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The doctorate is nearly nine centuries old. The credential emerged from the medieval universities of Bologna and Paris, while the research dissertation was invented in Germany in the nineteenth century and reached America in 1861. The dissertation proposal and defense have been essential in the assessment of candidates’ skills, knowledge, critical thinking skills, and more to determine the award of a doctorate. Artificial intelligence is becoming part of everyday academic life, yet most of the field’s attention has gone to undergraduate teaching and coursework. Graduate education has received far less scrutiny, and the provenance of thesis and dissertation writing has received almost no attention. When a polished chapter arrives, how do we know whose thinking it reflects- the candidate’s or AI? The integrity of the doctorate is a foundation of higher education’s authority and expertise in a vast array of disciplines. 

The question lands at a pivotal policy moment. Federal and accreditation frameworks are shifting from inputs to outcomes, asking institutions to produce objective, reliable, and comparable evidence that graduates reached the competencies the degree certifies. Saying “trust us” is no longer enough; institutions must show evidence of students’ technical skills and critical thinking. 

Leaders disagree about how urgent this is. Some are confident that the advising relationship and the oral defense already protect doctoral rigor; others worry we can no longer verify that the thinking behind a dissertation is the student’s own. Both views deserve serious hearing, and this town hall provides the opportunity for the academic community to explore these issues. 

The session will begin with a presentation about the ways AI can be used to produce dissertation proposals and completed dissertations and its intersection with the doctoral supervision process. Academic leaders attending (e.g., deans, faculty, provosts, accreditors, and policy voices) will be invited to participate in live audience polling and facilitated breakout groups to discuss issues and then share back with the entire audience. Capturing the challenges, issues, and possible strategies for higher education to ensure the integrity of the doctorate will be an outcome.

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