FAQ – PhD Dissertation Committee Selection

How is the dissertation committee selected and assembled?

The assembly and composition of the Dissertation Committee for the doctoral degree in Public Administration at Tennessee State University is as follows (see also Table 1 at end of this document for overview).

As soon as a student passes the PhD preliminary exam, he or she should approach a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration who holds full Graduate Faculty status regarding chairing the Dissertation Committee (“Committee”), and present  his or her potential dissertation topic(s).  The faculty member and the student will discuss the student’s research interests and strengths to determine appropriateness of the fit.  Once such a faculty member has agreed to serve as the student’s committee chair (“Chair”), the student continues to develop the potential dissertation topic(s) while completing PhD coursework.  Also during this coursework phase, the student works with the Chair to identify (at a minimum) the potential second and third members of the Committee from among the Department of Public Administration faculty (must have at least associate Graduate Faculty status):  this step must take place prior to the defense of the dissertation prospectus.

The student’s Chair determines the timing of selecting the fourth and fifth members of the Committee, which may be either prior to, or after the defense of the student’s prospectus.  If they have been selected prior to the prospectus defense, the fourth and/or fifth members may also choose to participate in the prospectus defense. This full committee of five members will sit as the final examining body for the dissertation defense. Every committee at the point of dissertation defense must have a majority of members from the Public Administration department faculty; all committees will have at least three and no more than four members from the Public Administration department faculty, and at least one individual (“Reader”) who is from a different department.

Chair: The chair of the committee is the primary point of contact and guidance for the student as he or she develops the proposal and conducts the dissertation research, though all committee members are available to contribute to the development of the final dissertation project.  The PhD program advisor continues to provide advice to the student regarding meeting program and curricular requirements, but the Chair provides guidance regarding the format of the prospectus, the preparation of the prospectus defense talk, and other matters relating to the actual dissertation research. The Chair may also in some cases advise the student regarding elective selection relevant to the topic, in consultation with the PhD program advisor. As the student’s research interests coalesce, the Chair and the student work together to identify appropriate additional potential members of the committee for the student to approach.

Second and Third members:  These individuals are both from the Department of Public Administration faculty and they must have at least associate-level Graduate Faculty status. They are selected based on content, theory, policy, or methods expertise relevant to the student’s topic, and along with the chair, they represent the Department on the committee. It is permitted to instead add a third member who is from a different TSU department, if a particular expertise is desired or needed during the early phases of the prospectus and dissertation processes.  However, in that case, in order to attain a final committee with at least three TSU Public Administration faculty members, the fourth member selected must be another Department of Public Administration faculty member (see below).

Fourth Member:  The fourth member may be (1) another Department of Public Administration faculty with at least associate-level Graduate Faculty status, (2) a faculty member from another University department with relevant expertise, in either case with at least associate-level Graduate Faculty status (as long as there are already three TSU public administration faculty on the committee), or (3) a relevant expert from another university or from an appropriate practice/industry setting who agrees to serve, with the understanding that service is voluntary and uncompensated (as long as there are already three TSU public administration faculty on the committee).  However, even if the individual is an expert from outside the University, he or she must hold the terminal degree (typically the doctorate) in public administration or appropriate related field given the topic and be eligible for “Adjunct Graduate Faculty” status at the University. (This status and service is unrelated to formal, contractual compensated adjunct faculty teaching appointments, and serving as a committee member does not imply any such role for the external expert.)  The committee chair and Department Chair will ensure that the expert from outside the University who agree to serve as the fourth member is eligible for adjunct Graduate Faculty status and that the status is achieved before the individual acts formally in a committee capacity (signs defense forms or dissertations).

Reader: The reader must be a Graduate Faculty member (associate or full) from a department other than Public Administration, on the Tennessee State University faculty.  Often the reader is from a related field relevant to the dissertation such as Economics and Finance; Political Science; Public Health; and so on.  While the reader often will have specific substantive or methodological expertise to contribute to the dissertation process, as an “external member” the reader also represents the interests of the University, Graduate School and Graduate Council in ensuring quality of doctorates granted and of the process involved. That role is why the reader must be a University graduate faculty member from outside the department.

The following table summarizes acceptable models of committee composition, meeting the criteria described above, and may be a useful reference for Chairs and students.

Table follows on next page

created | 04.06.2016

last edited | 04.29.2016

Table 1.  Models of four acceptable committee configurations.  These configurations meet the criteria explained above, and each results in a majority of at least three TSU PA faculty members as well as a non-PA “Reader” from a different department at TSU (“PA” = Public Administration). Students should review these models with their Chair as they plan together who to approach to serve. If any other configuration is considered, the Department Chair should be consulted. Possession of, or eligibility for Graduate Faculty status, is an important criterion for all members, not included in this table – see details in text.