College of Nursing - Dissertation Guide

8 Dissertation Defense All students are required to orally defend their dissertation at the NSU Fort Lauderdale / Davie campus. The dissertation committee members can attend in person or through telecommunication methods. The defense is the final presentation to the dissertation committee and invited guests. The College of Nursing will post notification in the PhD student center and to all Health Professions Division faculty and students. Format for Dissertation Defense. o Once approval is given to schedule the defense, the student is responsible to contact each committee member for availability and schedule the defense. o The student should email a PowerPoint presentation, and the current copy of the dissertation to each committee member 48 hours before the defense date. o Students will bring copies of the presentation for the audience. o The student will have 30 minutes to present, followed by a question and answer session. o Following the question and answer session, the committee will deliberate and give their decision and recommendation to the student. The student should be prepared to explain the background of the problem, purpose of the research, philosophical underpinnings and theoretical framework, rationale for the approach, the findings and the interpretation. The student will summarize their dissertation, critique it, and then answer questions asked by the committee members. The student should be prepared to explain the dissertation's contribution to knowledge and professional practice. A unanimous vote of all committee members is required to pass the dissertation defense requirement for completion of the degree. Dissertation Manuscript It is mandatory that candidates use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (latest edition) for grammatical, style, and formatting issues. This is the official style manual for the preparation of dissertations in the PhD program in nursing. Approved exceptions to the APA for dissertations in the College of Nursing include: 1. No page headers. 2. No running heads. 3. Page numbering begins with Chapter One (upper right). 4. Lower case roman numerals are to be used on the preliminary pages beginning with the abstract page (p. v). The lower case roman numerals should be centered at the bottom of the page. The first four pages, representing the title page, signature pages and the copyright page are not numbered. 5. All text should be double-spaced with the exception of: • Title Page • Signature Page • Table of Contents • Block Quotations • Appendices 6. 1.5 inch margin on the left, 1 inch margin on the remaining sides. 7. Top margin of first page of each new chapter is 2 inch all other top margins are 1inch.