The responsibility for selecting and recommending defense committee members rests with the Sponsor, Department Chair, and the Director of Graduate Studies. Students may not select their own defense committees; furthermore, students should not be placed in the position of having to ask particular faculty members to serve on their defense committees.

The dissertation defense committee is composed of five members. There must be three members from inside the department or Doctoral Program Subcommittee. Also, among the five members, there must be three who hold a seat on the GSAS Faculty or are approved Ph.D. Sponsors. In addition, there should be two outside members from other GSAS departments and/or other schools or universities.

Examiners from outside the University are nominated by the Department/Program Chair in consultation with the sponsor or Director of Graduate Studies. When submitting the Dissertation Defense Application, the department/program provides the Dissertation Officer with evidence of the examiner's qualifications, usually a curriculum vitae, for approval by the Dean's Office.

Final approval of the members of a dissertation defense committee rests with the Dean of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.