Degree Clearance Procedures

Graduation occurs upon submission of or completion of all required and elective coursework as listed on the Graduate Degree Program Form, the submission of design or written documents to the Graduate School and the signature on forms after the student's oral presentations.

Graduation occurs in the month in which the required forms or Examination Report form and the Thesis Document are submitted to the Graduate School. Graduates participate in the College of Design's graduation ceremony observed only in spring semester. Note: all necessary forms the must be completed prior to the CDes graduation ceremony.

If a student is required to continue his/her Master’s Final Examination studies into a second semester, the student must register for ARCH 8333 (1 credit) and pay tuition and all semester CDes fees, such as tech-access, imaging lab and library fees. Students will not be eligible for fellowships, assistantships or other CDes support.

An exception to this circumstance is if the student's Master’s Final Examination work is substantially complete, as determined by the Master's Examining Committee, and requires minimal remaining effort for its conclusion. In this case, the student may register in GRAD 999 (no credit, no fee) in order to maintain active status. Note that a student may register for GRAD 999 only one time. After GRAD 999 is taken once, the student must register for ARCH 8333 in order to maintain active status.

Official Graduate Degree Program Forms

The Degree Program Form is available from One Stop Student Services: https://onestop.umn.edu/forms. All architecture graduate students must complete and submit this form with a copy of their completed Architecture Degree Program Form along with a transcript to the architecture Graduate Program Manager. The Degree Program Form must be approved by the Graduate School before the student can receive the Graduation Packet.

The Master's Examining Committee membership must be listed on the Graduate Degree Program Form before its submission to the Architecture Graduate Program Manager and the Graduate School. Students list all coursework completed and proposed that will fulfill the degree requirements, including prior courses that were exempted because they met equivalent requirements. The DGS and Graduate Program Manager will submit the Degree Program Form to the Graduate School before the end of the penultimate semester. After four-six weeks, the Graduate School notifies the candidate electronically to pick up their Graduation Packet.

M.Arch students must file an official Graduate School Degree Program Form with the Graduate School prior to the end of the penultimate semester. M.S. and M.HSPH students will file their Degree Program Form after the completion of 15 credits.

Changes in Degree Program

Once approved, the Degree Program Form must be fulfilled in every detail to meet graduation requirements. Any change in the Degree Program Form must be requested on a Graduate School Petition Form (GS #59). The Graduate School Petition Form, with supporting letters, must be approved by the School of Architecture's DGS and then approved by the Graduate School.

Changes to the Master's Examining Committee

If a Master's committee member has to be changed (faculty member has moved, goes on sabbatical or leave, is not on appointment, etc.), the student notifies the Graduate Program Manager who will request the Graduate School to enter the change on the Degree Program Form. The changes must be finalized by the Graduate School before the design presentation and the Reviewer's Report form is signed.

Plan A Thesis Document: Format and Variations

The School uses the Chicago Manual of Style as format and guidelines for papers and Thesis Document production. The Thesis Document (Plan A) follows the format provided by the Graduate School.