Thesis and Dissertation
2012 Deadlines
Dissertations and theses must be submitted and approved by:
- January 6, 2012, noon
- May 4, 2012, noon
- August 3, 2012, noon
Conferral Dates:
- January 30, 2012
- May 27, 2012
- August 20, 2012
Thesis and Dissertation Requirement
All degree candidates must present a thesis or dissertation of acceptable scholarship and literary quality. (Some non-thesis master's degrees do not require a thesis.) Candidates submit their thesis or dissertation to The Graduate School using the Graduation Manager. The Graduate School veriifies that minimum formatting requirements are met and sends an electronic copy of the thesis document to the candidate's special committee for final approval.
IMPORTANT CHANGE TO FORMATTING GUIDELINES
Effective January 19, 2011, the Graduate School has simplified formatting requirements for all theses and dissertations.
Historically, the Graduate School Thesis Office followed guidelines that were developed based on the limitations of microfiche archiving and other technologies. Given the replacement of microfiche with digital archiving using Proquest/UMI and the development of sophisticated word processing software, the Graduate School believes student focus should be on scholarly research and not formatting.
The new and streamlined requirements are simple enough that students should not require extensive assistance from a thesis advisor. The Graduate School will review theses and dissertations against seven core requirements (see “Formatting Requirements”, page 5). The old thesis and dissertation guidelines will continue to be provided as style suggestions, but no longer as requirements.
The Graduate School Registrar’s Office will assist students in meeting our seven core formatting requirements as well as coordinate thesis review and submission. Theses or dissertations using the old and more restrictive requirements will continue to be accepted. The Graduate School hopes these changes will greatly reduce the burden of thesis and dissertation formatting.