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Graduation

Application for Graduation

Students may graduate at the end of any quarter including the summer quarter provided they meet the necessary degree requirements and all Department and University deadlines. A student need not be registered for any courses in the quarter in which he/she graduates provided that he/she has been registered for at least one credit at the graduate level in the academic year in which he/she is graduating. International students must maintain a minimum registration of 1 credit hour every Autumn, Winter and Spring quarter until graduation

The initial step in the graduation process consists of the student formally applying for graduation. This must be done by the announced deadline (usually by the end of the first week of that quarter). The student will be provided with a graduation packet containing the necessary forms, deadlines, and guidelines for the preparation of the thesis/dissertation. If the student is unable to meet all of the graduation deadlines he/she must reapply at the beginning of the following quarter in order to graduate in that quarter.

The graduation process and timetable are summarized below:

  1. Submit name, current address and degree objective by the announced deadline to the Department and/or to the office of the Division of Research and Advanced Studies.
  2. Receive a graduation packet from the Division of Research and Advanced Studies.
  3. Complete the Application for Graduation form and the Alumni Card and submit these directly to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies.
  4. Resolve all grade issues on your record. The Department must certify not only that you have met all degree credit requirements but that any grades of I, IP, and NG have been resolved.
  5. Meet with the thesis/dissertation advisor and decide on an acceptable date and time for the final defense. Verify with the committee members that they all will be available. Schedule a room and confirm the scheduling of the defense in writing with the advisor and committee. Normally the deadline for the final defense is at the end of the last week of classes for the quarter. Consult the graduation packet for the specific date.
  6. File the Announcement of Final Defense of Thesis/Dissertation form. Two copies must be submitted to the Department for posting. In addition, for Ph.D. candidates, one copy should be filed with the Office of Research and Advanced Studies (it is the student's responsibility to deliver it). For the M.S. degree, these must be submitted one week in advance; for the doctorate they must be submitted two weeks in advance.
  7. Prepare completed copies of the thesis/dissertation including all chapters and sections appropriately numbered, and all figures, tables, equations, etc. in final form (subject to committee recommended changes). The thesis/dissertation must be prepared in accordance with University guidelines; please consult these guidelines before you begin writing.
  8. Deliver a final copy of the thesis/dissertation to each member of the committee at least one week before the defense for an M.S. thesis and at least two weeks before for the defense of a doctoral dissertation.
  9. Obtain instructions on electronic submission and download the necessary forms from http://www.grad.uc.edu/etd/
  10. At the defense, the following forms must be signed by the committee and the advisor:
    • Electronic Submission Approval Form
    • Committee Approval Form
    • Department Thesis or Dissertation Defense Form.
  11. After the defense, the signed Thesis/Dissertation Defense Form must be returned to the Department's Graduate Program Coordinator in order for you to be certified for graduation.
  12. All final corrections required by the advisor and committee must be incorporated in the thesis/dissertation before electronic submission and binding can take place.
  13. The final corrected version must be submitted in electronic form in accordance with the instructions provided by the Office of Research and Advanced Studies and two permanently bound copies of the thesis/dissertation must be prepared. One bound copy is to be provided for the faculty member who has directed the study; the other is for the student as a permanent record of his/her accomplishment. The student may either submit a permanently bound copy for his/her advisor directly to the Graduate Program Coordinator or submit a copy of a receipt from Art Guild Bindery indicating that a permanently bound copy will be shipped to the advisor. Copies of the binding receipts must be submitted to the Department's Graduate Program Coordinator in order for the student to be certified for graduation. At his/her discretion, the student may prepare and bind additional copies for committee members or others.
  14. If you complete all of the above steps and meet all of the above deadlines, you will graduate at the end of the quarter.
  15. If you miss any of the Department or University deadlines, you must file again for graduation at the beginning of the following quarter and proceed to complete the remaining steps.


The Graduate Program Director certifies to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies that all requirements have been met before the student can graduate. Finally, every doctoral candidate is expected to attend the hooding ceremony preceding commencement. At this ceremony, the advisor hoods the student as a mark of the distinction accompanying the doctorate.