Graduate School Forms

Whether you're a prospective student, currently pursuing your degree, or a dedicated member of our faculty, this page offers easy access to the essential forms tailored to your academic journey. 

Explore the links below to find the necessary forms for admissions, academic milestones, and graduation clearance guidelines.

A man and a woman filling out web forms

Refer to the University academic calendar on the Registrar’s website for a complete list of dates and deadlines.

Individual graduate programs set the expectations for preliminary/comprehensive/qualifying exams and defenses (prospectus/projects/thesis/ dissertation/synthesis projects). The Department of Modern Languages does so for foreign language proficiency exams. In all cases, the Graduate School has ended the modification put into place during the COVID-19 disruption that required these milestone exams and presentations be conducted remotely through videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams (accessed through University licenses).

 

The Graduate School returned to assigning outside observers to thesis, dissertation, and synthesis project defenses/presentations as required by University policy. Outside observers also may be requested using the Outside Observer Request Form.

 

To report a successful defense and to initiate the final review and approval process of a thesis, dissertation, or DNP synthesis project the following two things must happen:

  1. Graduate Faculty Members:  The committee chairperson must report the successful defense and committee approval of the manuscript by completing the new Preliminary Approval of Thesis, Dissertation, or DNP Synthesis Project Manuscript Webform.
  2. Graduating Students:  The manuscript author and graduating student must provide key information to guide our editors in the manuscript review process by completing the new Defended Manuscript Submission and Contact Information Webform.

Receipt of these two webforms triggers the Graduate School (1) to provide instructions to the graduating student on how to upload their manuscript for our final review and approval process and (2) to confirm from each committee member their approval of both the defense and the manuscript.

To report a successful defense and to initiate the final review and approval process of a thesis, dissertation, or DNP synthesis project the following two things must happen:

  1. Graduate Faculty Member:  The committee chairperson must report the successful defense and committee approval of the manuscript by completing the Preliminary Approval of Thesis, Dissertation, or DNP Synthesis Project Manuscript Webform.
  2. Graduating Student:  The manuscript author (i.e., graduating student) must provide key information to guide our editors in the manuscript review process by completing the Defended Manuscript Submission and Contact Information Webform.

Receipt of these two webforms triggers the Graduate School (1) to provide instructions to the graduating student on how to upload their manuscript for our final review and approval process and (2) to confirm from each committee member their approval of both the defense and the manuscript via the Manuscript and Defense Approval Form (see below).

Additionally, effective Spring 2021, the Graduate School offers the following additional guidance for faculty who are part of the graduation clearance process:

  • No Final Report is required for doctoral degree candidates. Confirmation of a successful doctoral defense or DNP presentation will be reported to the Graduate School via approval of the new Manuscript and Defense Approval Form (see below).
  • No Final Report is required for master's degree candidates who "demonstrate a general, comprehensive knowledge of a field of study" through successful completion of an integrative (capstone) course taught by a member of the Graduate Faculty. There is no need for this report; the Graduate School will verify that this requirement has been met by reviewing the final course grade.
  • No Final Report is required for master's degree candidates who "demonstrate a general, comprehensive knowledge of a field of study" through an overall performance on a set of core courses taught by members of the Graduate Faculty. Again, there is no need for this report; the Graduate School will verify that this requirement has been met by reviewing final course grades.
  • The Master's Degree Program Final Report is required only for master's degree candidates who "demonstrate a general, comprehensive knowledge of a field of study" through successful completion of a written and/or oral comprehensive examination, a comprehensive portfolio, comprehensive project, and/or thesis. When a student applies for graduation, the Graduate School emails the Master's Degree Program Final Reports to committee chairpersons for master’s degree candidates who fall into this category. Upon receipt of the form from the committee chairperson, the Graduate School will confirm approval with each additional committee member.
  • The Manuscript and Defense Approval Form is required for all doctoral and thesis-track master's degree candidates. Upon receipt of the Preliminary Approval of Thesis, Dissertation, or DNP Synthesis Project Manuscript Webform by the committee chairperson (see above), the Graduate School will send this pre-populated form for review and approval to each individual committee member.