Doctoral Program in Accounting Dissertation

The Advisory Committee is dissolved upon successful completion of all comprehensive examinations and a new committee (the Dissertation Committee) is formed for the dissertation. This committee has sole responsibility for administering the defense of the completed research.

Dissertation Research

After successful completion of the oral examination, the students will register for dissertation research hours. A minimum of 18 hours are required for the Ph.D. degree. Students will register for nine hours of dissertation research per semester in order to maintain continuous enrollment at the University of Houston. A grade for the dissertation research will be assigned by the Chairperson of the student's Dissertation Committee upon successful defense of the final dissertation.

Oral Defense of the Dissertation Proposal

All (Section 6.40) policies regarding the oral defense of the dissertation proposal apply. In addition, two weeks prior to the scheduled defense the student will supply one copy of the dissertation proposal to the departmental Ph.D. Program Coordinator to be made available for inspection by other faculty and students. The Dissertation Committee shall inform the candidate of one of the following decisions within 24 hours of the proposal presentation:

Pass - An unconditional pass (by unanimous vote) with no major qualifications. The candidate may proceed with his/her dissertation.

Conditional Pass - The candidate must correct identified deficiencies of the dissertation proposal to the satisfaction of all members of the Dissertation Committee before proceeding with the dissertation. The Dissertation Committee will provide to the candidate a written account of the committee's reservations. The proposal defense need not be repeated.

Failure - The candidate must significantly revise the dissertation proposal, or begin a new proposal. The Dissertation Committee shall provide to the candidate a written account of the committee's reasons for rejecting the proposal. Any revised or new proposal must again be defended.

Oral Defense of the Dissertation

All policies (see Section 6.50) regarding the oral defense of the dissertation apply. In addition to faculty, Ph.D. students in the Department of Accountancy & Taxation shall be invited to observe the final defense. The Dissertation Committee shall inform the candidate of one of the following three decisions within 24 hours of the dissertation presentation:

Pass - Unconditional pass (by unanimous vote) with no revisions required to the defended draft.

Conditional Pass - A conditional pass requiring minor modifications to the written dissertation not involving additional analyses, or major substantive changes in interpretations or conclusions. The candidate must correct the deficiencies to the satisfaction of all members of the Dissertation Committee before this conditional pass becomes a pass. The dissertation defense need not be repeated.

Failure - The candidate must significantly revise the dissertation to correct serious deficiencies determined by the Dissertation Committee and communicated to the candidate in writing. Any revised dissertation must again be defended.

Program Time Limitation

Consistent with college Guidelines, the candidate has four years from the date of successfully completing the comprehensive examination to complete the dissertation (see college Guidelines).