2011 DEGREE COMPLETION/COMMENCEMENT DEADLINES

FOR MASTER’S (PLAN A, B, & C) AND DOCTORAL CANDIDATES

Spring 2011
May 6 (Fri.) Graduate Commencement and Hooding Ceremony

 To have your name appear in the commencement program AND participate in commencement Spring
semester 2011, see requirements below:

Dec. 4, 2010 Plan A, B, & C: Program of Study form (and thesis proposal cover page for Plan A)
must be completed, signed, and submitted to the Graduate School office. Approved
supervisory committee form must also be on file.
Master’s students should have done this by the end of their second semester. Doctoral
students should have done this by the end of their third semester.
April 1, 2011 Plan A, B, and doctoral students must have had a successful defense, and the signed
Record of Examination form indicating such must be returned to the Grad School.
(Scheduling a defense for a later date is not adequate for inclusion in the commencement
program.)
April 1, 2011 All graduate students: Graduation forms* must be completed and submitted to the
Graduate School Office. (These forms and the diploma fee payment are not optional.)
May 6, 2011 Letter of completion from department head for those in Plan B and Plan C programs
must be submitted to the Graduate School office.

 If you complete the steps outlined above between April 2-29 for Spring semester, you may still participate in
commencement, but your name will not appear in that semester’s commencement program. Your name will
appear in the succeeding commencement program. Plan A (MS) and doctoral students: Please note it is very
likely that your degree will not be posted until the following semester due to time required for processing your
thesis or dissertation being very limited at this late date and the fact that several other students are probably
already lined up ahead of you.

In addition to the steps above, before the degree can be posted to your transcript, Plan A and doctoral students
must have thesis/dissertation reviewed by the Graduate School, signed by the Dean, taken to the library for
binding, and return the binding receipt to the Graduate School office. Also all incomplete grades must be
changed. Plan B students must take their project to the library and return the binding receipt to the Graduate
School.

*Graduation Forms include the Alumni File card, Commencement Data card, and Graduation Fee
Payment form with proof of $15 diploma payment – Plan A, B, and doctoral students receive this paperwork
at their defense. Defense must be scheduled with Graduate School 10 working days prior to defense to allow
time to get graduation forms and other necessary defense paperwork to committee. For a Plan C student, the
department sends a “Plan C Completion Form” to the Grad School at the beginning of the student’s completion
semester; the Graduate School then sends graduation forms to the student by mail.

To have your degree posted to your transcript for Spring, Summer, or Fall, final deadlines for completing
all degree requirements and submitting all corresponding paperwork (as listed above) are:

Spring Semester: May 6, 2011

Summer Semester: August 5, 2011
Fall Semester: December 16, 2011
Please allow 8-10 weeks following commencement for diplomas to be mailed.