• For Prospective Students
  
• For Current Students
  
• For Alumni & Friends
  
• For Faculty & Staff
  


• News
  
• Events & Conferences
  
• SOE Calendar
  
• Our Partners
  

Dissertation and Committee Selection

Pre-dissertation Seminars
The pre-dissertation seminar assists students with the transition from formal studies to the research and writing of the doctoral dissertation. The final project of the pre-dissertation seminar is intended to be a research proposal. The proposal is to be accepted by each of the student�s doctoral dissertation committee members.

At a minimum, in the pre-dissertation seminar, the following will be addressed:

• Formats for dissertations, including research expectations.
• The format of a dissertation proposal. 
• Ethics in research, and the work of the Institutional Review Board.

Dissertation
The doctoral dissertation is expected to be a scholarly work that involves original research and will contribute to the field of organization development. The question being studied and the methodology used to conduct the research are developed over the course of the doctoral program. Formal research cannot begin until:

• The comprehensive examination is passed. 
• A research proposal is accepted.
• The Institutional Review Board has approved the research.

Dissertation Guidelines

The Dissertation Chair and Committee
Each doctoral candidate must have a dissertation committee, composed of a dissertation committee chair and at least two other members. When creating a dissertation committee be aware of the following:

• The dissertation chair is a faculty member with whom the student will work most closely during the dissertation process. The chair must have an earned doctorate and be a member of the St. Thomas faculty.
• One of the members of the committee, including the chair, must be from the Organization Learning and Development Department.
• Other members will approve the proposal and be the readers for the completed dissertation.
• Committee members who are not full-time graduate faculty members may be included with the written permission of the department chair.
• Students are responsible for providing the department assistant with contact information for each committee member, both on- and off-campus. (Note, non-St. Thomas committee members who meet the criteria for being on a committee are considered St. Thomas employees and must complete new hire paperwork. The task of processing the new hire paperwork and of requesting payment for committee members is the responsibility of the department assistant.)

Choosing the Committee Chair

As the doctoral candidate prepares to begin the proposal, the doctoral candidate chooses a dissertation committee chair. At this time the duties of the student advisor cease. The chair should be someone who has knowledge and experience that will help the candidate develop and complete the dissertation. Faculty may not be able to honor every request to chair a committee due to the number of advisees and dissertations the faculty member already has. Faculty who are not from the Organization Learning and Development Department must be approved by the department chair.