The purpose of a Thesis/Dissertation Committee is to guide the development of the thesis/Dissertation work, evaluate the written thesis/dissertation proposal (for Ph.D. students) and the written thesis/dissertation. Upon approval of the thesis/dissertation, the Thesis/dissertation Committee signs the ETD form to the University stating that the thesis/dissertation is acceptable. In the MME Department, the Thesis/dissertation Committee serves as both the Supervisory and Research Committees as defined in the FIU Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual. For the purposes of this MME Department Graduate Handbook, the terms “thesis” and “dissertation” are considered to be equivalent.

Committee Appointments

Thesis Committees must be chosen prior to completing 15 credits for MS students. A minimum of three members must be nominated for MS Thesis Committees (2 members minimum from major field, 1 member from minor field if declared).

Dissertation Committees must be chosen prior to the Proposal Defense for Ph.D. students. A minimum of five members must be nominated for Ph.D. Dissertation Committees, with a minimum of one member being from outside the MME Department.

Appointed members of Thesis/Dissertation Committees must be eligible to teach a graduate level course, must be experienced in directed independent study, and must have a recent record of scholarly work.

Appointed members of Ph.D. Dissertation Committees must have terminal degrees in their fields of expertise (Ph.D., M.D., Sc.D., etc.). Nominations for thesis/dissertation committees are made using the FIU Division of Graduate Studies M-1/D1. This form should be submitted to the MME Graduate Program director following the advisor’s approval.