Completing the Master's Thesis/Recital Document or the Doctoral Dissertation

Spring Thesis and Dissertation Workshops

Deadlines

• 2007-2008 Academic Year Deadlines- Deadlines for applying for graduation, turning in the preliminary draft, the final draft and commencement ceremony dates.

Any student turning in a thesis or dissertation after the recommended deadline for a first draft whose thesis or dissertation does not meet the required formatting guidelines will not have the opportunity to revise the thesis or dissertation for review until the following semester. As this may affect graduation plans, students are strongly encouraged to submit the preliminary draft before the posted preliminary draft deadline. Preliminary drafts must be submitted as a hard copy to the Graduate School. We do not accept email attachments of the preliminary drafts.

• Preliminary Draft due by no later than Friday, April 4, 2008.
  
• Final Draft due by Friday, April 25, 2008.
  

Formatting Requirements

• Preparation Guidelines- Detailed information on how to format your Master's Thesis/Recital Document or Doctoral Dissertation according to the guidelines set by the Graduate School.

  Citation styles vary by academic disciplines. These are 5 of the most widely used: 

  • AAA: Anthropology
  • APA: Psychology, Social Sciences
  • Chicago: History, Humanities (some)
  • CSE (formerly CBE): Biology, other Sciences
  • MLA: English, Humanities (some)

  Students must follow the citation style recommended by their graduate program. If you are unsure of what citation style to use, please contact your supervising professor.

• Template (MS Word)- You may use this template to format your Master's Thesis/Recital Document or Doctoral Dissertation.

• Paper Sources- A list of retailers in San Antonio who carry the required paper you will need to print all your final copies on.

• Questions please contact the graduate school at 210-458-4330.

Final Submission Requirements

1. Submit (2) hard copies of the thesis or dissertation on 100% cotton paper (plain white, acid free, weight of 20# or 24#) to the Graduate School (MS 4.01.50). Final hard copies can also be mailed to: The University of Texas at San Antonio, The Graduate School, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249.
2. Submit (1) electronic copy of the thesis or dissertation to ProQuest UMI website.    
3. Doctoral Candidates: Submit two surveys and complete all required doctoral forms.
4. We no longer accept additional hard copies for personal binding.
5. Transmittal sheets are not required and will not be accepted at the Graduate School.

Personal Copies

You have the option of ordering personal copies through ProQuest online (ProQuest Binding Prices) or contacting FedEx Kinko's (FexEx Kinkos Binding Options).

ProQuest Information for the Electronic Submission

• Publishing with ProQuest- Detailed information from the UMI website about the types of publishing agreements that ProQuest offers. Students are required to publish their dissertation or thesis through ProQuest. The cost for publishing is $55.00 for doctoral students and $45.00 for master's students.

• ProQuest Electronic Submission Website- Website used when submitting your manuscript electronically. Documents over 100 MB cannot be uploaded into ProQuest. Please send UMI/ProQuest a CD and send the Graduate School a CD of your document. UMI will upload the document for you.

• Electronic Submission Guide- Student guide to submitting the manuscript electronically.

• Embedding Text Guide- Information on how to embed your text in MS Word or Adobe Acrobat for submitting online to ProQuest.

• Copyright- Guide on purchasing a copyright through ProQuest. Purchasing a copyright is optional. The fee ProQuest charges for processing your copyright is $65.00.

Required for Doctoral Candidates

Completion of Surveys

• Survey of Earned Doctorates- All doctoral candidates are required to complete this paper copy survey and turn it in to the Graduate School on the day that they turn in their final copies. Please read the SED Brochure for more information about the Survey of Earned Doctorates.
• UTSA Doctoral Survey - Please fill out this survey for the Graduate School.

Signed Forms

• Doctoral Forms- List of forms that are required of doctoral candidates for graduation. The signature page of your dissertation must contain all committee members that are listed on the appointment of dissertation committee members form. 

Useful Links

• Graduation Information

• Graduate Student Learning Assistance

• UTSA Library

• UTSA Office of the Registrar

• UTSA Writing Center

• Writing Tips