Prospectus Defense

I have successfully defended my prospectus. Since there appears to be some confusion, here is how the process works at AFIT:

1) Complete course work
2) Complete specialty exam written portion (qualifying exam or "quals")
3) Perform background/related research for topic area
4) Complete specialty exam oral portion (prospectus defense)
5) Perform core research, writing dissertation along the way
6) Defend dissertation
7) Graduate

I completed step 2 a few months ago, and today I completed step 4. I will now embark on the dissertation, which takes the following form:

Chapter 1: Introduction to the domain and problem area
Chapter 2: Background/related research -- current state of the art
Chapter 3: Define problem that will be solved and how success or failure will be measured
Chapter 4: Document results
Chapter 5: Conclusions and summary

Chapter 4 may in fact be many chapters. The prospectus consists (roughly) of the first three chapters, and mine weighed in at 102 pages including front and back matter. The average dissertation at AFIT is about 240 pages total.

The graduation date cannot be less than one year after the prospectus defense. I am officially considered a PhD candidate, and hope to graduate on 9-Sep-09 (9-9-09).