Dissertation Process: Faculty

Step One: Appointment of Dissertation Committee

• The Appointment of Dissertation Committee form can be found on The Graduate School web page, under Thesis and Dissertation Center > Forms > Dissertation/Doctoral Forms.
• Must have 3 committee members in total (including the chair); all should have the proper Graduate Research Faculty Membership.
• UT Tyler academic department chair or designee (not the student) submits completed form to
  gradforms@uttyler.edu for review.
• If faculty does not meet proper Graduate Faculty Membership, these are the steps to apply:
  • Graduate Faculty Membership Application can be found on the Graduate School Web Page,
    Under Faculty > Graduate Credentialing (This List of Graduate Faculty Membership is also
    where you can review faculty members’ credentialing).
  • Update curriculum vitae to reflect all scholarly and research projects.
  • UT Tyler academic department chair or designee submits completed application and CV to
    gradforms@uttyler.edu.
  • Grad Forms will notify faculty member, college dean, and department chair of approval of
    application with a formal electronic letter.

Step Two: Report of Preliminary Exam

• The Report of Preliminary Exam form can be found on The Graduate School web page, under
  Forms > Dissertation/Doctoral Forms.
• Dissertation chair submits completed form to gradforms@uttyler.edu for review.
• gradforms@uttyler.edu will notify you of receipt and processing of examination report.

Step Three: Notice of Oral Defense

• The Notice of Oral Defense form can be found on the Graduate School web page under Forms >
  Dissertation/Doctoral Forms.
• This form must be submitted no later than 10 business days before the proposed date of the Oral Defense.
• Dissertation chair submits completed form to gradforms@uttyler.edu for review.
• gradforms@uttyler.edu will:
  • Send out a detailed dissertation defense invitation to the dissertation chair, student, and all
    full-time faculty.
  • Promote the dissertation defense on social media page(s) and The Graduate School
    section of Patriots Engage.

Step Four: Final Oral Defense Report

• The Final Oral Defense Report form can be found on The Graduate School web page under Forms > Dissertation/Doctoral Forms.
• This form must be submitted no later than 5 working days after the Oral Defense.
• Dissertation chair submits completed form to gradforms@uttyler.edu for review.

Step Five: Submit Dissertation Manuscript to The Graduate School (Student Responsibility)

• After the successful oral defense of dissertation to:
  • Dissertation Manuscript is submitted to the dissertation committee members for physical
    signatures or via DocuSign if available.
  • Dissertation Manuscript, with signed signature page is submitted to The Graduate School
    for formatting review.
  • The signed signature page MUST be inserted in the manuscript and submitted by the
    deadline. It cannot be sent as a separate file.
  • Student submits documents to gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu (faculty member may submit
    on behalf of the student, but the student must be cc’d).
  • gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu will send electronic manuscript to the reviewer and will
    correspond with student via email.
  • Students should check email for revisions; initial submission does not indicate approval of
    manuscript/graduation.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to address any needed corrections in a timely manner to
    ensure corrections are made in time to graduate for their desired semester.
  • Pay close attention to the instructions online regarding formatting/submission guidelines.

Step Six: Approval of Dissertation Manuscript

• Once student receives email of approved dissertation manuscript:
  • Electronic Thesis Submission information, including rights management and access
    information will be emailed.
  • Students must upload their manuscript to ScholarWorks.
    • Instructions are emailed with the approval paperwork.

Step Seven: Dissertation Manuscript Submission to the Institutional Repository (Student Responsibility)

• After the submission to the Institutional Repository (Scholar Works):
  • The student will receive two emails from Scholar Works – the first confirms that the
    submission was received, and the second confirms that the manuscript has been accepted.
  • Students will forward the accepted email to gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu and we will
    update the student’s myUTTyler account so that the student may receive their degree.
  • The degree cannot be conferred until the student forwards their successful submission
    email to gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu. Failure to forward their successful submission
    email may result in deferral of graduation to the next available semester.