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Graduation

Master’s and doctoral students nearing degree completion should prepare early for graduation from UNC Charlotte.  To graduate, students must be enrolled at UNC Charlotte and must apply to graduate.  Check the Academic Calendar for graduation dates and application deadlines.  The Graduate School website has useful information for all graduating students.  FAQ’s are available that address many aspects of the graduation process and timelines.  Search by topic or browse by popularity at the Graduation and Commencement FAQ Pages.

Thesis and Dissertation

When illness or caution prevent someone on the committee from attending the defense, remote participation is appropriate.  The Graduate School will be very flexible regarding defenses.  Committee chairs and students should agree on the best method for a given defense. ALL committee members must participate in the defense, whether in person or virtually. This flexibility extends to students who need to defend remotely.  It is the chair’s responsibility to ensure that all committee members sign off on the final defense report and title page. 
 
All forms are now easy-to-sign DocuSign forms, and students can convert their title pages to DocuSign forms as well (this video offers tips for how to succeed with DocuSign). Please remember that these milestone forms are needed in order for the Graduate School to clear students for graduation. 

All students enrolled in a thesis-based master's program or doctoral program must submit an electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD).  Formatting and submission information can be found under the Current Students tab of this website. Questions on dissertation or thesis formatting and submission should be directed to Dr. Aura Young.  

iThenticate

All doctoral students are required to submit their dissertations to iThenticate, a plagiarism detection service. This must take place prior to the final defense, and doctoral dissertation committees are expected to review the resulting Similarity Report along with the final, pre-defense draft of the dissertation. Committee members will now sign the Final Defense Report not just to indicate that the student has passed his or her final defense, but also in order to verify the originality of the dissertation. Visit the iThenticate page under the Current Students tab to learn more. For further information please contact Dr. Aura Young.