Always offer Zoom for final defenses, especially when faculty are spread across locations or emergencies might pop up. Remote attendees get distracted easily, so structure the defense carefully to keep everyone focused.
Do you have a preference on how the final defense is scheduled, Zoom or in person?
I don't have a preference. If you're at a university where your faculty's scattered all over the country or all over the world, you definitely want Zoom. Okay? You also want Zoom as an option no matter what, because what if somebody's child gets sick and you're scheduled and you're running up against one of those deadlines? So you always want to be a little bit ahead of a deadline to have some wiggle room, but Zoom gives you options. But it also can be challenging because they're there on Zoom and you don't know what they're doing. So you have to do your defense in such a way that you continue to keep control of the defense, because otherwise they're surfing the web looking at astrological convergences or becoming basket weaving experts or planning their next trip.
