Dissertations
Guidelines for dissertations in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society are detailed below. Students should also be familiar with the dissertation policies listed in the university catalog (AP.6.10).
Dissertation Proposal Stage
Doctoral students who have completed all required coursework and have an approved Major Area Paper (MAP) on file are ready to begin the dissertation proposal stage of the program.
Prior to requesting enrollment in CRIM 998, you must identify a dissertation topic and have an acting dissertation chair who has agreed to work with you to develop the proposal. The acting chair must be a full-time member of the graduate faculty in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society.
You must submit Dissertation Form 1 to the Director of Graduate Programs at least two weeks prior to the start of the semester in which you first enroll in CRIM 998. The Director/Coordinator will email you a code so that you can register for CRIM 998 via Patriot Web.
For subsequent semesters of enrollment, the department will send the registration code once the registration window opens.
A tutorial on adjusting variable credit for CRIM 998 can be found here.
You must receive approval for your dissertation committee prior to defending your dissertation proposal. The CLS requirements for the structure of dissertation committees are available here.
CLS dissertation committees must have at least three members: Chair (Member #1), Member #2, and Member #3. All three must have a full-time faculty appointment in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and hold Graduate Faculty status. A fourth committee member (Member #4) is optional and requires prior approval from the Director of Graduate Programs if they are not CLS Graduate Faculty.
You must submit Dissertation Form 2 to the Director of Graduate Programs by the first day of classes the semester you intend to defend your dissertation proposal. For summer defenses, this form is due by the first day of spring classes.
Additional member (optional):
You may request to add a fourth member to your dissertation committee (Member #4). To be eligible, the individual must have expertise related to the student's field of study, a PhD degree, and a current faculty appointment or suitable professional experience. If external to the university, they must also be approved as Affiliate Faculty at George Mason before they can serve on a dissertation committee.
If you would like to add an additional member to your committee who is not CLS Graduate Faculty, you must submit the External Committee Member Request Form for prior approval. You should submit this request form as soon as possible (especially if Affiliate Faculty status is needed) and no later than the deadline for Dissertation Form 2 (first day of classes of defense semester).
Once you have formed a dissertation committee and prepared a proposal, you must schedule an oral dissertation proposal defense. All members of the committee must be present at the defense (if necessary, participation via videoconference or teleconference is acceptable).
We recommend that you follow these timelines for the semester you intend to defend your proposal:
Suggested Timelines for Dissertation Proposal Defenses by Semester
You must notify the Director of Graduate Programs and the Graduate Program Coordinator of the date, time, and location of the proposal defense by the CLS deadline for the applicable semester (see below).
CLS deadlines for proposal defense notification:
Fall: October 1
Spring: March 1
Summer: June 1
You must successfully defend your dissertation proposal and obtain committee approval signatures on Dissertation Form 3.
To advance to candidacy (ATC), you must complete all coursework required on your approved program of study, have an approved Major Area Paper on file, and have successfully defended your dissertation proposal.
You must submit your ATC paperwork (Dissertation Form 3 and an electronic copy of your dissertation proposal) to the Director of Graduate Programs and the Graduate Program Coordinator by the CLS deadline for the applicable semester (see below).
CLS deadlines for ATC paperwork:
Fall: November 10
Spring: April 10
Summer: July 10
Dissertation Research Stage
Doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy are ready to begin the dissertation research stage of the program.
Once you've officially advanced to candidacy, the Director/Coordinator will email you a code so that you can register for CRIM 999 via Patriot Web. For subsequent semesters of enrollment, the department will send the registration code once the registration window opens.
A tutorial on adjusting variable credit for CRIM 999 can be found here.
Dissertations must adhere to specific university formatting guidelines. You must submit your dissertation to University Dissertation & Thesis Services (UDTS) for both format review and final submission by specific deadlines in your final semester.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the formatting requirements and the UDTS format review/submission processes as you begin to write your dissertation. Format templates are available for your use.
We recommend that you complete the format review process well before your dissertation defense as it may involve several rounds of review. The review process is done electronically (via email) and only focuses on proper formatting of the dissertation, not content.
Once you have completed your dissertation research and have received approval from your committee to move forward, you must schedule an oral dissertation defense. All members of the committee must be present at the defense (if necessary, participation via videoconference or teleconference is acceptable). The university community is invited to attend.
We recommend that you follow these timelines for the semester you intend to defend your dissertation:
Suggested Timelines for Dissertation Defenses by Semester
You must provide the following defense information to the Graduate Program Coordinator to be entered into the CHSS notification system at least 21 calendar days prior to your scheduled defense:
- Full name (as you want it to appear in the announcement and university commencement program)
- Title in sentence case (e.g., Title in Sentence Case)
- Abstract
- Chair
- Committee members
- Date/time (include start and end time)
- Location (if virtual, please send link in email)
Commencement Program: If you would like your name and dissertation title to appear in the university commencement program, you must submit your defense information by the CLS deadline for the applicable semester:
Fall graduation: September 15
Spring graduation: February 15
Summer graduation: May 15
Reminder: Complete the Format Review process with UDTS if you have not already.
Once your committee has approved your dissertation document (at the defense or after additional revisions), you must complete a signature sheet and submit your dissertation to University Dissertation & Thesis Services (UDTS) following their process and deadlines.
Helpful information:
- Prepare your signature sheet prior to your defense and have it ready to collect signatures (in person, or electronically as a .pdf form). A specially formatted signature sheet for CLS doctoral students is available on this webpage for your use.
- All committee members must sign the signature sheet in black ink (can be digital images of their handwritten signatures) and in the order listed on your advancement letter from CHSS.
- Once your committee members have signed their approval, email the signature sheet to the Director of Graduate Programs and the Graduate Program Coordinator to obtain the final department signatures.
Note: It is NOT typical for CLS students to embargo their dissertations. Please contact the Director of Graduate Programs if you believe an embargo may be necessary; this requires several levels of approval.