The following is a summary of the Faculty of Graduate Studies final oral defence requirements applicable to all programs. Research students should contact their graduate program office for any additional defence requirements set by the program as well as for guidance regarding scheduling the final oral defense of their dissertation/thesis/major paper/internship paper.
Failure to comply with the following pre-defence deadlines may result in delay of the final oral defence date:
The student/candidate is to provide a copy of the defence-ready document to each committee member AND to the graduate studies office for format checking within the following deadline:
- at least two weeks prior to the intended oral defense date - for Master’s thesis or major research paper. Refer to the Master's Timeline tracker for guidance.
- at least four weeks prior to the intended oral defense date - for a Doctoral dissertation. Refer to the PhD Dissertation timeline for guidance.
- follow the instructions to submit to graduate studies for pre-defence format checking.
At least eight days in advance of the defence date public notice of the defence must be posted in the academic unit (e.g. on the departmental website) and a copy of the notice received in the Faculty of Graduate Studies from the department (via email to thesis@uwindsor.ca). The department is to ensure that students defending after the Phase I defence deadline are registered for the term in which they are defending before their final oral defence is posted by the department. Review details about Phase I and registration requirements.
- The Chair of a PhD Defence will be procured from within the Faculty of Graduate Studies; the Chair will be a senior member of the Graduate Faculty from outside the program. The Chair will be named on the Notice of Defence. The Chair is non-voting.
- The Chair of a Master's Thesis defence will be a member of graduate faculty who has not served on the candidate's Master's committee, and who is appointed by the Department Head at the time the defence is publicly announced. Review list of current Graduate Faculty members by program. The chair is non-voting.
The final oral defence must be held at least 3 weeks prior to the Spring/Fall Convocation at which the candidate expects to receive the degree.
The candidate will present the dissertation, thesis, or major paper at a public defence. Review the Defence Procedures Guidelines: Doctoral / Master's.
The attendance requirements at final oral defences are outlined in the Faculty of Graduate Studies “Guidelines on attendance at major paper, thesis, and dissertation defences".
The "Defence Procedures Guidelines" and the "Guidelines on Attendance at Major Paper, Thesis and Dissertation Defences" are also available from the "Student Forms" webpage under 'Thesis and dissertation forms'.
After the defence:
- The student is to obtain approval signatures from all committee members and complete the final document upload ("deposit") with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Refer to the post-defence deposit instructions. If students are targeting a specific deadline i.e. for graduation or Phase I completion, it is the student's responsibility to obtain committee approval AND deposit their final document within the deadline for this purpose. Refer also to the Important Dates webpage.
- The department is to submit to Graduate Studies an official Report Form from the final oral defence specifying the final grade. Review instructions for completing and submitting the defence grade Report Form.
Embargo / withholding request
A digital copy of the deposited document will be added as open access to the University of Windsor Scholarship@UWindsor digital insitutional repository as well as to ProQuest (theses and dissertations only). If the document needs to be withheld temporarily from the public for a variety of valid reasons (e.g. pending publication), at the time of depositing the candidate and their research supervisor(s) may request a period of withholding from circulation, as described in the deposit instructions under section titled "Request for withholding/embargo".
The Doctoral Committee will be supplemented by an independent External Examiner at the final oral defence. As an expert in the field of research associated with that of the doctoral candidate, the External Examiner will evaluate the dissertation and will be present (either in person or by teleconference) at the defence.
PhD Dissertation Submission and Defence Timeline Tracker:
For your planning purposes, we have provided a timeline tracker form for PhD Dissertation and Submission and Defence Timelines. If you require accessibility accommodations, please do not hesitate to contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies at adminfgs@uwindsor.ca.
Please note that the timeline form is for personal use only and should not be returned to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
At the beginning of each term, the Faculty of Graduate Studies sets a grace period called "Phase I", to allow eligible research students to complete their final oral defence and deposit without having to register and pay tuition fees for that term, provided the rest of the degree requirements have already been completed in previous terms and that they meet the Phase I eligibility criteria.
Phase I relevant deadlines are posted on the Important Dates webpage.
Students who complete the final oral defence or the deposit after the posted Phase I deadlines for this purpose must register in the current term in the dissertation/thesis/major paper/internship course.
