This information is offered to guide BPhil candidates as they plan for graduation and the thesis defense; students are encouraged to share this information with their thesis advisors.
You are responsible for reading the following information. Not adhering to the requirements listed below could jeopardize your graduation.
If you have any questions or require any assistance as you progress, please contact David Hornyak, assistant dean of the David C. Frederick Honors College, at hornyak@pitt.edu.
Final Deadline
The entire defense process must be completed by NOON on the LAST WEEKDAY OF CLASSES of the term in which you will graduate.
Specifically, this means that you must have successfully defended your thesis before your committee, incorporated and received approval for any revisions required by your committee from your defense, and uploaded the final, edited copy of the thesis in proper Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) format to the D-Scholarship@Pitt website by this deadline.
If you are unable to meet the requirements by the deadline, you will either need to defer your graduation or forego receiving the BPhil degree and graduate with the standard bachelor's degree associated with your major(s).
NO EXCEPTIONS will be made to this deadline, so careful planning is important to successfully complete the BPhil degree.
Graduation Application Procedures
Although the BPhil degree replaces the standard bachelor's degree associated with your major(s), it is jointly awarded by the Frederick Honors College and another school/college at Pitt (e.g., Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Swanson School of Engineering, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, etc.). Therefore, you must follow all procedures, regulations, and deadlines established by the school associated with your major(s) regarding applying for graduation. You do not need to note that you are pursuing the BPhil degree in the text box to provide an update request. The Frederick Honors College does not require you to complete a separate graduation application form with us.
Scheduling the Defense
The thesis advisor and student should coordinate a time and location for the defense with the committee members. Scheduling should take into consideration that all requirements for the BPhil degree must be completed no later than noon on the last weekday of classes of the term in which you will graduate. If you anticipate any problems meeting this deadline, you should contact David Hornyak immediately. For specific steps to follow in the BPhil defense process, including a suggested timeline, please review the checklist for BPhil degree candidates at the bottom of this web page.
Forming the Defense Committee and External Examiner Procedures
As you consider the formation of your examination committee for your thesis defense, please remember that this committee must consist of at least four individuals: your thesis advisor, who is the chair of the committee; two additional faculty members from the University of Pittsburgh; and an external examiner from outside the University of Pittsburgh, who will receive an honorarium from the Frederick Honors College for serving on your committee. Although deciding on the composition of the committee is usually a collaborative effort between you and your thesis advisor, the final composition is the prerogative of your thesis advisor.
The external examiner may participate in the defense remotely or they may travel to Pittsburgh to participate in person. The Frederick Honors College will reimburse the cost of travel and lodging for an external examiner who is traveling to Pittsburgh for your defense.
Once your committee has been formed and a date for your defense has been set, please complete this BPhil defense information form (Word).
Suggested Structure for the Defense
Thesis advisors should model the defense after a graduate defense within their discipline. The following is offered as a suggestion used by some disciplines (thesis advisors are free to adapt as appropriate for their discipline). The BPhil defense is a public defense, so initially there will be both members of the committee and non-committee members in the room. The thesis advisor is considered the "chair" of the committee, facilitating the process. It is the student's responsibility to bring the ETD Approval Form to the thesis defense. The general format of the defense is as follows:
- An initial presentation by the student providing an overview of the research and the findings. The student should assume the audience has familiarity with the topic of the research. In other words, the student should tailor the presentation to the committee members and not to the lay persons in the audience. Most students can provide this overview in about 20 minutes.
- Open questions from the audience. At this point in the defense, both the committee and non-committee members can ask questions. There is no set time limit for questions. It is up to the thesis advisor, as chair, to end this section of the defense.
- The chair dismisses the non-committee members in attendance, allowing the committee members to ask the student questions in private. This should take as long as required according to guidelines for graduate defenses within the chair's discipline.
- The chair dismisses the student, and the committee discusses the student's research project, signing off on the paperwork for the defense, verifying a successful defense.
- The chair invites the student back into the room and congratulates the student on a successful defense (the committee can offer feedback/comments to the student as appropriate).
The entire defense (including the committee's deliberations) generally does not take longer than two hours (the room for the defense should be reserved for at least two hours).
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Procedures
After successfully defending the thesis and making any necessary revisions required by the committee, the final BPhil theses document must be submitted as an ETD. For specific information, see the University's ETD website and the FHC ETD instruction page.
NOTE: It is highly recommended that students review the information on the University's ETD website prior to beginning to write the thesis and attend the available training workshops offered.
Students are to follow these steps to complete the BPhil process once any necessary revisions have been made to the thesis:
- Give the completed ETD Approval Form directly to David Hornyak. The first two pages must be completed entirely, including all appropriate signatures. Remember to include any written permission statements from owners of copyrighted matter used in your thesis along with the approval form. All documentation may be sent via email, especially if forms are signed electronically (e.g., through DocuSign).
- Upload the file to the ETD submission page, formatted correctly with all appropriate bookmarks and hyperlinks. When uploading the file, choose "David C. Frederick Honors College" in the "Schools and Programs" section (do NOT choose your major department in this section).
Important: The ETD must be uploaded and all documents noted above must submitted to David Hornyak no later than noon on the last weekday of the term in which you will graduate.
Checklists for BPhil Candidates
This information is offered to guide BPhil degree candidates as they plan for the thesis defense by providing a suggested timeline and a checklist of items related to the defense.