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[abdinny]

Hi all,
I'm an ABD in the humanities who decided to put some feelers out on the market this year because I'm impatient and also sick of being poor.  I applied to only three schools and got one conference interview out of it.  The interview went very, very well and the university has let me know I'm on their short list!  However, they are concerned about my time to degree, in large part because they have been burned in the recent past.  Like many ABDs, my plan was to file in June.  But I've just found out that one of my committee members will be out of the country until mid-summer, but will be happy to read the diss when she gets back.  Best case scenario is that she'll return, read the diss, sign off on it, and I'll file in the summer.  Worst-case scenario is that she'll have some issue with it, and it might take me until Fall to fix said issues and to file.  I really have little concern that this will happen, but it is, as I said, a "worst-case scenario."  I've informed the interested university of all of this, but they are looking for some sort of reassurance that I'll file before their school year begins. 

Any thoughts on what I should tell them?  I can promise my first born child that I'll have the diss done and ready to be read by this prof in July, but I can't really control what happens after that.

The job is at a SLAC, btw, and it's a job I can see myself doing well.  I'm surprised and delighted to think that my "we'll see what happens" job search might have positive results!

Thanks.

[rekishi]

You will probably need your dissertation advisor to provide the SC with some information on where you stand. By now, your SC should have read parts of your dissertation and have a good idea when you might finish. If your advisor will not back you up (as happened to me once), you are doomed . . . doomed I tell you.

[helpful]

"File"? Don't you mean "defend"?

[kishter]

By "file," OP might mean "deposit."

In my grad program, students had to defend the diss in the committee's presence and then, after revisions and format checks and a lot of redundant paperwork, deposit the diss in the central grad office.  One could only graduate after the deposit was complete, even though it's generally thought that the degree is for all intents and purposes earned at the time of the defense.  The defense and the deposit are very different: the first one can be intellectually challenging and even enjoyable (and nerve-wracking), and the second is almost always excruciatingly laborious, time-consuming, and intellectually numbing. 

An important thing for the OP to keep in mind is that it's possible to defend and still need months to deposit/file.  Do you know the hiring school's position on whether you need simply to have finished (i.e. defended), or whether you actually need degree in hand (i.e. defended, deposited, and graduated)?

[drkamikaze]

Uh, not all Ph.D. programs require a defense. Mine doesn't.

Once all your committee members sign on the dotted line, you're ready to file with the University, and that is it.

[onilne_adjunct]

No defense?  What a bummer :-(  Mine was a hoot (or, as one committee member told me later, "It was the most spirited defense I'd ever attended.  Most of them are boring, just a formality.")

Demand a defense!  It's fun (and gives you that true sense of accomplishment - the "I know more than all of you do about this particular topic").

On the serious side, confirm your chair's timetable and notify the SC of it.  Aleviate their fears.

[abdinny]

Uh, not all Ph.D. programs require a defense. Mine doesn't.

Once all your committee members sign on the dotted line, you're ready to file with the University, and that is it.

Thanks Dr. K!  That's precisely how it is at my university.  I had an oral exam before becoming ABD that was, I imagine, a lot like the typical defense.  And yeah, Online_Adjunct - it was a hoot!  I had so much fun and really did get a true sense of accomplishment from it.  All that's left for me is finishing the last bit of writing, giving it to my committee and making any changes they deem necessary (hence the worst-case scenario of filing in Fall), getting their final signatures and filing the diss with the university.

Thankfully, my advisor agrees that I'll be done writing in June.  Hopefully that will be good enough for the SC.  Thanks, all!

[tin_cup_chalice]

I dread my defense.

[yellowtractor]

Abdinny, I don't know that you can do anything more than promise you'll be done and forward a statement of similar confidence from your advisor.  The problem is that (a) most schools are terrified of hiring an ABD who, given the manifold demands of a full-time teaching position, might never finish, and (b) in many fields there is such an overabundance of applicants few schools feel any need to take this risk. 

You should feel happy indeed that a school has expressed this level of interest in you at this early stage of your career.  Take this as a vote of confidence in both your research and your interviewing skills.  Don't be too disappointed, however, if the school in question decides to go with another candidate whose credentials are more certain at this time.

[seniorscholar]

You need to get a clear answer from the search committee (or maybe by poking through the school's website, which may have personnel regulations online via some administrative department). Here the dissertation must be defended or filed (with evidence from the dean of the graduate school, not from its supervisor) by July 1 in order to hire someone to tenure track. If not, the person will be hired as a visiting instructor on a one-year contract and the line will be *re-searched* in the following year. On the other hand, to hire a full-time visiting assistant professor (contract renewable up to five years), the dissertation must be defended (if necessary) and filed by the first day of classes. Does this make a lot of sense? No -- but old rules don't always get wiped off the books when new administrators create new rules. You must be honest and clear -- and ask what assurance the SC needs, too.

[abdinny]

You need to get a clear answer from the search committee (or maybe by poking through the school's website, which may have personnel regulations online via some administrative department). Here the dissertation must be defended or filed (with evidence from the dean of the graduate school, not from its supervisor) by July 1 in order to hire someone to tenure track. If not, the person will be hired as a visiting instructor on a one-year contract and the line will be *re-searched* in the following year. On the other hand, to hire a full-time visiting assistant professor (contract renewable up to five years), the dissertation must be defended (if necessary) and filed by the first day of classes. Does this make a lot of sense? No -- but old rules don't always get wiped off the books when new administrators create new rules. You must be honest and clear -- and ask what assurance the SC needs, too.

This was very helpful information, Seniorscholar!  Thank you.  I had been wondering if it would be ok to ask the SC if there was a specific date by which they needed me to file.  It would be easier to approach the out-of-town committee member if I had a date in mind.  Now I will definitely ask about it. 

yellowtractor, I'm with you:  I can't say I'd blame the department if they wanted someone who didn't have an issue with filing by June 15 or whenever.  If I'm not their best fit, then they have to go with someone else who is. 

[losemygrip]

My defense was the worst experience of my academic career.  I was in tears afterwards.  Fortunately my kindly advisor held my hand and said, "Don't worry," and the next day fixed me a sandwich at his house and we decided how much of what the committee griped about to bother paying attention to.  It was a very short list.

If it's a committee member rather than the advisor who's out of town, make arrangements ahead of time.  They probably don't really even care.  Can't you just have them sign before they leave, leave that paperwork with your advisor, mail it to her and have her email any comments?  I imagine if she knows you need it done for a job, she'll be cooperative.

The BIG issue is: can you be certain to be done in time?  All this other stuff is just blowing smoke, frankly, and can be worked out.

[larryc]

The only thing that will really address their concerns is a letter or phone call from your advisor about a probable defense date.  Anything you say will be discounted (every ABD in the world is "almost finished" when they sit at the interview table) but committees will trust your advisor.

[biologist_]

All that's left for me is finishing the last bit of writing, giving it to my committee and making any changes they deem necessary (hence the worst-case scenario of filing in Fall), getting their final signatures and filing the diss with the university.

Can your committee member read your dissertation and send you comments from abroad?  When I was preparing my defense and the submission of my revised dissertation, I had to email a number of forms and drafts to committee members as pdfs.  I even got my advisor to sign some paper forms ahead of time because he was leaving town and then he emailed to give me permission to turn them in.

[mrhistory]

Very often a job offer can light a fire under the committee or chair---they know the humanities job market and they like to say they have excellent placement.  Your primary advisor is the person to see about this. He or she should be willing to supply reassurances if this is indeed your realistic timeline and should be able to move the committee (and you!) toward an acceptable date.