Dissertation Submission and Graduation

Dissertation Reading Committee

A student's Dissertation Reading Committee is nominated at the same time that they apply to Advanced to Candidacy via the Dissertation Reading Committee Nomination Form. The Dissertation Reading Committee must have a minimum of three readers, and at least half of the committee must be members of the Santa Cruz Division of the Academic Senate.

The committee can be changed at any point leading up to graduation and is done by submitting the same form to the Graduate Advisor. Committee changes need to be approved by the Graduate Dean, so it is suggested to do this at least one quarter before applying to graduate to ensure the change is approved.

Dissertation Review

The dissertation review will happen in two portions - internal review with the faculty advisor and reading committee, and external review by the Division of Graduate Studies. The internal review checks for academic merit and coherence, while the Graduate Division review checks technical and logistical guidelines.

Reading Committee Review

This process is done mostly on your own accord - communicate with your faculty advisor about this process and inquire when it should begin, and how long it might take. Time should be budgeted in the case that the reading committee has comments that will need to be addressed before they accept the dissertation and sign off on it.

Division of Graduate Studies Review

This process is done to confirm validity, format, and standard. They will confirm that they dissertation follows the guides according to the resources found on the Division of Graduate Studies' website under the heading Thesis & Dissertation Submission.

Filing Deadlines

Please see the Academic and Administrative Calendar for the current academic year. There, you will find a few key dates under the Announcing Candidacy for Degree/Apply to Graduate heading:

"Deadline to announce for Masters or Ph.D." This is the deadline that the Application to Graduate must be submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies.
"Deadline to complete all requirements for degree" is the date that all requirements must be completed or submitted. The dissertation must have been reviewed by the reading committee and have their signatures, submitted to the Graduate Division via ProQuest. All course requirements that will count towards the degree must have additionally have a passing grade.

Upon submission of the Application to Graduate, the Division of Graduate Studies will send an informational email to you informing you on next steps and submission guidelines. In particular, they will invite you to upload your dissertation to ProQuest.

Filing 'Between Quarters'

There is some flexibility when graduating 'between quarters'. A student can apply to graduate for a given quarter, but can submit all requirements for graduation before that quarter's start date. This enables the student to graduate without needing to enroll, and can be helpful when the dissertation is not done before the "Deadline to complete all requirements for degree" for the previous quarter.

Next Steps (After Applying to Graduate)

After submitting your application to graduate, the Graduate Division will email you with next steps. Below, within the drop down header, you can see an example email. Please note that these instructions may change in the future. This is an example from Spring 2026.

What you will receive from the Graduate Divison after applying to graduate.

Dear Doctoral Candidates,

You have applied for a spring degree. Congrats on reaching this this milestone! Please carefully read the following information and instructions about submitting your dissertation and also visit our Applications and Forms page (under Thesis and Dissertation Submission) to view more information about the requirements you need to complete.

Key Deadlines

Deadline to submit title page if you want your information in the Commencement program: May 31
Standard Deadline to complete all requirements: Thursday, June 11, 2026 (Last day of the quarter).
Extension Deadline: June 30, 2026.
- Note: To request this extension, your committee chair must send me an email confirming that you can finish by this date.

Step 1: Format your paper & Submit via ProQuest

Before uploading to the ProQuest Website, ensure your document adheres to the official guidelines.

Formatting Rules: Review the attached document. Even if you use a template, you must verify your formatting manually.
Crucial Checks: Triple-check your page numbering and margins (especially for the Abstract, figures, tables, and any equations).
New Accessibility Requirement: As of April 2026, all submissions must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA web accessibility standards (Title II of the ADA). It is your responsibility to ensure your PDF is accessible before uploading. Please see our website for more information and links on how to do this.
Supplementary Materials: If your dissertation includes media or data sets, consult the Library’s Best Practices Guide.

Important: Your degree will not be conferred until formatting is correct.

Step 2: Submit Your Signed Title Page

You must email a signed copy of your title page directly to me (vlarkin@ucsc.edu). Do not email it to the Dean.

Title Page Requirements:

Signatures: Must be signed by your committee members only. We accept scanned or electronic signatures (e.g., DocuSign), but all signatures must appear on one single page. If the signatures are scanned then I also need an email from your committee chair verifying that you are finished.
Date: Must state June 2026, regardless of your actual submission date.
Dean’s Information: Must list Peter Biehl, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies.
Unsigned copy: The version you upload to ProQuest must be unsigned. Only the version emailed to me should contain signatures.

Step 3: Exit Forms

Please complete the following mandatory surveys:

Final Review Process

After submitting to ProQuest, I will review your formatting. Watch for an email confirming Approval or requesting Revisions. You are not finished until you receive the final acceptance notification.

Note: It typically takes one month after the end of the quarter for your degree to be posted to your student account.

Please reach out if you have any questions!

Post-Graduation

Once a student's application to graduate has been accepted, they are no longer eligible to enroll. A student must be an active student to hold academic student employment positions, such as TA and GSI. A student that applies to graduate in Spring will be ineligible for TA or GSI positions the following Summer.

You are also advised to complete the following:

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