Points to consider on the road to graduation

Read these notes below, and read the Dean's summary of policies and procedures.
They may be a bit dull, but you're expected to know about the contents. We are unsympathetic to problems arising from ignoring these documents, which can be
severe (i.e., graduation-preventing). If in doubt, ask!

› Fill out direct-deposit and University change-of-address forms. Check the University's spelling of your name, and the Social Security Number listed for you, especially if you originally had a temporary number.

› Confirm with the Graduate office that we have received your official transcript and GRE scores. We often use unofficial versions of these during the admissions process, but we always check the official ones before graduation.

› Confirm with the Graduate Office that any transfer credit from your previous institution has been arranged.

› Check that you have completed all of your required courses. Be particularly careful if you have transfer credit or a previous M.S. degree, which may require more of certain types of classes.

› If doing a Ph.D., take and pass the Qualifying Exam. Complete any conditions applied as a result of the qualifying process (commonly an M.S. degree, additional coursework, or presentation of your work). Then do your Ph.D. research proposal and make certain that the Graduate Office gets a note from your advisor saying that you have done so.

› Read the background literature of your area. "A day in the library can save a month in the laboratory/at the computer."

› Learn and implement the appropriate safety measures for your work.

› Do excellent research, and write papers and give presentations about it. This is what you're really here for, and the papers and presentations are what will get you a job later.

› Take the appropriate number of research hours and thesis hours for your degree. These are separate totals which must be individually satisfied. See the degree plan available in the Graduate Office.

› Apply for graduation, and fill out a degree plan, at the beginning of the semester in which you plan to graduate.

› Review the Cullen College of Engineering Guide for Preparation of Theses/Dissertations. (link to *.pdf file) There is also a mandatory workshop that is given by the Dean at the beginning of the semester

› Start writing your thesis and schedule your defense when you and your advisor agree that you are close to ready. It's important to schedule your defense far in advance for two reasons: It's difficult to get a number of faculty in a room at the same time, and completion of the document always takes longer than expected.

› Two weeks before your defense, give final copies of your thesis to the members of your committee and a copy to the Dean. This can sometimes be negotiated down to only 7-10 days if your committee members are less busy than usual and are especially cooperative. Do not ask them to prepare for your defense in less than one week.

› Email a one page abstract to the graduate admission assistant one week prior to your defense for distribution.

› Schedule a room for your defense. This is normally either the large conference room in the Mechanical Engineering large conference room, or the ChE conference room.

› Hold your defense. Dress well, and keep your presentation under 40 minutes. Practice in advance to avoid the common tendency to go much longer. Try to relax; you're almost there!

› Get suggested revisions from your committee and incorporate these. In some cases, committee members will want to review the revisions with you, in other cases, you'll meet with your advisor to discuss them. Turn in a copy for review by the Dean and once returned from the Dean's office make the appropriate number of final copies.

› Turn in your keys. This will save you money and will prevent us having to re-key the entire department again very soon.

› Get a Clearance form from the Department Office. Leave a forwarding address with the Graduate Office for bound theses, etc. Many people also arrange to have a friend sort through their mail and forward parts of it to them.

› Think about your computer files and electronic mail.

» Go off to fame and fortune! Become a rich alumnus/alumna, and think well of the department.