Students complete a dissertation during their fourth and fifth years. The dissertation committee must be chaired by a member of the industrial relations and human resources (I.R.H.R.) graduate faculty and include at least three other faculty. At least one member of the committee must be from outside the I.R.H.R. graduate faculty. Members from outside Rutgers are preferable. All students present and defend their dissertation proposals in a seminar format. The proposal defense is open to all interested faculty and Ph.D. students, although only the committee members vote on the acceptability of the proposal. A final oral defense takes place upon completion of the dissertation. The defense is open to the public and must be announced at least two weeks in advance.