFR, and Computing PhD Program Coordinator, being sure to include the room assignment and/or a Zoom link generated with your Boise State student account.
Send the title and abstract to the Computing PhD Program Coordinator for promotion of your defense.
Submit the Graduate College's required Defense Notification Form: https://www.boisestate.edu/graduatecollege/graduate-defense-notification/ Note: Announcement of the public presentation to the university community is required and ideally should precede the presentation by at least two weeks.
At the oral defense
Bring the Defense Committee Approval form with you to your defense.
After the oral defense:
Complete dissertation revisions as specified by your advisor and committee. Formatting requirements are detailed here.
Submit your dissertation to the Graduate Student Success Center via ProQuest ETD. Submission instructions are located here.
Submitting to ProQuest
After you have made all revisions requested by your committee, submit your dissertation to ProQuest. Follow each of the steps outlined in the ProQuest Guide.
Final submission is managed by the Graduate Student Success Center. Contact success@boisestate.edu for support.
Important note about the submission deadline: While the established Graduate Student Success Center deadline to complete your oral defense is a recommended deadline with a little flexibility, the submission deadline is not. Any student who submits their dissertation document after the deadline will be placed on a waitlist and is at risk of being pushed to the subequent semester depending on Graduate College workload. The only way to guarantee that you are on track to graduate in your desired/designated semester is to successfully defend your dissertation and submit it to ProQuest prior to the publicized deadline.