Ph.D. in Social Welfare
Dissertation Information
Following advancement to candidacy, doctoral students register for dissertation credits (SOW 7980) while working on their doctoral dissertation. A minimum of 24 dissertation credit hours are required, usually taken with the Chair of one’s Dissertation Committee. The dissertation embodies the results of scholarly research giving evidence of originality and is a contribution to social work/social welfare knowledge.
Dissertation Committee
A Dissertation Committee is formally constituted by filing Form C, which attests that a Dissertation Proposal has been approved. The Dissertation Committee typically grows out of the student’s Doctoral Candidacy Examination Committee. The Dissertation Committee is responsible for approving the dissertation proposal, for supervising the student’s dissertation, and for approving (or not approving) the dissertation in a public, oral dissertation defense. It is composed of four individuals with doctorates: three must be from a school of social work (of whom at least two must be from FIU’s School of Social Work). The fourth member must come from a discipline or program outside of social work. Exceptionally, a person without a doctorate may be invited to serve on this Committee with permission from the University Graduate School. (When choosing dissertation committee members, please note that all members must be present during the oral defense held on campus following the dissertation’s completion, and that FIU does not pay for travel or lodging expenses for any outside members to attend the defense.)
The Chair of a Dissertation Committee must be a member of the FIU School of Social Work and have had served as a member of at least three dissertation committees at FIU or elsewhere prior to being appointed as a chair. Changes in the Dissertation Committee membership appointments require filing Form D-1r.
The Dissertation Committee assumes a great responsibility to help the candidate finish and successfully defend a quality dissertation. The student’s open and frequent collaboration with all committee members is essential. The Dissertation Committee is expected to hold a minimum of three meetings with the student: at the beginning stage, when the Dissertation Proposal is submitted; toward the middle phase, to review and evaluate the student’s progress; and toward the end phase, prior to submitting the dissertation for defense. The Committee must also meet at any other time at the student’s request.
Dissertation Proposal
The Dissertation Proposal typically grows out of the research proposal paper submitted for the Doctoral Candidacy Examination. It follows the usual guidelines of a research proposal, including problem definition, preliminary review of the literature and conceptual framework, research questions or hypotheses, design, sampling plan, measures, data collection strategies, and data analysis methods, ethical issues, time frame. The Dissertation Committee has the opportunity to raise questions, give input, request revisions, and evaluate these revisions before approving the dissertation proposal.
Once approved by the dissertation committee on Form C, the full proposal and a five-page summary, as well as an IRB/Human Subjects approval memorandum as necessary, are forwarded for final approval/signatures to the Doctoral Program Coordinator, the Director of the School, the Academic Dean, and the Dean of the University Graduate School.
Deadline for Submitting a Dissertation Proposal
Students are expected to have a Dissertation Proposal approved at the latest by the end of the semester following the semester in which they have advanced to candidacy. If students fail to meet this deadline, their Major Professor must write a letter to the Doctoral Coordinator explaining the delay, and students may forfeit any financial aid they may be receiving. Students are then granted one additional semester to file their Dissertation Proposal. Students who fail to submit an approved Dissertation Proposal by this second deadline (that is, two semesters after their advancement to candidacy) are terminated from the Ph.D. Program.
Research Review by Institutional Review Board:
All research projects should generally be approved or exempted by the Institutional Review Board. Requirements can be found at the following link: IRB
Failure to apply for and receive IRB approval can have severe consequences. Instructions for completing the Application should be followed. Special attention should be given to the sections dealing with informed consent. These sections require the preparation of a statement concerning the protection of prospective research participants. The information required in an Informed Consent Form includes study dates, purpose, assurances that failure to participate will result in no penalties, right to withdraw, intended uses of the data, etc.
Evaluation of Doctoral Dissertations
The task of evaluating a doctoral dissertation falls upon the members of the candidate’s Doctoral Dissertation Committee. Committee members are expected to respond to written drafts within three weeks at most. The dissertation must conform to the presentation rules described in the Regulations for Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Manual of the University Graduate School.
The following criteria should normally be used to evaluate the dissertation:
After the candidate has submitted a complete draft of the dissertation to the members of the Committee, each member evaluates the dissertation independently and determines whether in his or her opinion the candidate may proceed to the Dissertation Defense. This evaluation must be in writing and should normally cover the criteria listed above and/or pertinent criteria. Copies of these evaluations are appended to Form E, which is signed by the each member of the Dissertation Committee and then forwarded by the Chair to the Doctoral Program Coordinator, the School Director, the Dean of the College, and the Dean of the University Graduate School for final approval/signatures.
It is expected that Form E will be forwarded only if there is unanimous agreement among Committee members, substantiated by the written evaluations, that the candidate is ready for the defense. Until such agreement is reached, it is the candidate’s responsibility, with the help of their Dissertation Committee, to produce a final dissertation draft acceptable to their committee.
Dissertation Defense
Before the final acceptance of the dissertation, the Dissertation Committee schedules an oral examination at which time the candidate must satisfactorily defend the dissertation. The University Graduate School sets specific deadlines each semester for applying for graduation and for the holding of a defense. Students should verify these deadlines well in advance at the following link: University Graduate School
The Chair of the Dissertation Committee should ensure that committee members’ comments and suggestions are incorporated into the defense copy of the dissertation (or should otherwise be verbally acknowledged at the Defense). The Committee may ask a student to make changes in the dissertation and schedule another Defense, or require the student to complete changes to the satisfaction of the Chair. At least three weeks before the Defense, the student should submit a review copy of the dissertation to the Chair of the Dissertation Committee and the other Committee members. Review copies of the dissertation should be complete and well-edited final products.
The University Graduate School requires that the student files an abstract of the dissertation which is publicized for the defense announcement. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee notifies the Doctoral Program Coordinator of the date, time, and place of the dissertation defense. The Coordinator informs faculty members of the dissertation defense and encourages their presence as representatives of the School of Social Work.
The oral Dissertation Defense represents the last public opportunity for the candidate to demonstrate the merit of his or her entire dissertation project. The spirit of the defense is expected to be one of debate and critical inquiry. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee serves as Chair of the Dissertation Defense.
Normally, the candidate first presents a brief overview of the major findings or implications, or of any point he or she wishes to emphasize or clarify, for a maximum of 30 minutes. The candidate is then questioned by each member of the Dissertation Committee, usually starting with the Chair and ending with the external member. The questions asked of the candidate are expected to elicit, literally, a defense of the dissertation by the candidate. Any aspect of the dissertation research (context, values, theory, method, analysis, conclusions, implications, applications, etc.) is open for question and debate among those present. Members of the audience are then invited to ask questions or offer any comments. After the question period is over, the Dissertation Committee retires to an adjoining room to reach its decision and to sign Form F.
Review of the Steps in the Dissertation Process
File an Application for Graduation (available from Registrar’s office) early during the semester in which you expect to graduate.
Upon approval of the Chair and all Committee Members, schedule tentative date for a Dissertation Defense - file form D-5. The application must be filed in sufficient time to allow the Dean of University Graduate School to publish the notice in a monthly calendar of dissertation and thesis defenses for the University community.
Provide Doctoral Program Coordinator with a copy of dissertation for the School’s files.
* All of the above forms are available from the following link:
Publication of Dissertations
All FIU dissertations (and dissertation abstracts) are microfilmed by University Microfilm International (UMI): Dissertation Abstracts International. The style and format of the dissertation should conform to FIU Regulations for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation Manual.