AT WHAT POINT ARE YOU COMPLETELY FINISHED?
AFTER YOU HAVE WRITTEN YOUR DISSERTATION
There are no forms for you to complete.
Below is the official policy on choosing readers and what their responsibilities are concerning the approval of your dissertation:
Reader’s Report/Scheduling your Presentation and Defense
Choosing
Readers (from text in the Graduate Board's official write-up):
"A Reader's Report must be submitted for all students receiving a Ph.D.,
or a Masters Degree with essay. Dissertation and thesis readers are selected
and appointed by the chair or appropriate faculty of the sponsoring department
or committee. Any duly appointed member of a department or committee holding
the rank of assistant professor or higher (excluding lecturers) is eligible for
selection as a referee without prior approval. The Graduate Board Office must
approve readers from outside the University, or from any non-Ph.D. sponsoring
department, laboratory or institute within the University. Such approval will
be forthcoming only when such an appointment is justified in writing by the
chair of the department or committee making the request." The Graduate
Board requires a minimum of two readers for Ph.D. students.
The department of Computer Science’s requirement is that PhD students must have three readers. It is up to the student's and his or her advisor's discretion as to whether the 3rd committee member is external (e.g., from another university), which the department suggests but does not require.
Once you have finished your dissertation, and your readers let you know that it's time to present and defend, here's what you do:
Call, email or visit Debbie Deford in NEB 224 and let her know you are ready to present. Presentations are usually made in Hackerman B-17 during CS seminar times on Tuesday or Thursday mornings at 10:30. The defense can be held in the same room if it is available, or the candidate and his readers can move to a smaller room for it. If you prefer, your presentation and defense can be held on different days. After both the presentation and defense are finished, the head of your thesis committee will write a "Reader's Letter".
Below is the Graduate Board's official description of this
document:
"The two " (or in the Computer Science
Department's case, three) "principal readers are responsible for
submitting a written report recommending acceptance of the dissertation. The
report should testify that the work is a significant contribution to knowledge
worthy of publication in its present form or with appropriate modifications and
that it is worthy of acceptance in partial fulfillment of the University
requirements for the Ph.D.. It must contain the student’s full name and the
complete final title of the dissertation. The letter must be on letterhead,
signed by at least two readers, and include the readers’ ranks, titles,
departments, and schools. The letter must be in the Graduate Board office by
the deadline specified in the Graduate Board Calendar."
The document must be signed by the advisor and at least two other readers. In the Computer Science Department, all of the readers will sign. The advisor brings the letter to the Graduate Program Coordinator who completes a form, gets it signed by the Chair of the Department, attaches the original of the Reader's Letter to it and takes it to the Graduate Board.
The next step is to submit your dissertation to the Commercial Binding Office at the library, obtain and scan the receipt and email homewoodgradboard@jhu.edu a scanned copy of your submission receipt and the title of your dissertation in the body of the email. Please copy cthornton@jhu.edu.
Dissertation
The Guidelines for the Preparation of Dissertations and These are available
from the Graduate Board website, http://www.library.jhu.edu/services/cbo/diss.html the department, and the Commercial Binding Office of the
Milton S. Eisenhower Library. Dissertations not conforming to the Johns Hopkins
University guidelines will not be accepted in fulfillment of the University
requirements. Dissertations must be submitted before the deadlines published in
the Graduate Board Calendar. All dissertations must be in the library by the
deadline dates on the schedule**. All attendant fees must be paid at the time
of submission. The department will pay for its copy of the dissertation, not
the first copy. Please stop by the Computer Science office to get a form to
take to the library with your dissertation to authorize them to charge our
department for its copy.
** The graduate board meets three times a year. The schedule is on their website: http://www.graduateboard.jhu.edu/deadlines.htm.
Letters of Degree Status from the University
Once your Reader’s letter is in the Graduate Board Office along with your approval certification signed by the Department Chair, and you have submitted your dissertation to the Commercial Binding Office at the Library and you have sent the receipt and title to the Graduate Board, you are finished. If you are planning to start a new job and your new employer wants a letter from Johns Hopkins University that you have indeed completed the requirements for your PhD. Here are your options:
You can get a letter from the department stating that the Department of Computer Science certifies that you have completed all departmental requirements, including submission of your dissertation. Please request this from the department Graduate Program Coordinator and include to whom the letter should be addressed. It can be addressed “To Whom It May Concern”.
The Graduate Board will write a letter for you if they have received the receipt from the library stating that you have submitted your dissertation. You can request this letter from the Graduate Board Office in Whitehead 101 or you can do it through the Graduate Program Coordinator.
You can get a letter from the Registrar only after the Gradaute Board has approved your degree conferral, has sent their approval to the University President and the president's letter has been received in the Registrar's office.
Student Employment
Your advisor will determine when your stipend should be
discontinued. The rules are different for US citizens and International
Students. Here is a link to the page in Student Employment that explains
Student Employment eligibility and at what point it is no longer valid.
http://semps.ses.hsa.jhu.edu/stujob/employer.cfm?pid=3&sub=9&bk=stu
Evaluation
The Dean's Office is interested in comments of our new PhD's in relation to the education they received at Johns Hopkins. There is an evaluation that you are requested to complete. Paper forms are available in the Commercial Binding office at the library, or you can complete the survey online at: http://survey.norc.uchicago.edu/doctorate/index.jsp
PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH
The Department would love to know what you are doing and how to contact you. We are very proud of our graduates and want to share your successes with the rest of the Johns Hopkins University community. Of course, we will never give your information to anyone without first asking your permission, and never to anyone to whom we would not want our own information given. Email any changes, good news, accomplishments, etc. to cthornton@jhu.edu.