Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Approval Forms

As we approach the Spring 2020 defense deadline on April 3, it is essential to have procedures in place for remotely routing, signing, and submitting thesis and dissertation approval forms.

As a reminder:

• All defenses should be held virtually until further notice
• Each student must access their individual thesis or dissertation approval form in the Thesis and Dissertation Services site Approval Form page
• Students can update the name, defense date, and title fields on the preview of the form then hit enter to save
• They must select the “Download and print” button on the page to obtain the form in PDF format (they should not print the web page itself)
• Forms must display the correct committee information as well as the thesis/dissertation release information before being used
• All forms should be fully signed before being emailed to the College of Graduate Studies at [email protected]
• We prefer forms to be in PDF or image file format, but we will work with other formats, as long as everything is legible

Helpful tips:

• Forms can be signed electronically using the Adobe Acrobat e-signature feature or another signing software

• If e-signatures are not possible, the form can also be printed, signed, and scanned (or a photo can be taken, as long as the image is clear)
• We recommend students collect their committee signatures then email the form to their program
• Once the program representative signs, if at all possible, the form should be forwarded to the department and college on behalf of the student to save time routing back and forth to the student