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Doctor of Science in Computer Science Handbook

Final Oral Defense

Doctoral students are expected to be able to present ideas in a cogent manner both in writing and orally. The DSCS program requires one oral defense conducted at the conclusion of the study in your DIS999 course, once committee and university approval has been granted. The final oral dissertation defense is the last formal step in the dissertation process. The purpose of the oral defense is to ensure the student can present their research and appropriately answer questions related to the findings and implications.

 

Notes About the Oral Defense

  • Oral defenses occur on Zoom (camera must be turned on) and are scheduled for 60 minutes.
  • The Chair will provide the Dean of the School of Business and Technology a time for the final defense and the Dean will provide the committee with a Zoom link.
  • The defense will be recorded and archived at Aspen University.
  • Any faculty or student affiliated with Aspen University may attend the final oral defense and a link will be posted in the DSCS lounge for members of the program to attend and/or family and friends.Anyone who is not part of the committee will be muted and not allowed to speak during the completion of the final oral defense.
  • Candidates must use the Aspen University approved slide deck for their PowerPoint presentations (this slide deck can be found in the DSCS lounge).
  • The student will present their final PowerPoint presentation with a time allotment of 30-35 minutes to be followed by a question-and-answer period from the committee. This Q&A period will last about 10-15 minutes and committee deliberation lasts 5-10 minutes.
  • Students will be asked to leave the meeting room prior to committee deliberation and will be called back once a decision is made.
  • Dispositions for an oral defense are:
    • Approved with no changes (pass)
  • If the decision of the committee is not unanimous, the case is referred to the Dean for resolution.
  • Approved with changes (pass) – note that minor changes at this stage are common; if changes are required, the student must submit the changes and receive approval from the chair prior to the course end date
  • Not approved
    • If the decision of the committee is a “Not Approved,” the chair and Dean formulate a course of action that may include collecting more data, re-analysis of data, requiring an editor, etc.
    • A candidate can only re-defend their dissertation once; a disposition of “Not Approved” on the second attempt results in dismissal
    • Is the candidate cannot make the required changes or re-defend before the course end allotted timeframe, the student must retake the course courses. This option may only be exercised once.

 

Following the oral defense, the Faculty Mentor submits the final grade for DIS999 and the manuscript is sent to the Dean for final review and approval. Once approved, the manuscript will be available within the Aspen University Digital Repository located in the Aspen Library. There will also be an option to submit to ProQuest with University approval.