MA, MS, MPH

Typically, a final oral examination (defense of thesis) is not given to MA or MS students, but a program may require such an examination. Notice of this requirement shall be given to the candidate on admission to the program. If a final examination is given to MA, MS, or MPH students, it shall be conducted under the same guidelines as for doctoral students, as specified below. *

MMS

MMS students will take a final oral examination, and this defense of the data (either manuscript or thesis) will be considered an obligatory part of the degree requirements and must be completed before final preparation of the document. *

PhD

The final oral examination must be scheduled far enough in advance of the deadline for submission of the final copies of the dissertation to permit the student to make any corrections in the final form of the dissertation that may be required by the supervisory committee. Experience has shown that an absolute minimum of two weeks is necessary.

The final oral examination will cover the dissertation and the general field of the dissertation and such other parts of the student's program as the supervisory committee may determine.

The supervisory committee will sign the signature page of the dissertation and the report of the final oral examination (form attached) when they are satisfied that the student has:

• completed the work assigned by the committee,
• passed all examinations required by the program including the final oral,
• completed a dissertation which gives evidence of ability to do independent investigation and itself constitutes a scholarly contribution to knowledge, and
• prepared for publication in Dissertation Abstracts International, an abstract which meets the approval of the committee.

The office of the dean of the graduate school must review the form and illustrations for conformity with published instructions when the document is finalized and prior to submission of the dissertation. When the office of the dean of the graduate school grants final approval, the student shall upload the approved document to the ETD server and notify the graduate school that the submission is complete.

*see section VII for thesis option

Before the final form of the dissertation or thesis is typed, the student should carefully read the Instructions for Preparation of the Doctoral Dissertation and Masters Thesis and feel free to consult the graduate school office about acceptable format.

The graduate school has developed a template for the preliminary pages of the dissertation or thesis and a copy is available at the GSBS home page.

Also, note that a doctoral student may not take more than five years after admission to candidacy to complete the dissertation; MA and MS students must complete all requirements for this degree four years after matriculation; and MMS students, one full-time equivalent year after matriculation is standard.

A student must be enrolled in the graduate school at the time of submission of the dissertation or thesis. After the final form of the dissertation or thesis has been approved by the supervisory committee, the student should submit to the graduate school office an electronic letter-perfect copy in PDF format, including all illustrations, for final approval of form before the dissertation or thesis is reproduced. The graduate school does not required a printed copy of the final document.

Students should consult the Instructions for Preparation of the Doctoral Dissertation and Masters Thesis for information on format and style.

MA, MS, MMS

For MA, MS and MMS students the supervisory committee may accept an in-press or published manuscript(s) in lieu of the conventional thesis. The manuscript(s) must have been accepted in a high-quality refereed journal approved by the supervisory committee, and the student's contribution must include most of the writing and principal/senior authorship. In addition, the work reported in the publication must have been carried out at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Galveston or under the supervision of a member of its faculty.

PhD

The dean of the graduate school will present the credentials of students completing their degree program to the graduate faculty as a body for their certification if the dean has received by the published deadline a positive recommendation on the report of the final oral, the required electronic copy of the final document, and all other paperwork required for graduation.

The student must be registered in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Galveston at the time of the faculty certification. Therefore, if the student does not meet the published deadline for submission of the dissertation or thesis, he/she must register in absentia for one additional term for the purpose of graduation. Degrees are awarded at the end of the fall, spring and summer terms, but public commencement is held for the graduate school only at the end of the spring term. Summer and fall graduates are invited to participate in the spring commencement.