The TRAC will Approve or Defer to a later timeline. 

Approval of the student’s proposed dissertation timeline indicates that:

1. The student is not required to complete additional research or data analysis
2. There are no outstanding obligations defined as required by the thesis advisor or the TRAC, that would prevent the student from focusing entirely on dissertation completion
3. The student has presented a draft of the dissertation abstract and a detailed outline, and the TRAC has provided feedback
4. The student has identified potential external examiners, and the TRAC has deemed these appropriate

If the TRAC Approves, the student must return the completed TRAC approval of proposed dissertation timeline form (GSBS70) to the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences office as soon as approval has been granted. Providing the form to the office will NOT initiate any actionable deadlines.

If the TRAC Defers to a later date, the TRAC must communicate the expectations for completion to the student, including research or analyses that remain to be completed, and the expected status (submitted or accepted) of publications authored by the student before the defense timeline can be set. The TRAC may recommend an expected timeline. The TRAC must also communicate to the student whether a TRAC meeting will be required for approval of the revised timeline, whether approval can be achieved via email, or whether a meeting with the TRAC chair is sufficient.

The student should submit a regular TRAC Meeting report (GSBS07) with a brief post meeting report that outlines the TRAC’s expectations for completion. When the student has completed the assigned work and approval from the TRAC is obtained, the student must submit a TRAC approval of proposed dissertation timeline form (GSBS70).