Each Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) must consist of four members:

• A Dissertation Advisor (DA), who is a member of the Graduate Faculty of the university and who normally will be a full-time faculty member in the Faculty of Social Work, and
• Two other members who are members of the Graduate Faculty of the university. Normally, these members are from the FSW.
• One member who is external to the FSW. If this person is not a member of the Graduate Faculty of the university, he or she must be nominated by the PhD Coordinator and approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies as an Associate or Special member of the Graduate Faculty of the university.
  

After the candidate has completed the requirements for the comprehensive paper, and in consultation with the candidate, the DA submits the following to the PhD Coordinator:

• The names of the proposed committee members,
• The topic or title of the proposed Dissertation,
• A brief rationale identifying the expertise that each committee member brings, and the relevance of the composition of the committee as a whole to the student’s topic.
• If a proposed member is not a member of the Graduate Faculty, a CV for that member should be included.
  

The Coordinator takes this information to the PhD Admissions, Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee for approval. Once the DAC has been approved by this Committee, the names are sent to the Dean of Graduate Studies for approval. All members of the DAC must review and approve the dissertation proposal. All members of the DAC must also review a complete draft of the dissertation prior to the oral defence and verify that it is ready to go forward for defence.

For further information regarding Regulations and Procedures Governing the Doctoral Dissertation click here.