Doctoral Degree Requirements for All Candidates

Final Oral Examination completed - please note that the Graduate School must have the announcement of your final oral exam one month before the defense. See the Checklist for Doctoral Oral Examinations for details.
Doctoral Degree Eligibility Form must be completed and submitted to the academic department two weeks prior to the degree deadline to allow for departmental review. The student, department graduate program director, and department head/chairman must sign the Eligibility Form.
Dissertation electronically filed with ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst.
Signature page – one signature page with original signatures must be submitted to the Graduate Student Service Center. An unsigned signature page should also be included after the copyright page in the electronic copy of your dissertation.
Survey of Earned Doctorates – this online survey must be completed and submitted by the deadline.
Copyright registration (optional) - register your copyright with the Library of Congress Copyright Office.

Additional requirements to be met before being cleared for graduation

You must be an active student.
All requirements on the Checklist for Doctoral Oral Examinations must have been met before the Final Oral Exam is scheduled.
Your Final Oral Exam must be passed by the posted deadline and a memo stating that the exam was passed and the date on which it was passed must be signed by your graduate program director and filed with the Graduate Student Service Center.
No holds can be on your record.
Bursar fees must be paid. Any outstanding Bursar fees must be paid directly to the Bursar.
Diploma Name and Home (Non-UMass) Email Address must be updated in SPIRE (Academics Tile > Graduation > Diploma preferences).
Diploma address must be updated in SPIRE (Academics Tile > Graduation > Diploma preferences). Diplomas will be sent to the student's Diploma Address.

csparks Wed, 02/22/2023 - 15:28

Actions

Checklist for Doctoral Oral Examinations

Deadline: One month prior to the examination date

A memo requesting that the Final Doctoral Oral Examination be announced must be signed by the Graduate Program Director or the Department Head/Chair and submitted to the Graduate Student Service Center one month prior to the examination date. Staff at the Graduate Student Service Center will review the requirements below and, if complete, will send an announcement to the Inside UMass "Weekly Bulletin" section of the UMass website.

Requirements

Course work completed
Residency requirement satisfied and verified by Department (Residency requirement is two consecutive semesters enrolled as a full time student taking at least 9 credits each semester)
Registered for the appropriate number of dissertation (899) credits
Language examination passed (if applicable)
Preliminary Comprehensive Examination passed
Dissertation Committee appointed by the Graduate Dean
Dissertation Prospectus/Outline approved and filed with the Graduate School
There has been 7 months between submission of Prospectus/Outline and Final Doctoral Oral Examination/Dissertation Defense date
Final Doctoral Oral Examination announcement request communicated to the Graduate School at least one month prior to the scheduled defense

The memo requesting the announcement must include

Student’s full name
Student identification number
Degree
Day of Week
Date Time Place Major
Chair of Committee
Title of Dissertation
Signature of the Graduate Program Director or Department Head/Chair

Questions?

Graduate Student Service Center
170 Bartlett Building, Amherst, MA 01003
Phone: (413) 545-0722
Email: degreq [at] grad [dot] umass [dot] edu (subject: Graduation%20requirement%20question) (degreq[at]grad[dot]umass[dot]edu)

dallard Thu, 04/13/2023 - 10:13