dissertation committee umich

Help: Viewing Your Committee Information

Wolverine Access enables you to view committee and evaluations received information. Only doctoral students with an approved Committee tied to a Dissertation Milestone will have committee information to view.

Note: Committee members with an End Date do not display on the View My Committee and Evaluations Received Information page

View My Committee and Evaluations Received Information

Contact Information

Questions? Contact the appropriate office listed below.

Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies Please email Academic Records and Dissertations Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies Please email:  [email protected]

College of Engineering Please email:  [email protected]

Doctoral Committee

Selection of a faculty advisor.

The student is normally assigned to a faculty advisor within two months of the beginning of the student’s first term in the department. Faculty make presentations on research topics during the early weeks of ChE 595. Each student is asked to meet personally with four faculty members and to rank-order preferences for available research projects.

Student/faculty assignments are made by the Graduate Program Chair taking into account both student preferences and faculty preferences and needs.

If your chair doesn’t have a ChE appointment

If the dissertation chair does not have an appointment in the Department of Chemical Engineering, the student is required to have a co-chair in Chemical Engineering on the dissertation committee.  The ChE co-chair serves as the Doctoral Standards Committee Representative at the Thesis Proposal Exam, Data Meeting, and Defense and as one of the two required faculty members from ChE on the dissertation panel.  The co-chair position does not imply co-advising (beyond the role of a thesis committee member) or a financial commitment, but rather the co-chair serves as the official ChE representative on the committee.

Approval of the Dissertation Topic

If the dissertation research differs from the previously passed Thesis Proposal Exam proposal and Project Summary page (formerly Preliminary Examination), that one-page summary should be re-submitted as the dissertation topic proposal.

Role of the Doctoral Committee

The Doctoral Committee consists of at least four graduate faculty members, at least two of whom are from the Chemical Engineering Department, (including the faculty advisor, who serves as Chair of the Committee), and at least one of whom must be from outside the department (designated the “Outside Member”). Formation of Doctoral Committee

Nominations for dissertation committee service are subject to  Rackham Doctoral Degree guidelines .

The Committee’s role is principally to advise the student in the research activity and to uphold departmental and University standards for the conduct of doctoral research.

Each doctoral student should meet with his or her committee as a whole at least once per year, to insure that satisfactory progress is being made toward the PhD degree.

A PhD student who is near the completion of his/her PhD research and is ready to start writing should hold a data meeting with his/her dissertation committee. At this meeting, the dissertation committee is expected to approve the ending of research and recommend that the student begin writing the dissertation. This is typically done two to three months before the proposed dissertation defense date. The student is responsible for submitting the Data Meeting Form within one week after the data meeting to the ChE graduate program office.

In addition to the department data meeting, students are required to register online for a  pre-defense review  with the Rackham Graduate School Office of Records and Dissertations (OARD) at least three weeks prior to the oral defense.

PhD Dissertation and Oral Defense

The Doctoral Committee approves the student’s request to end the dissertation research effort and to write the dissertation describing the research results.

When the dissertation has been written and the format approved by the Rackham Graduate School, it is distributed to members of the Committee, who then conduct the final oral examination (typically ten days to two weeks later). Once the thesis is successfully defended and approved by the committee, the PhD degree is granted at the following commencement.

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Dissertation Formatting

Have questions on how to format your thesis or dissertation?

We’ll help you align your document to fit Rackham Graduate School requirements. 

Use our formatting guide

Our Guide to Microsoft Word for Dissertations includes a template you can modify, along with links to the Rackham Dissertation Handbook and formatting checklist. It also covers how to:

• Apply styles to maintain consistency
• Create a table of contents that keeps itself up to date 
• Include properly formatted landscape pages
• Insert page numbers, footnotes, images, figures, and more

LaTeX guidance

Most of our support is based on using Microsoft Word. If you plan to use LaTeX for your thesis or dissertation we recommend starting with  a LaTeX template designed to meet Rackham’s requirements.

We also have  a workshop recording on using LaTeX to format your U-M dissertation .

Make an appointment

We’re happy to discuss your document or help you solve a problem.

Make an appointment .

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Ph.D. in Architecture Degree Information

Areas of specialization.

Each doctoral student identifies a major and a minor area of specialization and works with faculty advisors associated with those areas. These advisors should be identified and contacted by the middle of the second year of coursework at the latest, although many students have identified a primary advisor before arriving in Ann Arbor.

The major can be defined in dialogue with the student’s advisor; several possible major areas are listed below:

• Building Technology
• Critical Urban Studies
• Computational Design
• Design Studies
• Digital Fabrication
• History and Theory
• Media Studies

The minor is a distinct subject area that complements the major. The minor may lie in Architecture, in Urban and Regional Planning, or in another University of Michigan department, program, or center.

Coursework in the minor must be approved for Rackham graduate credit, deemed appropriate by the Doctoral Advisory Committee, and approved by the major advisor.

Degree Requirements

Please see the  Doctoral Studies Handbook  for further details about these components.

Incremental Requirements

Requirements that must be taken in sequence, as the student moves through Doctoral Studies, include:

• Preliminary Examinations
• Dissertation Proposal
• Dissertation

Standing Requirements

Requirements that must be completed, either as a condition of admission or as a condition of continuance in the program, include:

• Annual Program of Study Report
• English Language Proficiency
• Continuous Enrollment
• Satisfactory Progress

Steps to Candidacy and Beyond

Because many of our entering students come from professional degree programs, we emphasize the importance of the subtle but substantive shift from design-based studio work to research in major subfields of architectural practice and study. This shift often requires significant re-training in basic skills such as reading, writing, and research methods.

Students are required to complete a minimum of 40 credit hours of graded coursework (including core courses and electives) prior to achieving candidacy. All courses must be completed before Preliminary Exam preparation can begin.

Coursework consists of:

• ARCH 801  Doctoral Colloquium [1 credit x 4 terms = 4 credits]
• ARCH 812  Theory in Architectural Research [3 credits]
• ARCH 813 — Research Methods [3 credits]
• ARCH 823 ,  824 , or  825  Area Seminar [3 credits]
• ARCH 839  Research Practicum [3 credits] or URP 801 [3 credits]
• 2 cognate courses  (graduate level courses outside of Architecture) [6 credits]
• 6 additional upper-level classes  (500- to 800-level) in Architecture or as approved by advisor [18 credits]

In summary, students take:

• 16 credit hours of core courses*  (5 courses, including the Research Practicum)
• 9 credit hours  of letter graded courses in the major specialization area (3 courses)
• 9 credit hours  of letter graded courses in the minor specialization area (3 courses)
• 6 credit hours  of letter graded elective coursework (2 courses)

The Preliminary Examination

The preliminary examination forms a bridge between coursework and dissertation research. It is designed to consolidate and test students’ command of their major and minor research fields and is based upon the initial formulation of a dissertation topic. Students should take the preliminary examination by January of the third year (check  candidacy deadlines  on the Rackham website).

Preparation

During the second year, students provide a tentative list of the three members of their Preliminary Examination Committee to their advisor and the Doctoral Coordinator. This committee consists of the student’s primary advisor (normally the anticipated chair of their Dissertation Committee) and at least one other faculty member from Architecture, with the third member invited from the department that houses the student’s minor area. Major and minor advisors should meet with the student in the last weeks of the winter term of the year prior to the examination to define the areas of questioning and to help with the initial reading lists. The student should begin studying over the summer and continue through to the test date of the following semester. One full meeting of the Preliminary Examination Committee should take place early in the fall semester of the third year, and subsequent meetings may occur at periodic intervals until the test date, as requested by student or committee members.

Please note that students must have completed the research practicum and be registered for at least one credit hour of 990 to be eligible to sit for the preliminary examination.

The preliminary examination first requires the compilation of reading lists based on a series of questions articulated with the help of the Preliminary Exam committee. The examination itself consists of two parts: a written component (also comprising two parts) and an oral defense.

The written test consists of a Major area question, and a Minor area question. The student’s major advisor administers the Major area question, after prior consultation with the student. The minor advisor administers the Minor area question, after prior consultation with the student. The written exam is followed by an oral examination with the full Preliminary Examination Committee following the completion and assessment of both components of the written exam. The meeting offers an opportunity to discuss issues not addressed or insufficiently treated in the written exam and can thus provide the committee with further information about the student’s knowledge of the field. The meeting is also the occasion for looking forward and beginning to discuss preparation of the dissertation prospectus.

Failure . A student must pass all parts of the preliminary examination in order to proceed in the degree. They may be asked to retake unsatisfactory portions of the examination. Failure of the Preliminary Exam, however, may also result in permanent suspension from the program. Students cannot re-sit either part of the examination more than once.

The Dissertation

This guideline is intended to help students plan the research and writing of the dissertation, making it possible to finish within two or three years of passing the preliminary examinations, and sometimes earlier. Students should bear in mind that the successful completion of a dissertation is a two-way process of negotiation between student and advisor(s), drawing where appropriate on the advice and expertise of the other members of their committee.

Dissertation Proposal [End of Winter semester of third year]

Students who have passed their Preliminary Examination and achieved candidacy are expected to form a Dissertation Committee comprised of no fewer than four and no more than five members (see below) and to write a prospectus of their doctoral dissertation. This should be completed and defended at the end of the sixth term. All members of the committee should be brought into the discussion about the proposed dissertation as soon after successful completion of the Preliminary Exam as possible. All members of the Dissertation Committee should be present at the prospectus defense.

The proposal details concisely the dissertation project and situates the work in the field. The core of the document is typically no longer than 2500-3000 words in length, and the proposal includes a thesis statement, a review of the state of the field in which the dissertation is intervening, a tentative chapter outline, a research plan (including travel necessary to completion of research and a schedule for completion), and a working bibliography. The student should consult with the advisor and all members of the committee in the months when they are formulating this important document, which serves as the intellectual plan for subsequent dissertation research and as the basis for grant applications. The dissertation proposal defense typically opens with the student offering a brief presentation (no longer than 20 minutes) of their project. This is followed by comments from the members of the committee, and responses from the candidate. Students may pass the defense outright, or they may pass conditionally, with revisions required. Students are normally not permitted to schedule the defense until their committee deems them capable of passing this requirement, although in rare cases it is possible to fail a proposal defense. In that case, students will be given a fixed period of time for revision before a re-examination is scheduled. The defense provides a crucial opportunity for the committee and the student to discuss intellectual and methodological aspects of the project and formulate research plans and strategies to aid the student in timely completion of the work. A copy of the approved proposal with all requested changes should be filed with the degree office within two weeks after the proposal defense.

Dissertation Committee

The Rackham Graduate School requires that each Dissertation Committee have a minimum of four members, three of whom must be regular members of the Rackham faculty. One of these three Rackham faculty members serves as the student’s doctoral advisor; the advisor is primarily responsible for guiding the student through the process of dissertation writing and takes greater responsibility than other members of the committee for the student’s progress. One of these three Rackham faculty members must hold an appointment in a cognate field outside of the Architecture Program. The Program further requires that the dissertation committee include at least two Architecture faculty members. In certain cases, a student may elect to ask two faculty members to serve as co-advisors on their dissertation. Emeritus faculty members do not normally serve on dissertation defense committees after three or more years of retirement.

On the Committee composition, see:  http://www.rackham.umich.edu/downloads/oard/forms/disscommitteeguidelines.pdf

The members of the Dissertation Committee should be registered with the Program directly after the Preliminary Exam defense and well before the Dissertation Proposal defense, since all members of the Dissertation Committee should help the student to craft a viable dissertation project. When necessary, changes may be made in the committee’s membership in consultation with the Coordinator of Doctoral Studies. All changes must be registered with the Coordinator and the Rackham Graduate School.

Faculty Responsibilities

• The dissertation advisor or co-advisors respond to students’ work-in-progress on the dissertation.
• While on sabbaticals or other leave of absence from the Department, advisors or co-advisors continue to supervise their advisees’ doctoral dissertations.
• If a student fails to meet the agreed-upon deadlines for submitting chapters, the student should re-negotiate the missed deadline with the advisor(s) in a timely fashion. While chapter deadlines may shift somewhat, any change to the overall time schedule should be negotiated with the advisor(s), who remains responsible for ensuring satisfactory progress.

Submitting the Dissertation

A student will be expected to present the completed dissertation and defend it at an oral defense conducted by the dissertation committee. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain information on dissertation deadlines, format, and procedures from the Rackham Graduate School well in advance of the defense.  Procedures and requirements are outlined on the  Rackham website .

Students continue to register for  ARCH 995  (8 credits) during the semester in which they defend the dissertation.

A final draft of the dissertation must be submitted to all members of the dissertation committee at least two months in advance of the proposed defense date. It is to a student’s advantage to submit the preliminary final draft to the advisor or co-advisors well before this date. This ensures that any suggested revisions may be properly discussed and incorporated in the final draft in a satisfactory manner.

A dissertation can be completed within a given academic year only if the defense takes place before the end of the winter semester. This ensures that the advisor or co-advisors and members of the dissertation committee will be in a position to attend the defense. Spring or summer term defenses may also be scheduled if all committee members agree.

The entire dissertation committee (minimum four members) must be present at the dissertation defense. A speaker phone or skype connection will be set up if one or two members are resident outside of Ann Arbor. The defense is public and peers may attend.

After the defense, the student must incorporate corrections required at the defense and submit a final version to Rackham, approved by the advisor or co-advisors or a proxy by the  Rackham deadline . The due date for submitting the final, approved dissertation in a given term is set by Rackham and is absolutely inflexible. Should a student miss the deadline for a given term by even a day, they will be compelled to pay tuition to enroll the following term.

Rackham sets specific dates each academic year for receiving the degree. These roughly correspond to the following: early October for a December degree; mid-April for a May degree; and late June for an August degree. Students and advisors should consult the Rackham website for specific dates in a given year.

Please see the  Doctoral Studies Handbook  for further description of these degree components.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Rackham Graduate School?

The  Rackham Graduate School  and Taubman College work as a team to manage the application review process. As an applicant you will be interacting with both offices.

Do I need to submit GRE scores?

No. Effective for 2022 applicants and beyond, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are no longer required nor considered for admission to any graduate program at Taubman College.

Do I need an official transcript to apply?

Yes. The Rackham Graduate School requires applicants to upload a scanned copy, front and back, of their  official transcript /academic record issued by the Registrar or Records Office to the applicant, to ApplyWeb for each bachelor’s, master’s, professional, or doctoral degree earned or in progress.

Is there an interview process?

Yes. As part of the competitive process of admission evaluation, the Admissions Committee will conduct personal interviews with each applicant. Interviews are arranged after the deadline and applications have been reviewed.

My English proficiency score doesn’t meet the minimum requirement, can I still apply?

Yes, you can still apply. However, Taubman College doesn’t provide conditional admission. We encourage you to retake the test until you receive the minimum score.

How do I check the status of my application?

Applicants can verify application data and status online approximately 10–15 days after their application is submitted. The admissions office will send an email to each applicant that includes the University of Michigan Identification Number (UMID). You will need to use a login ID and password to confirm some personal data before viewing your application status. Student Service staff will try to keep all materials received current. However, please allow sufficient time for processing before contacting the office. See the  Apply page  application status and evaluation section.

When will I receive my admission decision?

Applicants will be notified of their admission decision by late February or early March. If you are admitted, you will be able to see that you have been recommended for admission via the online Wolverine Access web application status portal. Decision letters are sent via email.

Are there any resources available for International Students with questions related to the visa application, health insurance or Life in Ann Arbor?

Yes. The Website of the International Center at the University of Michigan offers helpful resources for incoming international students related to topics such as Immigration and Visas, Health Insurance and Housing or Local Transportation.

https://internationalcenter.umich.edu/resources

When do I need to enter my decision?

April 15th.

Do I need to secure an advisor prior to applying?

No, we only encourage students to become familiar with our Ph.D. faculty and research interests. Please feel free to reach out to faculty directly as well.