Electronic Thesis / Dissertation Information

Your ETD submission has specific requirements. You may need up to 6 weeks to prepare your thesis or dissertation for electronic submission. A suggested schedule is available below.

For more information about preparing and submitting your ETD, please see the Required Page Order, Formatting Guidelines and ETD FAQ pages. 

ETD submission deadlines are posted on the Graduation Deadlines page. If you miss the ETD deadline for your desired graduation term, you will not be able to graduate that term, and you will have to submit another graduation application for the following term.

Important note: Make sure to provide your chair ample time to complete the review. We recommend you to upload your ETD quite in advance of the ETD submission deadline to allow your chair time for proper review. Your chair will need to review and submit the ETD to the Graduate College by the deadline date.

A guide to complete the Graduation Checklist can be found below. To view these documents, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.

• View Graduate Certificate Checklist Guide (PDF)
• View Non-Thesis Checklist Guide (PDF)
• View Thesis Checklist Guide (PDF)
• View Dissertation Checklist Guide (PDF)
• View Library Dissertation Checklist Guide (PDF)

• Week 1 of term.
  
• Allow 1 week to complete.
  
• See Required Page Order and Formatting Guidelines for instructions.

• Week 1 of term.
  
• Allow 48 hours to complete.
  
• If your committee is not found or if there is an error, contact your Graduate Program Coordinator. Your commitee will take 24 hours to update once corrected in the graduation system. Do not wait until the last minute! Other steps in the ETD process depend on this.

• Week 8 of term.
  
• Recommended at least 2 weeks ahead of defense.
  
• All doctoral students must announce their defense publicly on the Graduate College website prior to the day of defense. 
• Announce your defense by logging into the Graduation Checklist and entering your defense information.

• Week 9 of term.
  
• Allow 1 week to complete.
  
• You may need to make changes to your document based on your defense. After completing the changes, you must get the signatures of your committee members. Signatures must be original. Digital signatures on the form will be accepted. Faxed copies are not acceptable. You will scan the signed Committee Approval Form as a pdf and upload it as part of your ETD submission. Scanners are available in many UC computer labs and libraries.

• Week 10 of term.
  
• Allow 24 hours to complete.
  
• Discuss keywords and subject headings with your advisor. Choose up to five keywords and two subject headings.
• View permissions and copyright.

• Week 10 of term.
  
• Allow 24 hours to complete.
  
• Make sure "Submit to Chair" is checked in the navigation bar. You may need to remind your chair for electronic approval if he/she does not respond promptly.

• Week 10 of term.
  
• Allow 1 week to complete.
  
• Your chair is alerted via email that you have submitted your ETD for approval. Your chair will login to review your submission and may request changes. Be sure to leave time for any necessary corrections before the ETD deadline date.

• Week 12 of term.
• The Graduate College reviews each submission manually. This takes time. Do not call the Graduate College to check on the status of your ETD. You can check the status of your ETD by viewing the "Check Graduation Status" step on the checklist. If the Graduate College finds any problems with your submission, you will receive an email alert. All issues must be resolved by the Graduate College deadline. Comments about any issues with your submission will appear on the comment summary page when you login to the "Submit ETD" step on the checklist.