You've almost made it! You have entered the final stage and the final examination and thesis deposit are very much an integrated process. When you schedule your final exam, this puts into motion both the final exam approvals and the thesis/dissertation approvals.
Final Examination
The Final Examination may be taken no earlier than six months after successful passing of the preliminary examination.
Scheduling your Final Exam
- at least 6 weeks prior – decide on a date/time in consultation with your advisor and reserve the room for your exam with the staff in 117 Transportation Building. Your room should hold at least 30 people and should be reserved 2 hours and 15 minutes – 15 minutes prior to your exam time to allow for setup and 2 hours for the exam portion. It is best to avoid the hours of 10 am - 2 pm, as the Transportation Building is busiest during these times. Please note – for the Fall 2020 term, all prelims should be conducted via Zoom.
- at least 3 weeks prior – select a Doctoral Examination Committee in consultation with your advisor and submit a Request for Appointment of Doctoral Examination Committee
- at least 2 weeks prior – submit your dissertation to your committee. Passage of the Final Examination will be determined based upon the vote of the Doctoral Examination Committee.
Please keep in mind that you must be registered for at least 1 course during your final exam semester.
Thesis Deposit
The Graduate College has an extensive deposit checklist that you should follow. Here are a few notes in relation to that checklist:
- You should view the Graduate College Thesis Requirements for templates and sample pages to make sure your thesis is following the correct formatting.
- When it is time for the format review with your department, send a PDF version of your thesis via email to ise-grad@illinois.edu via attachment or Box link. This should be sent for review at least two weeks prior to the posted thesis deadline. Once your thesis is format reviewed, you will receive suggestions/approval via email. The ISE Grad Programs Office will submit the Thesis/Dissertation Approval Form to the Graduate College after your thesis review is complete, on your behalf.
- Please make sure you list Lauren Redman, lredman@illinois.edu, as the thesis format reviewer when submitting your thesis.
- It is not uncommon for the Graduate College to require some corrective revisions/editing. Make sure you complete these right away!
- All of your 599/thesis grades will be updated from "DFR" once your thesis has been approved/accepted by the Graduate College.
The Graduate College also requires several workshops that may be helpful leading up to your thesis deposit.