Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! Please familiarize
yourself with all the very important information below.

Important Information for Graduating Students

The Thesis Defense, together with the GBO, is the final examination before conferral of the PhD degree. The thesis defense takes place in a seminar setting that is open to the public. The seminar is followed by a comprehensive examination of the student by the GBO committee.

The GBO committee consists of 5 members, (3 in department, 2 outside (1 of which must hold the title of Professor or Associate Professor) with 2 alternates (1 in department, 1 outside with the title of Professor or Associate Professor) and is selected by the Department Head and the Director of Graduate Studies, who will consult with the student’s advisor. 

Thesis Readers committee consists of 3 members from the GBO committee who will be required to read the candidate’s dissertation and sign the Readers’ Letter confirming that the dissertation meets the standards of a PhD thesis.

You must be registered in the semester in which you plan to graduate. This means that either your advisor will pay the tuition for this semester, or you can file for Deferral of Tuition if you plan to submit your dissertation in time for the grace period deadline. If you need to defer your tuition, please complete the appropriate form and bring it to the department’s academic program administrator.

Completion Deadlines.

Deferral Forms: Fall Spring

You will find the various deadlines for thesis submission on the Graduate Board website.

DO NOT SCHEDULE YOUR GBO WITH THE COMMITEE!

Please send the following information to the Academic Program Administrator for scheduling purposes:

  1. GBO Committee and Thesis Committee members
  2. Title of your thesis
  3. Abstract
  4. Your picture for the announcement

While a thesis committee may occasionally have more than 3 members, it is department policy that only 3 committee members will be listed on the Readers’ Letter. These are the 3 names needed by the academic program administrator.

 

Send a copy of your thesis to each committee member/reader.

Please check your transcripts and ensure that you do not have any MR or X grades and have taken and passed the following required courses. On occasion, these courses don’t show up on transcripts and if they aren’t showing up, this needs to be corrected with the Registrar’s Office.

AS.360.625 Responsible Conduct of Research

EN.500.603 Academic Ethics

4 semesters of Graduate Seminars (560.691 or 560.692)

Instructions for submitting your thesis electronically

The doctoral student is responsible for the cost of the submission fee.

Additional instructions/information can be found on the Graduate Affairs website (scroll down to Doctoral Dissertation).

Note that online ETD submission requires you to identify the “Chair of your Thesis Committee”. This is your advisor.

No bound copy is required by the department. Check with your advisor to find out if he/she requires a bound copy for his/her records. The doctoral student is responsible for the cost of binding. Here are some websites that provide binding of theses:

Thesis on Demand
Kansas Bindery

Once you submit your thesis, you will receive 2 separate confirmation emails from the Library. The first will indicate that your “Thesis has been received”. The second email indicates that your thesis has been ACCEPTED. Once you received the “accepted” confirmation, please forward this email to Elena Shichkova. This email is required to process the conferral paperwork.

You MUST also complete an Application to Graduate. You can do this in SIS. The deadline to apply is posted on the Registrar’s website.

Make sure you put your name to the department’s Expected to Graduate List (ETGL). Once this happens, and it’s transmitted to the Registrar’s Office, it will trigger the Registrar’s Office and/or Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs to contact you in time for participation in the spring hooding ceremony, and commencement activities. You will be provided information about purchasing regalia, etc. You can also find information about regalia here. Please respond to emails from the Registrar’s Office and/or Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs promptly.

Information on the Hooding Ceremony

  • Before leaving, please be sure you clean out your desk and return any keys to Tina Mester to get your deposit back.
  • Ensure that you have returned all books to the library.

All electronic thesis submission fees, binding fees and the cost of renting or purchasing regalia are the responsibility of the doctoral student.

If you would like to obtain a non-terminal MSE degree while being a PhD student:

  1. Make sure you met the requirements for the program – MSE in Civil or MS in Systems  
  2. Fill out the “paper” application for graduation (ask Academic Program Administrator) and submit it through SEAM – Records and Registration – Inquire or apply for graduation – Request Support (Blue Button)
  3. Fill out the ETGL Form in order to be added to the department’s Expected to Graduate List. The list will be transmitted to the Registrar’s Office. After you completed the form and the application, you will be provided with the certification form for your review. The list and the certification form will be transmitted to the Registrar’s Office
  4. Attend the WSE Master’s Degree Ceremony

If you have additional questions, please contact the academic program administrator.