Thesis Defenses
The Graduate Office has acquired additional Zoom licenses to ensure that multiple meetings can take place simultaneously. In an effort to replicate the traditional defense format as closely as possible, defenses held via Zoom will include four different types of participants:
- Host – a grad office staff member;
- Panelists – the student presenting, as well as the thesis committee members who can ask questions and participate actively in the meeting; and
- Attendees – all other authorized participants, who will be able to watch but not ask questions out loud. Instead of voicing questions, attendees will be able to participate by either by ‘raising their hand’ to talk or by typing their questions into the Q&A window, which will be read out loud by the host (grad office member).
Grad Office staff in Florida (Kristen Robbins and Dina Hanlon) and California (Paul Cognata and Alisha Chapin) will assist students in scheduling and conducting all defenses in Zoom and provide all meeting participants with the necessary Zoom access link. While participants do not need to have a Zoom account to attend a meeting, we strongly recommend downloading the Zoom client onto your computer. (link in text, first download button on the page). This will ensure you have access to all of the Zoom features.
