Doctoral Degree Completion Deadlines
Contents
General Guidelines
Read and refer to the math department Graduate Handbook, as well as the Graduate School’s policies. Please note that in literature from the Graduate School, “thesis” is associated with the master’s degree and “dissertation” with the doctoral degree. Follow the instructions for the dissertation.
Be sure to communicate regularly with your adviser for advice and support.
Dissertation Completion Deadlines
(For exact deadlines, please visit the Graduate School’s degree deadlines page.)
Year prior to and of defense:
- Register for enough dissertation credits. The Graduate School minimum is 18 total, at least three per term.
At least seven months before defense:
- Select institutional representative with your committee chair and inform the Graduate Coordinator, who will submit your full committee to the Graduate School for approval.
Term prior to defense:
- Enroll in dissertation credits (required).
- If using co-authored or previously published material, complete and submit the Style and Content Request Form to the Graduate School.
- Choose a time and day for the defense with your committee.
- Ask the Graduate Coordinator to reserve a room for your defense.
By second week of final term:
- Apply to graduate on GradWeb. This is listed as Apply for Advanced Degree.
- Submit application for final oral defense on GradWeb. (Please do this sooner if possible.)
Four weeks prior to defense:
- Turn in final draft of dissertation to committee by sending a PDF copy to the Graduate Coordinator who will distribute it to the committee via email.
Monday of Finals Week (or sooner):
- Upload dissertation and submit approval form (found here) to the Graduate School.
Formatting Instructions
In May 2015, one of the Math Doctoral Candidates drafted the following document to provide guidance on preparing your dissertation: Dissertation Advice. Please also visit the Graduate School’s page and refer to their Style Guide.
TEX Template & Resources
You can download a LaTeX template for the dissertation by clicking here, or here for slightly modified version with an updated .cls file.
The Graduate School also has a page set up for LaTex users which includes links to a repository of template files and sample text; formatting advice from a 2015 graduate; and sample LaTex files.
Uploading the Dissertation
The process for uploading the dissertation is time consuming. Make sure to visit the Graduate School’s page on ETD. This page is essential and you should review it well in advance of submitting your dissertation. It includes a link to the step-by-step ETD Submission using ProQuest, which I encourage you to print out and go through in advance.