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Committee: The student is ready for the dissertation process after the successful completion of the qualifying examination.  The membership of the dissertation committee may be the same as that of the doctoral program committee, unless the Ph.D. candidate or major professor recommends a change, and it is approved by the Department Chair. 

The Office ofGraduate Studies requires a minimum of four members; however, the major professor and the committee may decide that a five member committee is advantageous for the student.  In the four member committee, three members are from the academic discipline and there is at least one external member from outside the Department, School, or equivalent, hosting the doctoral program, but may be within the academic discipline.  Also the Chair and at least one other committee member must be ranked faculty members with an appointment in the Department.  Faculty holding joint or adjunct appointments in the degree-granting academic unit (i.e. Department or equivalent) cannot be external members on a student's.  For a five member committee the same rules apply however three members are from the academic discipline and two members are external as described above.

Members of the doctoral committee must be credentialed by the College of Public Health, and the Chair must be of full graduate faculty status. It is the student's responsibility to verify that each committee member is credentialed (Note: Even though a faculty member may have "Professor" rank this does not ensure credentialing for doctoral committees).

Research Proposal: The proposal is presented in a formal meeting to the doctoral committee. This meeting is open to other faculty, other Ph.D. students and other students.  At the discretion of the student and the Committee, guests of the student and the general public may be invited. The proposal date is scheduled by common agreement of the student and the doctoral committee members. This date is made known to and approved by the Department Chair. All doctoral students at USF are responsible for making the initial determination as to whether their research will involve human subjects, http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/officeresearch/humansubjects.html, and following all guidelines of the Graduate School.

The purpose of the dissertation proposal presentation is to provide students with the opportunity to present their research, and if appropriate, refine the methods, gather further information and suggestions from the audience at-large.  Following the proposal presentation, the committee members convene to make final determination of the appropriateness of the research being proposed and to deliberate recommendations for change in the proposal. This acceptance does not preclude the committee from making modifications in the data analysis plan or review of literature at a later date.

Oral Defense: The student's doctoral committee helps guide the student’s research and has final approval of the oral examination and the written product. Dissertation Guidelines appear on the Graduate School website. the vote of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee must be unanimous.  If unanimous agreement cannot be reached, the Doctoral Dissertation Defense Chair notifies the Department Chair (or appropriate equivalent) who will endeavor to resolve the dispute in an expedient fashion. The student will schedule an oral presentation and provide copies of the dissertation to the Committee and Department Chair within time limits required prior to the presentation. Successful completion of the oral examination is the culminating step of the doctoral program.