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How to Graduate

1. Give your committee members copies of your thesis at least 10 days before your defense.


2. One week before your defense, let the graduate secretary know the date, time, location of your defense, as well as the title and your advisor so s/he can send an email to everyone letting them know.


3. Give the graduate director the name, contact info, and brief CV of your external committee member. (The grad director will send a letter to the grad school saying s/he approves of this person on your committee.)


4. One week before your defense, go to the Grad School office at 25 Bishop Place on College Ave and pick up your PhD candidacy form. They will also give you other forms to fill out:
   • survey - on paper
   • survey - online
   • PhD publication agreement form
   • Diploma application form
   • Publication payment forms (3)


5. Before your defense, get some thesis paper: 100% rag or cotton content, 16-24 lb weight, white or cream (Crane's or Southworth Co's are recommended - can be found at Staples, or ask around to see if any has been left by previous grad students).


6. Before your defense, print out the title page on the good thesis paper. Also, fill out the candidacy form with your credits (classes and research - you fulfilled all the requirements, didn't you??).


7. Defend. Good luck. Make sure to bring the candidacy form and the title page on good paper for everyone to sign.


8. Make any changes to your thesis that your committee asked you to.


9. Have the grad director sign your candidacy form. Send him/her an electronic copy of your thesis. COPY the signed candidacy form and leave the copy with the grad director.


10. Print your thesis on the good paper, one-side only.


11. Make 4 copies of the signed title page and 4 copies of the abstract page (doesn't have to be on the high-quality paper).


12. Fill out the online survey and print the "completion" page. Fill out all the other forms.


13. Bring the Publication payment form to the Cashier's office and pay $55 for them to publish your thesis. You will get two copies of the payment form back - one for you to keep and one to turn in with your thesis.


14. Bring the diploma application form to the Registrar. Keep the receipt they give you.


15. Go to the Grad School office at 25 Bishop Place and turn in:
    • good printed copy of thesis with signed title page
    • signed candidacy form
    • 4 copies each of signed title page and abstract
    • survey - on paper
    • online survey completion form
    • publication agreement form
    • publication payment receipt


16. They will take a ruler to make sure your margins are ok and flip through the thesis to make sure things are ok - if not, they can tell you to reprint something!


17. If you need a letter saying you have completed all requirements (but you won't actually graduate for another few months - Oct or Jan), show the Grad School people the diploma application receipt as well and ask for a letter.


18. Fill out the Commencement Program Information form on the Grad School's website if you want your thesis in the commencement program.

Neelima Sehgal has recently graduated and has pointed out some differences in procedure to the above list. Many thanks to her also! (I will try and intergrate these two when I have some time.)

1. Attend a dissertation workshop if possible a month or so before you turn in your thesis. They will check your margins etc. to make sure everything is ok. For details and dates, call (732-932-7034). You need to make an appointment as the sessions will fill up.
2. In ruthesis.cls (LaTeX style file for thesis), adjust baselinestretch (line 122) depending on your font size. For 10pt font it should be 2.004, for 11pt font it should be 1.771, and for 12pt font it should be 1.660. This will double space your thesis appropriately.
3. If a reference in the References Section of your thesis spans several lines, those lines must have single spacing. Between references, you should have double spacing. (Note to users of apj.bst, this is not the standard format of this style file.)
4. Only the title page of your thesis needs to be printed on the cotton paper. The administrative assistant to the grad director has cotton paper for you to take.
5. The grad director's administrative assistant needs to have a copy of your title page signed by your committee and your signed candidacy form.
6. The whole of your thesis must be submitted electronically to the graduate school.

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