Frequently Asked Questions

The ultimate deadline is decided each semester by the Thesis Office in consultation with Enrollment Services. It is always during the first few weeks of the following semester, and very few students come close to missing that deadline. If the date is of concern to you, ask about it after you receive the email about the initial evaluation of your PDF manuscript. An ultimate deadline date will have been determined by that time for that semester. If a student has not made all corrections to his or her manuscript before this ultimate deadline, graduation will be pushed back and all paperwork filed with Enrollment Services for graduation will have to be updated.

During the period between submission and completion, the Thesis and Dissertation Office gives priority to all requests (email, telephone or walk-in) made by students whose manuscripts are undergoing evaluation and revision for that semester. Call, email or stop by with any questions or problems. We will work with you to help make corrections and adjust deadline dates as much as possible if other events in your life get in the way of making revisions.

Yes, it can. If a signature page complete with all signatures is submitted before the first day of a submission period, the Thesis Office will contact the student to acknowledge the arrival of the signature page. However, the Thesis Office will not email the instructions about uploading the PDF of the student’s manuscript to the online database until the first day of the official submission period. By completing a signature page before the first day of the official submission period, students are “first in line” for evaluation of their PDFs. Generally, PDFs submitted early in the submission period are evaluated within 1 week.

Completed signature pages received by the Thesis Office after the last day of an official submission period will be accepted for the next semester’s submission period. An email will be sent to the student to acknowledge the arrival of the signature page. However, the Thesis Office will not email the instructions about uploading the PDF of the student’s manuscript to the online database until the first day of the next semester’s official submission period.

PDF manuscripts are evaluated in the order they are uploaded to the online database website. No exceptions will be made. If you have commitments that require timely clearance of your manuscript (e.g., employment, doctoral program admission, relocation, or extended trip), you should make every effort to submit your fully signed signature page early in the submission period. The turnaround time is much shorter early in the semester.

Rejection of your manuscript for formatting errors is a rare but very real possibility. Manuscripts submitted for an initial evaluation must be professional and formatted to the best of your ability according to the University Guidelines Manual and the style guide designated by your department. The first evaluation, follow-up evaluation, and cleared pending steps provide enough time and opportunity for the large majority of students to make revisions. Manuscripts containing numerous and consistent formatting errors after undergoing these three steps will be rejected. Those manuscripts can be re-submitted for the next semester. The student's graduation date will need to be moved and Enrollment Services paperwork regarding graduation will need to be updated.