Dissertation Deposit

Once a student has successfully defended the dissertation, makes all relevant revisions, and is ready to deposit the Dissertation, s/he should deposit the dissertation electronically according to the instructions in the Doctoral Thesis Deposit Instructions document, available on the Graduate School Forms webpage. Students should submit the Student Checkout form before depositing the dissertation. This form can also be found on the Graduate School forms webpage. Failure to do this can result in a delay of the student’s graduation.

MD/PhD students should note the additional requirements/instructions for depositing a dissertation, which are detailed in Chapter 2.

The dissertation may be deposited at any time during the year, but the following deposit deadlines and enrollment requirements determine the date of the degree.

The degree is awarded on September 30, January 31, or the date of ISMMS’s annual Commencement in May. Students depositing by the January or April deadline will receive their diploma at Commencement. Those students who have a dissertation or thesis defense scheduled between April 16th and June 30th MAY be eligible to participate in the spring Commencement ceremony even though they have not met the April 15th thesis/dissertation deposit deadline. In cases where a student is allowed to participate, he/she/they will not receive a diploma at graduation. Instead, a diploma will be awarded on the conferral date (September 30th, of January 31) following the successful defense. Only students in good academic standing will be offered this courtesy. In this case, good academic standing means that all coursework has been completed with passing grades and the student’s mentor/committee fully expect the student will successfully defend his/her/their thesis/dissertation prior to June 30th. If either of these criteria is not met, the student will not be allowed to participate in the spring graduation ceremony.

Additionally, any student whose written document or oral defense was not acceptable to their committee will not be allowed to participate in Commencement until after successfully defending and depositing.

By March 1, students must notify the Registrar of their intent to deposit their thesis on or before the April or September deposit deadlines in order to be included in the Commencement exercises of that year. Commencement information will be sent during the spring semester to the student’s ISMMS email address recorded with the Graduate School Office.

If a student fails to deposit their thesis by the end of their seventh year in the PhD program (6th PhD year for MD/PhD students), their dissertation advisor must petition the Dean of the Graduate School in writing for permission to extend their student status. The petition must include a timetable for completing the dissertation and must also be signed by the student.

It is the dissertation advisor’s responsibility to inform the Graduate School Office, in a timely manner, the expected date that financial support will be terminated.

PhD students can maintain student status, with the stipend and health benefits covered by the dissertation advisor, after the defense, according to the following timetable:

Exceptions to this schedule will only be considered under extenuating circumstances. The dissertation advisor must request this in writing to the Dean of the Graduate School.