Academics

Graduate Program

So, You Plan to Defend this Semester ... Now What Do You Do?

Original Text: Dr. Anne Ferraro (Ph.D. 1996)

Updated: Dr. Raymond Loy (Ph.D. 1998)

For those of you who are close to graduating, here's what you need to know to make a quick escape after your defense. For additional references see the Graduate School homepage and the Doctoral Thesis Checklist. The final authority on thesis submission issues is Dennis Gornic (x6488, gornid@rpi.edu).

Deadlines

2002-2003 IMPORTANT DATES

These deadlines change every year. Your semester of graduation is determined by the date you submit the final copy of your thesis to the Graduate School, not by the date of your defense. Other dates are somewhat flexible. E.g. the due date for submitting your thesis to your advisor is, in practice, a matter entirely between the two of you. However, the final submission to the Graduate School is strict. You can request an extension from Dennis Gornic (see above). He may be able to help, but major extensions are generally not possible. Make sure you specify that you are talking about a doctoral thesis submission and get a confirmation of the extension in writing.

Be aware that depending on the whim of your committee, you may have thesis corrections to make after your defense that will delay your submission to the Graduate School.

Thesis Formating

There are guidelines and sample pages available in the Graduate School's Thesis Writing Manual. E.g. margins must be 1" for top, bottom, and right and 1.5" for left. Footers and headers must be .5" from bottom or top. Don't be misled by the mention of binding/inner/outer edges (normally associated with double-sided printing) - you must submit it single-sided.

The Graduate School is not nearly as strict about format as it once was, but it is not a bad idea to bring a draft of your thesis to Graduate School for review prior to your defense.

The official guidelines strongly discourage using color in your thesis. Ignore this. If you want to have pages with color pictures, this certainly does not break any rules. They may not reproduce well on microfilm, but that should not be a major concern as any people who want your thesis will probably request a copy directly from you. The color prints must be on bond paper (like the rest of the thesis, see below), so you will have to use a color laser printer or an ink-jet. You will probably want to group your color pages together to make it easier to print.

The final copy of the thesis must be printed on special paper (acid-free and with high rag content). This can be purchased at the book store for $10/ream (500 sheets). This is the cheapest place to get it.

One thing not addressed in the instructions is that the Abstract title page must have an Arabic "1" as its page number. In Latex, you can do this with:

• \setcounter{page}{1}
• \pagenumbering{arabic}

Reserving a Room

Unless you are extremely lucky and can sucker someone into doing it for you, you are faced with the task of finding a date, time, and room that meets everyone's schedules. Good luck. This is likely to be the most stressful part of the entire procedure.

One thing you may not know is that a missing committee member or two is not necessarily a show-stopper. Usually some arrangement can be made, e.g. send them the thesis in advance and they can send questions directly to you or have another committee member ask them at the defense. If you have an absentee committee member, try to make advance arrangements for the cover sheet signing. For example, well before the defense you could send the bond-paper cover sheets to be signed and sent back to your advisor who would agree to hold it until approval is given.

In typical RPI fashion, room reservations are handled by multiple offices. Rooms in the CII are reserved by calling x2350; the JEC x6203; and the rest of the campus x6655. If you can't decide where, the CII and JEC conference rooms are popular choices.

Make sure the room you choose has the necessary A/V equipment. If there is anything additional that you need, Media Operations (DCC 126, x8282, mediaops@rpi.edu ) can bring it: slide projectors, a PC with projector, etc. There is no charge for their services for thesis defenses. You can reserve equipment online at http://asms.rpi.edu:591/avequipreservations/avequipreservations.html. You might want to arrange for a dry run.

'ToDo' Lists

Things to do at the start of the semester:

• Register for the semester in which you will graduate.
• Submit Degree Application form to Registrar
  Note that the deadline for this is usually early in the semester. File one even if you are not sure you will finish, it won't hurt.

Things to do before defense:

• Reserve a room
• Pay Binding Fee at Registrar ($80, keep receipt)
• Bring copy of thesis to Graduate School for format review
• While at the Graduate School, pick up:
  • Copyright forms
  • Earned PhD Student Survey
  • Thesis/Examination form (Word or PDF versions may be downloaded from the Graduate School
• If you want Bell & Howell to assist in filing for copyright for your dissertation, go to bank and purchase $65 money order. Make it out to "Bell & Howell".
• Confirm with Registrar/Bursar that you are registered and that your account is clear for you to graduate.

Things to bring to your defense:

• At least three copies of cover sheet on bond paper
  Get original signatures on all copies. Two will be submitted to the Graduate School, any others are for yourself.
• copy of thesis (in case of questions)
• your wits

Things to bring to Graduate School when submitting thesis:

• Thesis/Examination form (completed by your advisor)
• 2 copies of your thesis on bond paper.
  Each must be in a manila envelope.
  Attach a copy of your signature sheet on the outside of the envelope.
• Abstract title page with Abstract on bond paper for publication in Dissertations Abstracts International. This abstract is limited to 350 words or a maximum of 2,450 characters. See note above about page numbering.
• Receipt for binding fee
• Bell & Howell Copyright forms
• $65 money order for Bell & Howell
• Earned Ph.D. Student Survey

Make a copy of everything before you submit, especially the signature sheet.

Things to do after submitting to Graduate School:

• Make copies for your committee members. You can get these spiral bound at OfficeMax or Kinkos.
• If you want your own thesis copy hard-bound, or mom and dad would like a copy, the book store can do this for surprisingly little ($17). You can pick the color and they will imprint the title, author, and year of the thesis on the spine.
• Ponder where the last ten years of your life went.

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