Thesis and Dissertation Requirements
All graduate and post-graduate degree students are required to submit a thesis and or dissertation at the end of their respective programs. The Master’s thesis must contain between 50–75 pages and the Doctoral dissertation must contain between 75-125 pages. Note that approval shall be based upon theological content and literary excellence rather than length. Requirements for dissertations for each degree may be changed at any time by the President at his discretion, upon the variance of circumstances and life-earned experience of the student.
For more information on thesis and dissertation requirements please contact your academic advisor. For assistance with your thesis or dissertation visit our student support office. In some cases, permission may be granted for a project in place of a thesis or dissertation. You will need to speak with your academic advisor for more information concerning this.
Dissertation Defense
Once the participant has prepared and delivered the dissertation manuscript, the faculty will conduct a formal review process. When completed, questions, concerns, and suggestions will be sent to the student for their consideration. Following receipt of the research manuscript, it typically takes the faculty four to six weeks to complete the physical review and prepare questions and commentary for student response/defense. The dissertation critique is intended to allow a detailed investigation of the underlying review of the literature, the dissertation methodology, the mechanics of the project, the presentation of the findings, and the preliminary conclusions of the doctoral candidate. The student is required to respond in writing to each of the points raised by the critique. This is the “defense” portion of the dissertation process. One outcome of the dissertation review/defense process is a set of final expectations directing the participant through the remaining tasks for completing an acceptable dissertation manuscript.
