Dissertation Guide
The dissertation also should demonstrate your potential to make future, original contributions to knowledge, understanding, or methodologies in your discipline.
- For example, the originality of a dissertation may involve the discovery of significant new information or principles of organization, the achievement of a new synthesis, the development of new methods or theories, or the application of established methods to new materials or procedures.
Given the diverse nature of the fields in which dissertations are written and the wide variety of topics that are explored, it is impossible to designate an ideal length for the dissertation. A long dissertation is not necessarily better than a shorter one since the value and scale of the dissertation topic ultimately depends on the quality of its thought and the clarity of its exposition. Your dissertation supervisory committee will determine the appropriateness of these and other issues.
Grades
Grades for a doctoral dissertation are recorded on the permanent record after completion and approval by the department / school and the Office of Graduate Studies. Grades will be either "S" for satisfactory or "U" for unsatisfactory.
The dissertation is not considered to be a publication thus it may be published, in whole or in part, and either quoted or paraphrased, by giving appropriate credit to the relevant Department/School, the Graduate College, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Note: The doctoral supervisory committee guides your progress toward the completion of the dissertation, but it is your responsibility to follow instructions on the preparation of the document and to observe filing deadlines.
Dissertation Submission Procedures
The Doctoral Supervisory Committee guides the student in the conduct and development of the dissertation and approves the final product. Typically, final recommendations from the supervisory committee, or Supervisory Committee Chair, are provided to the student at the time of the final oral examination, although details vary among department/schools and individual faculty. Final approval of the dissertation is contingent upon approval by the supervisory committee and the Office of Graduate Studies.
Procedures
At least three (3) weeks prior to the last published date for holding oral exams, bring the following to the Office of Graduate Studies:
- Application for Final Oral Examination or Waiver
- One copy of each of the Abstract and the Title Page of the dissertation. If the Final Oral Examination is waived, these documents must be presented to the Office of Graduate Studies at least three weeks prior to the last published date for holding oral examinations.
When the final dissertation has been approved by the supervisory committee, the student must submit hardcopies of the following to the Office of Graduate Studies for the final, administrative step in the approval process:
- One paper copy of the final Abstract and Title Page
- Report on Completion of Degree form, signed by supervisory committee
- Completed Survey of Earned Doctorates form - submit the online form electronically OR submit the downloadable form directly to the Office of Graduate Studies.
NOTE: If using the downloadable form, Mac users should open the form in Adobe Acrobat and use the "save via email" link at the bottom.
Note: If the dissertation is to be held pending patent issuance, etc., the student must specify this at the time the PDF file is submitted to ProQuest.
After the documents are submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, the student must upload their dissertation to ProQuest. Instructions for the upload are available online.
Be certain the electronic version, in PDF format is exactly as was approved by the Supervisory Committee. ETDs are to be checked for formatting, pagination, spelling, grammar, and typos by the student and the student's Supervisory Committee.
Since errors may occur when converting from a word processor file to a PDF, it is essential the student review the final version of the PDF.
Note: There is a fee to submit the dissertation through ProQuest. The amounts are noted on their website.
After successfully uploading the dissertation, The Office of Graduate Studies will be notified electronically by ProQuest of the submission and asked to provide final approval. Final approval of the dissertation will not be granted if steps 1-4 above are not completed.
These steps must be completed prior to the end of the day of the Graduate Studies deadline which is 12 working days prior to the commencement ceremony.