Dates & deadlines
- Appointment of Graduate Student Advisory Committee
Should be submitted in the first or second semester. - Graduate Study Plan (GSP)
Should be submitted in the second semester. - Report of Advisory Committee
For students admitted in a fall or summer semester, this is due May 15 every year. For students admitted in the spring semester, it is due by December 15 every year. If necessary,
Reports on comprehensive exam form and thesis dissertation defense, project defense are due within 10 days of exam/defense completion.
Reports of Advisory Committee are due every year by May 15 for people who were admitted in a summer or fall term. Due every year by December 15 for those who were admitted in a spring semester. If necessary,
Report on comprehensive exam forms are due within 10 days of the exam’s completion.
Advancement to candidacy forms (master's and Ph.D.) must be submitted at least one semester before you plan to graduate. Ph.D. students must successfully pass a written comprehensive exam prior to submitting the advancement to candidacy form.
- Per catalog policy, you must be in 3 graduate-level credits in the semester that you
defend your thesis or project. In order to be eligible to register for only 1 credit
during your graduating semester, you must defend no later than the last working day
before the first day of classes. For example, if the spring semester starts on January
16, you would have to successfully pass your defense by 5 p.m. the business day before, otherwise
you would need to be registered for the normal 3 credits.
- If you plan to graduate the semester following your defense you will need to register
for 1 graduate-level credit next semester (contingent upon maintaining the 6-credits
per academic year continuing enrollment requirement).
- Graduate dissertation/thesis/project defense examinations are public events and open to the university and wider community. The student should submit the public defense announcement form, found on our forms page, at least two weeks prior to the defense. The Graduate School, along with the home program, department, college, or school, will advertise the examination. The defense examination includes a public presentation of the dissertation/thesis/project moderated by the chair of the graduate advisory committee, followed by a private executive examination by the committee.
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Submit Report on Dissertation/Thesis/Project Defense form to the Graduate School within 10 days of the defense completion.
- All Ph.D. students must submit an to the Graduate School for their dissertation defense and the following guidelines must be observed:
- This request must be submitted at least two weeks before the exam, but the sooner you submit, the easier it will be to find an Outside Examiner.
- This request cannot be scheduled during weekends, holidays, or university closures, or outside of the hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- It is the Ph.D. candidate’s responsibility to submit the request, not the advisor's or committee chair's.
Graduation application:
The is submitted to Graduation Services, a department in the Office of the Registrar. Upon receipt, Graduation Services will perform a degree audit and notify the student of any remaining requirements necessary for graduation.
- Fall semester graduation: October 15
- Spring semester graduation: February 1
- Summer semester graduation: July 15
- Fall semester graduation: December 10
- Spring semester graduation: April 24
- Summer semester graduation: August 10
Familiarize yourself with the ProQuest ETD submittal instructions, and submit your work by:
- Fall semester graduation: November 28
- Spring semester graduation: April 7
- Summer semester graduation: August 1
Note: If your deadline falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then the deadline is the 8 a.m., 91ÊÓƵ time, on the closest Monday. For example, if the deadline is November 28, and that falls on a Saturday, then the actual deadline will be 8 a.m. Monday, November 30.