The student's thesis committee decides whether to accept the thesis based on its content and the outcome of the thesis defense, which is a public presentation describing the contributions of the thesis. At least one week in advance of the oral presentation, students should provide the Associate Department Head with one hardcopy of the thesis abstract, an on-line copy of the abstract, and a list of all thesis committee members. The Associate Department Head posts the public announcement of the thesis defense.
Before the thesis defense, the entire thesis committee is expected to have read the entire thesis, to have given comments to the candidate, and to have given approval for scheduling the public defense. Committee members should meet briefly before the thesis presentation to discuss any issues.
The presentation by the candidate is normally 30-45 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer period which may be as long as needed. The thesis committee chair (advisor) determines who may ask questions and in what order and brings the discussion to a close at the appropriate time. The question-and-answer period is followed by a closed-door session attended by only the members of the thesis committee and any interested faculty members. The options of the committee are
All members of the committee are required to sign a Final Oral Examination card, indicating that the student has passed the thesis oral examination. In addition, the thesis committee chair, the Department Head, and the Dean sign a Final Certification sheet when the student submits the final version of the thesis.