- Schedule your dissertation defense date. You’ll want to email the Academic Programs Coordinator early in the semester so that we can book the conference room and publicize your defense. All defenses are public, and anyone is welcome to attend. YOU MUST BE ENROLLED DURING THE SEMESTER IN WHICH YOU DEFEND.
- As soon as you know when you are planning on defending, apply to graduate. You do this through the Registrar’s Office website. This is what will actually get your diploma in your hands. Even if you are not absolutely sure that you will graduate in a given semester, you should apply anyway, and there is no penalty for not doing so.
- Commencement is not the same as graduating. For more information about commencement, see http://commencement.msu.edu/. Keep in mind that there is no summer commencement, and students graduating in the summer usually walk in the previous spring.
- Be sure that all parts of your GradPlan are up to date and completed. If you took classes that differ from the Grad Plan on file, please update it.
- Be sure that your RECR hours are correct and completed. Even if you are graduating in fall semester, you must have three hours of refresher training for the year.
- Once you pass your defense, you should hand in your Dissertation Defense paperwork to the Academic Programs Coordinator complete with committee signatures.
- Once your paperwork is on file, you can move on to the Graduate School’s requirements . Pay close attention to the deadlines for submission- the submission deadline is the deadline in which you must submit your dissertation to ProQuest by, and the final deadline is by which you must have any formatting issues resolved by.
Any questions about graduation or dissertation defenses can be directed to the Academic Programs Coordinator.