Dissertation Timeline

The initial step in the process of writing a dissertation or thesis is choosing a research topic and creating a committee of dedicated faculty to serve as the advisors of your research project. Generally, there is one research project advisor or committee chair. The committee chair is the appointed leader who will make overarching decisions on your project. The committee chair works closely with you, the student, to make sure your project is completed to the highest standards.  In most cases, the committee chair will set up meeting dates and times with other committee members, if required, as well as schedule any qualifying exams, candidacy exams, presentations of work, and the final defense. The committee chair is also the lead signature on form required.

Forms Required

• Request to Serve on a Committee: This form must be completed by the committee chair/project advisor.
• Request to Form a Committee: This form must be completed by the remaining committee members. This form is initiated by the committee chair/project advisor.
• Both forms must be approved by the Graduate Program Director, Department Chair, and the College Dean.

Once you have set up your committee and selected your research topic, the next step is to begin your research and writing. You should work closely with your committee chair/project advisor during this step to develop a thesis/dissertation proposal and select the appropriate writing style for your project. Before you begin your research and writing, your committee chair will submit a Thesis/Dissertation Proposal form.

You should follow the outline developed in your thesis/dissertation proposal to complete your research, study, and written document. Make sure to confirm any submission deadlines for the semester you plan to complete your degree. These submission deadlines change each year and are found on the campus academic calendar.

Work with your committee chair and committee members to ensure that your document and research project are approved for degree completion. Your document may require several reviews from your committee members, so make sure to allow plenty of time in the semester. 

Forms Required

• Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Form
• This form must be signed by the full project committee, Program Director, College Dean, College Dean.

Once your written document is written and your committee chair believes you are ready, you will begin the process for final committee approval, defense, and presentation. Some degree programs may not require all of these steps; some programs may or may not require a public defense or presentation of your findings. Discuss this with your committee chair to review the program requirements.

Once your document is approved, your committee chair/project advisor completes the Thesis/Dissertation Defense Form. From here, you should begin preparing the document in accordance with the Preparation and Electronic Submissions guidelines found in the Guide to Theses and Dissertations from the A-State Graduate School. This guide covers the general formatting required for electronic submissions and ProQuest publishing and mainly focuses on the title page, front matter, page numbers, margins, and spacing. 

Ensure that your document adheres to the Graduate School's Submission Guidelines and prepare to submit your final version of your document.

Forms Required

• Thesis/Dissertation Defense Form
• This form must be signed by the full project committee, Program Director, College Dean, and submitted to the Office of the Registrar.

In order to complete your research project and begin the process for publishing, you are required to submit your final document as a PDF to ProQuest. ProQuest is a global information-content and technology company that provides extensive digital databases to libraries and researchers. It serves as a comprehensive, centralized platform for academic research and the world's most extensive repository of dissertations and theses. 

The A-State Graduate School provides a guide for formatting your final document to ProQuest standards for publishing. Often, documents require several reviews before all formatting matches perfectly to what ProQuest requires. It is recommended that you begin the review process 4-6 weeks before the final deadline for ProQuest submissions. For the spring semester, this final deadline is usually early April. For the fall semester, this final deadline is usually early November. To begin the review process, email your document to the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator. 

Before you submit to ProQuest, you will be asked to create a free account. The Graduate School also offers a ProQuest Submission Guide on the Graduate School Page on the A-State Knowledge Base. This guide goes through the steps to creating and account and submitting your document to ProQuest as well as any fees required.

Make sure your final document is submitted to ProQuest by the deadline provided by the University. If your document is submitted after this deadline, it will not be considered for review and could not be approved for ProQuest publishing.

Once you submit your document to ProQuest, you should email a .doc or .docx version to the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator to begin the formal review process. During this step you will receive an email from the Graduation Coordinator with any required edits to comply to ProQuest formatting. You must complete any edits required before your document will be approved.

Once all edits are complete and your document follows all ProQuest guidelines outlines in the Graduate School provided guide, you receive an email from the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator notifying you that your document has been approved. This email is sent to you, your committee chair, the Program Director, and the Registrar's Office. 

After you receive the email from the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator stating that your document has been approved, you may not receive any further communication until after degree conferral. If you  have any questions or concerns you may contact the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator. 

During this time, the Registrar's Office works to ensure that all degree plans have been completed and that all degrees earned are conferred. Once this is complete, you will receive an email from ETD Administrator stating that your document has been accepted and is being released to ProQuest for publishing.  

If you ordered any personal physical copies, these should be delivered within 4-6 weeks after your document was released for publishing. If you haven't received any ordered copies by 6 weeks after your document was released, contact the Graduate School Graduation Coordinator.