Graduation Guidelines and Deadlines for Master's Candidates for fall 2011

• You must be a registered student to graduate. If you are in the thesis or report option, you must be registered for 698B or 398R, accordingly.
  
  
• You can find the instructions, policies and forms you need for graduation on the online forms page.
  
  
• Beginning August 26, 2011 submit the Master's Graduation Application Form online.  The form can be completed and submitted online from August 26, 2011 until October 10, 2011. The online Master's Graduation Application Form automatically routes first to your departmental graduate adviser for approval and then to a degree evaluator in the Graduate School for final approval.  The Master's Graduation Application Form is valid for one semester only and a new application must be submitted if your semester of graduation changes. 
  
  After October 10, any student who fails to complete the online Master's Graduation Application must contact a degree evaluator in the Graduate School to request individual access. Students who do not submit an online Master's Graduation Application by November 18 will not be eligible to receive their degree in the fall. Note: The paper form of the Master's Graduation Application may only be submitted by students enrolled in dual-degree programs, and under rare and unusual circumstances when approved in advance by the graduate dean. Students should contact a master's degree evaluator in the Graduate School to obtain the paper application form. All paper Graduation Applications must include a program of work that has been approved by the student's program graduate adviser.
  
  If you find after filing for graduation that you will not complete your degree requirements, you may contact the Graduate School for instructions on updating your Graduation Application. Failure to notify the Graduate School of this change may delay your graduation.
  
  
• On February 12, 2008, the Office of the Executive Vice-President and Provost approved legislation put forward by the Graduate Assembly, reinstating the Master's Degree Program of Work as a graduation requirement for all master's degree candidates beginning in the Fall 2008. When you submit your online Master's Graduation Application, your program of work will automatically be sent to your program graduate coordinator and adviser for approval. Your electronic program of work will then be submitted to the Graduate School to be made a part of your permanent record. Students who have obtained special permission to submit a paper Master's Graduation Application Form must attach a Program of Work that has been approved by their program graduate adviser.

The remaining items are due in the Graduate School, Main Building 101, on or before December 2, 2011 in order to graduate in fall, 2011.

Thesis or Report Option Students

Upload the pdf file of your thesis/report to the Texas Digital Library (TDL) by 5:00 p.m. on December 2, 2011. Your pdf file name should include the following information in lower-case letters, separated by an underscore: last name_document type_year of graduation and semester code 9 for fall graduates; for example, brown_thesis_20119 or brown_report_20119. Submission of your thesis/report to the Texas Digital Library is required, and instructions for submitting online can be found at the TDL Submission Site. Additional technical support is available at http://www.tdl.org/support/. Your thesis/report will be made available to the public through the Texas Digital Library on an Open Access basis.

All master's degree candidates who are completing the thesis or report option must submit a printed copy of the following pages to the Graduate School by the fall submission deadline:

• a title page,
• a signature page (with original signatures of your supervising committee as listed on your Master's Graduation Application Form),
• an Abstract, and
• a Statement on Research with Human Participants (.pdf).
  Submit this form whether you used human participants or not. If you did use human participants, you need to attach a copy of the IRB approval letter or waiver or exemption notification of the form.

Requests to Delay Publication: A student may request permission from the graduate dean to delay making their thesis/report available to the public through the Texas Digital Library for up to a year. This request must be supported by a written recommendation from the student's supervisor and must be submitted and approved prior to your graduation. If no petition is made to the dean, the thesis/report will be searchable on the web and available for free.

Theses and reports must follow the guidelines of the Graduate School format booklet, Format for the Master's Thesis and Report (.pdf). A format check for either electronic or print versions is recommended before turning in your completed work.  If the format check is not done prior to submission of your completed work, one will be done at that time. Contact one of the following degree evaluators.

William Crain - williamc@mail.utexas.edu - If your last name begins with A-L
Renee Babcock - r.babcock@austin.utexas.edu - if your last name begins with M-Z

Failure to meet specified deadlines may result in a postponement of your graduation. Long lines to see a degree evaluator are typical around deadline days. It is highly recommended that students meet their deadlines as early as possible to avoid the added inconvenience and crowding that is expected at the last minute. Please contact a degree evaluator at 471-4511 if you have any questions, or stop by Main Building 101, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.