Grad

Suggested ETD Timeline

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

Format Thesis

Week 1 of term

Verify Committee

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.  Once added or corrected, it should display instantly in your checklist. Do not wait until the last minute! Other steps in the ETD process depend on this.
  • Once you verify, you will not be able to go back to verify again. 
  • If you update your committee after you have verfied, please contact Shaymaa Minkara (minkarsa@ucmail.uc.edu) to open the step for you. 

Announce Defense on Graduate College Website

Week 2 of term (only for doctoral students).

  • Recommended (not mandatory for the Graduate College) to announce at least 2 weeks ahead of defense. You must announce your defense at least one day before the scheduled open defense date. You will not be able to enter the same day or a previous date.
  • The majority of doctoral students must announce their defense publicly through the Graduation Checklist (automatically posted 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.

Acquire Committee Signatures

Week 4 of term

  • Allow 1 week to complete.
  • You may be asked 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.

Research Publishing Options and Copyrights

Week 4 of term

  • Allow 24 hours to complete
  • Discuss keywords and subject headings with your advisor/chair. Choose up to five keywords and two subject headings.
  • View and dicuss permissions and copyright with your advisor/chair.

Prepare ETD Submission for Chair Approval

Week 5 of term

  • Allow 24 - 72 hours to complete.
  • Make sure "Submit to Chair" is checked in the navigation bar. You may need to remind your chair that you are awaiting electronic approval if they has not responded in a timely manner.

Obtain Electronic Chair Approval

Week 5 or 6 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. Once your chair has approved your ETD electronically, your submission will automatically be submitted to the Graduate College. If you do not obtain chair approval by the ETD deadline, you might not graduate. .

Meeting the ETD Submission Deadline 

  • 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 deadline set by the Graduate College in the comments. Comments about any issues with your submission will appear under the open 'ETD Submission' steps when you login to your checklist