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Doctoral Graduation

For PhD Candidates:

  • Notification for Scheduling the Final Oral Exam — The Form must be completed and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies at least three weeks before your defense date.
  • Final Certification for the PhD Degree — Complete the Certification Form with all relevant signatures. Submit the Form to the School of Graduate Studies with other Final Materials.
  • ETD Document Approval Form —Have this signed by you and your dissertation advisor and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies. Offers important information about the electronic publishing process. (Our office only needs the second page)
  • Online Survey of Earned Doctorates —The U.S. government compiles higher education statistics based on the information on this Form. As a major research university, CWRU is committed to its representation in this national effort. The aggregated data is used for comparative purposes to be used in planning by the university, as well as used by the government for developing funding initiatives. 
  • If applicable, Waiver of Registration Form — If you cannot meet the deadlines to complete all the requirements to graduate in one term but can finish before the next term begins, you can apply for a waiver of registration for the next term. You must be registered for at least one credit hour in the semester preceding the one for which you intend to use the waiver (includes Summer).

Steps to Completion

  1. Complete and submit the Application for Graduation through the Student Information System (SIS) by the posted deadline for the term.
  2. Work with your advisor and committee members to decide on a date, time and place for your final oral exam (defense). Make certain the defense date occurs before the established deadline for the term. Your advisor has to agree that the dissertation is ready to defend.
  3. Submit the Notification for Scheduling the Final Oral Exam Form to the School of Graduate Studies at least three weeks prior to your defense date.
  4. Submit copies of your dissertation to the members of your defense committee at least two weeks prior to your defense date.
  5. Have all committee members sign the Final Certification for the PhD Degree Form at the conclusion of your successful defense.
  6. Make corrections, if required, then have your advisor sign the Certification Form where indicated. If no corrections are required, have your advisor sign the form at your defense.
  7. Obtain your department chair/program director's signature after your advisor has signed the Certification Form.
  8. Submit Final Materials (see below) to the School of Graduate Studies by the posted deadline.
  9. Submit a completed .PDF of your dissertation and separate accessibility check file (.HTML or .PDF) to the School of Graduate Studies (etdsubmit@case.edu) for a format check. Information on how to meet accessibility requirements can be found on the Electronic Theses and Dissertation Guidelines page.
  10. After your format check is complete, upload the final, approved copy of the completed dissertation as a .PDF file to OhioLINK. **Choose:** 1) Copyright: "Copyright, all rights reserved." and 2) Proquest Permission: "Upload my paper to Proquest..."

Final Materials

(All materials must be received no later than the posted deadline)

Submit the following documents to the Graduate Studies office or by emailing gradstudies@case.edu:

For DMA Candidates:

  • Final Certification for the DMA Degree — Complete the Certification Form with all relevant signatures. Submit the Form to the School of Graduate Studies by the posted deadline.
  • Online Survey of Earned Doctorates —The U.S. government compiles higher education statistics based on the information on this Form. As a major research university, CWRU is committed to its representation in this national effort. The aggregated data is used for comparative purposes to be used in planning by the university, as well as used by the government for developing funding initiatives.
  • If applicable, Waiver of Registration Form — If you cannot meet the deadlines to complete all the requirements to graduate in one term but can finish before the next term begins, you can apply for a waiver of registration for the next term. You must be registered for at least one credit hour in the semester preceding the one for which you intend to use the waiver (includes Summer).

Registration Requirement (All Students)

All students must be registered for at least one credit hour in the term in which they defend and/or graduate.