GRADUATION INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions for Doctoral Students Planning to Graduate

All forms must be typed. 

Signature Instructions:   

If you are using Adobe Acrobat reader, you will need to fill out the form, print it, and obtain hard signatures. You cannot save any changes you make to the document, so be sure to print the form once you have completed it.

If you are using Adobe Acrobat professional, you can obtain all digital signatures. To sign the form digitally, you will click on the signature box in the form. A pop up box will appear that asks what you would like to do. You can choose an existing digital ID (choose this option if you already have created a signature and follow the process you would for other forms). If you have not digitally signed a PDF before, choose “A new digital ID I want to create now” and click “next”. On the next screen, choose “New PKCS #12 digital ID file” and click “next”(If you are a Mac user, this screen will not appear. Skip this step and move onto the next one). Enter your identifying information and click “next”. On the next screen, choose a file in which to store your signature for future use and create a password. Then click “Finish”. You will then be prompted to sign the document by entering your password. Enter your password and click “sign”. You will be prompted to save the form and once you have done so your digital signature will appear. 

Once you have completed the form and signed it electronically, you can email onto others to sign digitally using the mail (it looks like a small envelope) at the top of the screen.

1. Denver Deadlines Calendar | Anschutz Medical Campus Deadlines Calendar

A deadline calendar is provided for your information on the Graduate School website. Please call the Graduate School at 303-724-2915 (CU Anschutz) or 303-315-2183 (CU Denver) if you have any questions. There are no exceptions to these deadlines.

2. Application for Graduation

The Registrar’s Office requires that students complete this diploma application at the beginning of the term in which you will graduate. The deadline is published on the Academic Calendar, but generally is the last day of add/drop registration for that semester.

3. Request for Thesis Defense

Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the date you plan to take the thesis defense.

Student Name

Your name as it appears on University records. No nicknames.

Student Number

Check with Admissions and Records if you are unsure of this.

Degree/Program

e.g. –PhD, Immunology; PhD, Civil Engineering

Date of Exam

The month/day/year that you will take exam. Check with program advisor/program director if unsure.

TIME - the time the exam will begin (not any pre-exam seminar).

Room Number

List the building and room number (NOT the room's name).

Seminar

If applicable (not all programs require). Include the time and room number of your pre-defense seminar.

Thesis Title

Please type in upper and lower case letters.

Thesis Advisor

Type the name of the faculty member mentoring your thesis work - they may not be the chairperson for your committee (see below).

Examination Committee

All members must have current Graduate Faculty appointments. The chair of the committee must hold a regular graduate faculty appointment in the Graduate School. The student’s dissertation advisor may not chair the examination committee. List each member by their full name (don't use nicknames or initials) and their graduate program affiliation per the drop down box.

CU Anschutz students: Your committee must consist of a minimum of five Graduate Faculty members. See the Graduate Faculty List online to check the faculty appointment term and program affiliations. At least one of the committee members must be outside your program’s core training faculty. The majority of the members, including the chair, must be from your program’s core training faculty. If the faculty member has multiple program affiliations listed on the website, list your program if that is one of their affiliations, or list their “sponsor” program if they are not affiliated with your program. 

CU Denver students: Your committee must consist of a minimum of four Graduate Faculty members. Your committee chair must be a member of the degree-granting program. Please contact Inge Wefes for any questions regarding the status of an appointment for a committee member. 

Thesis Chairperson Required Approval Signature

Your chairperson’s signature is required to authorize the scheduling of the thesis defense on the date listed on the form. See information at the top of this page regarding signature instructions.

Graduate Program Director Required Approval Signature

This would be your Graduate Program Director. See information at the top of this page regarding signature instructions.

4. Registration for the Examination

Students defending between semesters must register for the subsequent semester.

CU Anschutz students: You are required to register for at least 5 thesis hours (8990) the semester you defend regardless of the number of thesis hours that have accumulated to date.CU Denver students: You are required to register for at least 1 thesis hour (8990) the semester you defend regardless of the number of thesis hours that have accumulated to date.

5. Biographical Sketch

This form must be completed as directed and submitted to the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the thesis defense. The form should be turned in with your Request for Scheduling PhD Thesis 

Defense form.

Fill out the information on both pages. List your name and the date of the exam. In listing your committee, list only faculty member names and graduate program affiliation per the drop down box. The graduate program you list for your faculty will be the same as on your Request to Schedule Exam form. In the “Biographical Notes” section, you will list all of your previous academic degrees, including school, degree, and year of award; and then list your publications. If there are too many to fit within the established space, list only those that are applicable to your thesis. List your thesis title and advisor on the second page of the biosketch. Take the abstract from your thesis and copy it in the summary section. It should be no more than 350 words, single-spaced.

6. Thesis Specifications.

 The thesis specifications that are available online are the required guidelines that you must follow for the formatting of your thesis.

CU Anschutz students: You must complete a mandatory thesis precheck that should be scheduled prior to your defense. Please call Lauren at 303-724-2911 at least two weeks prior to your defense to schedule the precheck.

CU Denver students: You are required to submit an unbound, hard copy of your theses to the Graduate School by the deadline listed on the deadline calendar for format review.

Final copies of theses are submitted electronically and must be submitted by the published deadline. If you miss the submission deadline, you will graduate the following semester. The information regarding the electronic submission process is available online.

7. Statement of Approval of the Thesis

You must submit this form prior to the electronic submission deadline. Original signatures of all faculty are required. This form becomes a University document so care should be taken to keep the form unblemished prior to submission to the Graduate School (no staples, folding, white out).

8. Survey of Earned Doctorates in the U.S.

From this link, you will be directed to the Survey of Earned Doctorates website to complete the survey.

Once completed, you will be provided a certificate of completion. Print the certificate and submit it to the Graduate School prior to electronically submitting your final thesis. This certificate is part of the required documents for graduation.

9. Electronic Thesis Submission

All information needed regarding fees, submission, and forms, is outlined on the Electronic Theses and Dissertations website.

CU Anschutz students: Please review the information specific to the CU Anschutz submission process. When you submit your thesis electronically, there are three forms you must submit to the Graduate School:

• Statement of Approval of the Thesis - complete with signatures
• Survey of Earned Doctorates certificate
• PhD exit survey completion email
  

CU Denver students: Please review the information specific to the CU Denver submission process. When you submit your thesis electronically, there are two forms you must submit to the Graduate School:

• Statement of Approval of the Thesis-complete with signatures
• Survey of Earned Doctorates certificate