Graduation Requirement

PhD Graduation Procedures

  1. Students must submit an Application to Graduate form, which includes the date and time of the oral examination, to the Graduate School no later than the third Friday of the semester in which graduation is expected. The form is valid only for that semester. The Application to Graduate form must be signed by the student, the student’s dissertation adviser, and the Chair of the African American and African Studies Graduate Studies Committee. The Doctoral Draft Approval/Notification of Final Oral Examination form (available in the Graduate School) and a completed, typed draft of the dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School at least two weeks before the Final Oral Examination is scheduled. All members of the Dissertation Committee must sign the draft approval form indicating that the student is adequately prepared to defend the dissertation. All students must be registered for at least three credits during the expected semester of graduation.
  2. PhD students must successfully complete the dissertation and oral examination and submit the Final Oral Examination Report form to the Graduate School by the deadline for the semester in which the student is graduating.
  3. Students are responsible for arranging a time for the oral examination that is convenient for all members of the Final Oral Examination Committee.
  4. The final, approved dissertation document must be submitted no later than Wednesday of the week before commencement. Detailed instructions for formatting and submitting these documents are found in the Graduate School Handbook, Section III, “Guidelines for Preparing Theses, Dissertations, and DMA Documents.” When submitting the final copy of the thesis to the Graduate School, students should be sure to give themselves time to correct any errors in formatting.
  5. In addition to the above procedures, all students are responsible for fulfilling the following requirements for graduation:
    1. Students must attain a cumulative point-hour ratio of at least 3.0 for all graduate credit hours taken at this university.
    2. Students must fulfill all requirements established by the African American and African Studies Graduate Studies Committee as stated in the Department of African American and African Studies Graduate Handbook.
    3. Students must be sure that the Graduate School receives final grades by the deadline published on the Registrar's Page.
    4. Students must fulfill all requirements by the deadlines established by the Graduate School.

Please consult the Graduate School Handbook, Section 2.5, for further detailed information about graduation requirements. See also the Graduate School's Doctoral Student Procedures for Final Semester and doctoral degree checklist.