Doctoral Defense Digest: Preparation, Process, Peculiarities, and (Pink) Paperwork Ben Treweek Graduate Skills Seminar Austin Student Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America February 15, 2019

Overview of Process Pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam in Acoustics Become a Ph.D. Candidate Write the Dissertation Submit Pre-Defense Paperwork DEFEND! Addendum: CELEBRATE! Submit Post-Defense Paperwork

Writing the Dissertation START WRITING EARLY! Acquire the LaTeX template (included in ZIP); some useful packages to add: amssymb: symbols like ≳ for “greater than approximately”, etc. graphicx: enhanced support for graphics notoccite: number bibliographic citations once chapters start, not in Table of Contents caption and subcaption: useful for arrangement of multiple plots in a figure Generally, send chapters to your advisor one by one, then make edits accordingly Don’t be afraid to get on their case if they’re taking a while!

Pre-Defense Process Make sure you are registered in ME or EE x99W: DISSERTATION Pick a date and schedule with your dissertation committee Four weeks before defense: Send all committee members a complete copy of your dissertation Complete “Request for Final Oral Examination” form Type and print on PINK paper (found on 5th floor of ETC) Get signatures from your committee; proxy signatures allowed Get signature from Graduate Adviser (currently Dr. Wei Li) Two weeks before defense: Submit above form to MAI 101 with… dissertation front matter (committee membership page, title page, abstract, table of contents, list of figures/tables) additional forms (human participants, restricted regions) Canvas Copyright Tutorial grade printout showing 100% One week (or so) before defense: “Report of Dissertation Committee” form (used to be “gold form”, but no more) emailed to you and your adviser; BRING A COPY OF THIS TO YOUR DEFENSE NOTE: The first semester you are a Ph.D. candidate, you register in ME or EE x99R: DISSERTATION You can pick a date however you like, but professors really don’t like to have to click through dozens of options in a Doodle poll, so it helps to narrow things down by picking a two-week period (or so) and eliminating all times when they have to be teaching classes NOTE: Electronic signatures are acceptable as well; I had to do this with Wei Li

DEFENSE Talk should be around the length of a seminar: 50-55 minutes to leave time for clarifying questions and public questions at the end Your committee is the audience; include enough for the talk to flow, but do not worry about bringing the entire room up to speed Closed session: audience leaves, you and your committee remain Committee members usually ask questions one by one “Could you clarify this?” “Did you consider [alternative method]?” “What might be the implication of [tangentially related idea]?” Leave the room so your committee can make you sweat for a bit… Shake hands, get signatures on “Report of Dissertation Committee” form; electronic signatures allowed, but NO PROXY SIGNATURES!

Post-Defense Process Apply for graduation; Spring 2019 deadline is Friday, April 19 NOTE: If your defense is after the deadline, you must do this BEFORE you defend Complete exit surveys Association of American Universities Data Exchange National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates Submit electronic copy of dissertation; NO MORE CHANGES! Turn in required printed pages “Report of Dissertation Committee” form “Statement on Research with Human Participants” form “Statement of Research in Restricted Regions” form Copyright Tutorial on Canvas showing 100% grade Dissertation front matter NOTE: It’s not clear whether the “Statement of Research in Restricted Regions” form is needed, because it IS NOT listed on the “Deadlines and Submission Instructions” website, but it IS listed in the instructions for the pink form… so, to be safe, have one anyway

Peculiarities What if a member of your committee cannot attend your defense? This is not a deal-breaker, but only ONE committee member can be absent, and it CANNOT be the supervisor What if a member of your committee can no longer be on your committee (e.g., cannot sign “Report of Dissertation Committee”)? Two possibilities: Prior to 30 days before defense: submit “Request for Change in Doctoral Committee” form removing them Within 30 days of defense: same form as above, but additional attachment with removed member’s signature Both cases above: Supervisor, Co-Supervisor, Graduate Advisor, and Graduate Dean all need to sign NOTE: Only four (4) committee members needed officially, but it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to get at least one more NOTE: A committee member who attends remotely (e.g., Skype) does NOT count as absent

Useful Links ME PhD Checklist: http://me.utexas.edu/degree-information/graduate-program/degree-information/phd-checklist Final Oral Examination Guidelines: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/theses-and-dissertations/doctoral-candidacy/oral-examinations Deadlines and Submission Instructions: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/graduation/deadlines-and-submission-instructions