Jan. 28-30 Virtual Operations, Campus Remains Closed

Bowie State University will continue with virtual operations for all classes and office operations through Friday, January 30, 2026. The campus will be closed to all non-essential personnel, and all campus activities are canceled. All buildings except residence halls and the dining hall will be closed. Essential personnel should report on time. This is due to the extended time required to clear the extensive snow and ice accumulation on campus. University crews are making every effort to resume campus operations, as a safe return to in-person learning and work remains our top priority. Only essential personnel and residential students are permitted access to the campus through Jan. 30. For more information, please visit BowieState.edu/weather. 

BowieState.edu/weather

Doctor of Computer Science

Dissertation Defense

Dissertation Defense Procedures

In order to complete the requirements for the doctoral degree, students will prepare and successfully defend a written dissertation in accordance with the format and procedure dictated by the BSU Department of Computer Science and the Graduate School. Each student must orally defend the completed doctoral research to his/her dissertation committee. The defense will be open to the public and must be publicized at least two weeks in advance. The first hour of this final examination will consist of an open seminar to faculty and students of the department on the student's research. This will be followed by a closed examination of the candidate by the doctoral advisor and the dissertation committee. This examination will follow guidelines established by the Department of Computer Science and the Graduate School. The examination can be wide-ranging, but will usually utilize the student's research as a starting point. At the completion of the examination, the doctoral advisor and dissertation committee will vote to either pass or fail the student. If the majority of the committee members cast negative votes, it is considered a failure of the examination.

Dissertation Defense Dates

December Graduation:

  1. All doctoral defense approvals must be completed by the second week in October. 
  2. All doctoral dissertation must be submitted on the first week of November and the defenses must be completed by the second week of November.

May Graduation:

  1. All doctoral defense approvals must be completed by the second week in March. 
  2. All doctoral dissertation must be submitted on the first week of April and the defenses must be completed by the second week of April.

Any defense approval request submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed for approval for May or December graduation. Please refer to the Dissertation Handbook available online for the dissertation/proposal format and requirements.