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Graduate Calendar
Spring 2019

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PhD DISSERTATION

A dissertation embodying the results of an original investigation in the field of specialization is required of all candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

The regulations of individual programs should be consulted for details of their dissertation procedures. The general format is prescribed in the Guidelines for Major Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, which may be obtained from the Faculty of Graduate Studies or from www.uwindsor.ca/graduate. Within the dissertation, the student should use formats approved for scholarly publication in the field of specialization and approved by the program. Final checking of the general format of the dissertation is the responsibility of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, but the student should consult the doctoral committee for instructions as to the internal form of the dissertation.

Copies of a Ph.D. dissertation are to be provided to all members of the doctoral committee and two copies to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, of which one copy will be transmitted to the external examiner, at least four weeks before the expected date of defense. Before the dissertation is forwarded to the external examiner, all members of the doctoral committee must read and provide feedback on the dissertation, and it must be approved by the majority of the committee. No changes may be made to the dissertation document or composition of the doctoral committee between these deadline dates and the defense except under the most extraordinary circumstances and with approval of the Executive Committee of Graduate Studies. The oral presentation should be completed at least three weeks prior to the Convocation for which the candidate has applied to receive the degree. A public notice of defense must be received in the Office of Graduate Studies and posted in the academic unit at least eight days in advance of the oral presentation.

A doctoral committee shall notify the Faculty of Graduate Studies whether, in its view, notice of defense is to be posted, but the decision to proceed shall be contingent upon the report of the external examiner to the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The candidate will present the dissertation at a public defense. The Chair of a Ph.D. defense will be the Dean of Graduate Studies or designate, such as the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Dean of a Faculty or senior member of graduate faculty from outside the program, to be named by the Dean of Graduate Studies at the time the defense is publicly announced. The chair is non-voting. Questions will be permitted from the general audience at the discretion of the chair. The general audience may remain until the defense is completed and the committee begins its deliberations on the outcome. These deliberations are held in camera.

The minimum basis for acceptance of a Ph.D. dissertation shall be positive unanimity less one vote providing the dissenting vote is not by an external examiner who is present at the defense, and the chair of the defense determines that the examination by the external examiner has been fair to the candidate. Unless an examining committee is unanimously negative, a candidate may resubmit the dissertation once, after a minimum period of three months and before a maximum period of twelve months. The second decision shall be final.

The dissertation must be deposited with the Faculty of Graduate Studies at least two weeks prior to Convocation.

Arrangements for the deposit, including online electronic submission, binding the dissertation and payment of binding fees, where applicable, should be made with Graduate Studies. The University will add the dissertation to the “Scholarship at UWindsor” online institutional repository and transmit a copy of the dissertation to Library and Archives Canada, under the authority of a "Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License", supplied by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and validated by the candidate. The license authorizes Library and Archives Canada and Leddy Library to publish, reproduce, and transform the dissertation in any format, print or online.

The deposited dissertation becomes the property of the University.

Occasionally, it is necessary to withhold the dissertation from public circulation, especially where the student's interests (e.g., patent rights) would be jeopardized by publication. In such cases, a thesis may be held from the public domain, i.e., the online repository, the Leddy Library and Library and Archives of Canada. Such delay in circulation may be requested for six months without cause being given, and an additional period of six months with good cause. Forms for withholding dissertation are available from the Faculty
of Graduate Studies.