THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT (TRED)

DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
2401 Taft Ave. Malate, Manila, 1004 Metro Manila

PROTOCOL FOR ONLINE ORAL COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION (OCE),

ONLINE THESIS/DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEFENSE,
AND THESIS/DISSERTATION DEFENSE

1. PREPARATORY PHASE
 
1.1. The goal of the Online OCE and Online Thesis/Dissertation defense is to provide flexibility on
how the TRED can continue with OCE, and thesis/dissertation defense during the extended
Enhanced Community Quarantine(ECQ)/ General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and when deemed
necessary. This opportunity is offered to those students who received approval from their mentors to
defend, who have the necessary electronic/digital facility to defend online, based on the availability
of the graduate students and the panel members during the ECQ/GCQ and when a situation does
not allow the student or member(s) of the panel of correctors to meet face to face.
 
1.2. The graduate student must know that this opportunity is optional. Thus, the student must issue a
request for an online Comprehensive Oral Exam (OCE) and online Thesis/Dissertation proposal,
and Thesis/ Dissertation defense after the explicit mentor’s approval. The mentor’s approval for
defense must be communicated to the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) via e-mail. The TRED
will ask the graduate student to email a consent of agreement regarding the online setting of OCE,
Thesis/Dissertation proposal defense, and Thesis/Dissertation defense using the prescribed form.
 
1.3. The Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) will gather the approval of the panel members
considering the probable difficulties of internet connectivity, gadget, and other related problems. 
 
1.4. If the majority of the panel members approve of the OCE/Thesis/ Dissertation defense, the
TRED will set a date considering the availability of each panel member. 
 
1.4.1. The e-copy of the manuscript will be sent to the panel members and they will be given 15 days
(OCE/proposal defense), 30 days (MA/ Ph.D. final defense) to read and to give their comments,
questions, and observations. The latter should be submitted to the GPC 5 days before the date of
the online defense and will be given to other panel members. 
 
1.5. The graduate student will prepare a Powerpoint presentation with maximum of 12 minute (OCE
and Proposal) or maximum of 15 minutes  (Final Defense MA/Ph.D). The Powerpoint presentation
will be submitted 2 days before the defense and must be given to the panel members for pre-
viewing.
 
1.6. The graduate student and the panel members must be informed of the online platforms that are
available for the online defense and are applicable and possible for all the concerned participants.
The possible online platforms are Google Hangout, Canvas Conference, Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
There must be a 10-minute trial 3 days before the date of the defense to ensure the smooth
process. 
 
         2. ONLINE OCE/DEFENSE PROPER (to be audio-recorded)
 

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The TRED will follow the flow of the face-to-face defense as it is traditionally done. Only the DLSU
faculty are expected to be present at the online video conference setting. The external panelists can
opt for email or asynchronous participation.
 
2.1. The Panel chair greets all and makes a brief introduction and then invites the graduate student
to lead the opening prayer
 
2.2. The defending student leads the prayer.
 
2.3. The panel chair calls on the mentor to introduce the student. 
 
2.4. The student is given about 12 (OCE/proposal) to 15 (thesis/dissertation) minutes to present
her/his work.  

2.5. The panel chair enumerates the order of the panelists’ interaction with the student. The chair
invites each panel member one by one to raise their comments and suggestions regarding the
student's research work. The student may be allowed to respond when the panel member requests
for an explanation or raises a clarification. The mentor and the student take notes of the important
points of the discussion. Each panel member is given 15 minutes to interact with the students.
 
2.6. After the comments and questions are done, the panel will deliberate in the presence of the
mentor the merits behind the OCE/Proposal/Thesis/Dissertation and shall decide if the student has
passed the OCE/Proposal/Thesis/Dissertation defense or not.  
 
2.7. The student needs to leave the online platform (hangout or 'messenger meet' or canvas
conferencing) while the deliberation is held by the panel or the panel may create another hangout
"room" for deliberation.  When the panel deems it beneficial to have an open deliberation, the
student can be invited to stay. However, in an open deliberation the student leaves the online
platform when the panel deliberates on the final result.
 
2.8. The graduate student will be asked by the panel Chair to rejoin the online platform (Google
Hangout, Canvas Conference, Microsoft Teams or Zoom) via text or Messenger.
 
2.9. The chair will communicate the final result of the deliberation.
 
2.10. In case of technical problems such as internet disconnection, audio mutation or video
interruption, the defense process will be halted until the technical problem is solved. This will be
communicated to the student and panelists concerned by the Chair via text messages.
 
2.11. The panel members would wait for 30 minutes to resolve the technical problem. If the problem
concerns a panel member, the defense/exam continues if the majority of the panelists remain online.
Otherwise, the defense is halted. If more than 60 minutes had been spent in addressing technical
problems, the chair of the panel will decide to stop the OCE/defense.  The Chair will coordinate with
the GPC for the resumption of the next defense date.
 
3. AFTER THE OCE/DEFENSE
 
3.1. The mentor will email the GPC the summary of the comments and suggestions of the panel
members for documentation. For OCE, the chair of the panel will submit a summary report.
 
3.2. The chair will email the GPC the general comments on the result of the deliberation of the panel
members, while each panel member will email the GPC a note to signify her/his approval of the
student's defense as "passed" or "fail." 
 

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3.3. For thesis proposal/final defense, the mentor will guide the graduate student to incorporate the
recommendations and observations of the panel members.  The student will submit the revised e-
copy and, when the ECQ is lifted, also the hard copy to the GPC within the given time frame
recommended by the panel members in accordance with the policies and guidelines of the Office of
the University Registrar (OUR).
 
3.4. The GPC will communicate to the OUR regarding the defense and all the required details of
information and documents. All the paper works will follow when the functioning of the university
normalizes.