ETD Process Checklist

Thesis

Printable Checklist | Master's Thesis Process Checklist

Preparing for Your Final Semester

  • ETD Workshop
    • Attend an in-person ETD Workshop or, if unable to attend, complete the ETD Online Workshop and review the ETD Resource Center Website the semester prior to graduation.
  • Course Registration
    • Register for at least 2 credit hours of thesis (6971) in the semester of ETD submission/graduation.

Beginning Your Final Semester

  • Application for Graduation in OASIS (Office of the Registrar)
    • Submit the Online Graduation Application through OASIS prior to the deadline for that semester. Check with your department to see if they have earlier/additional submission deadlines.
  • Office of Graduate Studies ETD Online Registration
    • Complete the ETD Online Registration process to verify you are enrolled in thesis hours and provided needed information. This should be done as early in the semester as possible.
  • Certificate of Approval
    • Download, fill out all fields on your computer, save, and then print out your Certificate of Approval before your Final Defense. You, your committee, and your dept/college will need to sign and date the form once the committee has approved your thesis.
  • Complete ETD Plagiarism Check
    • Work with your major professor to submit your thesis through Turnitin via Canvas. Once your professor reviews the results, they should provide you with a copy of the first page of the plagiarism summary, which should be submitted with the Certificate of Approval.
  • Final Defense
    • Successfully defend the thesis and make all requested revisions. Obtain signatures and dates on your Certificate of Approval from both your entire committee and your department/dean's office.

Submitting Your ETD and Paperwork

(to be completed prior to the final submission deadline in the semester of ETD submission/graduation.)

** In order to receive $25 off of your processing fees, you must turn in all of your paperwork to the Office of Graduate Studies and submit your ETD to ProQuest 2 weeks before your thesis/dissertation deadline.

  • Certificate of Approval Packet Submission
    • Submit the original completed Certificate of Approval along with the first page of the Plagiarism Summary. These forms must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies together. (NOTE: Students unable to make it to campus may submit a scanned copy of these forms via email to the ETD Help Desk.)
  • PDF Conversion of ETD
    • Do a final review of your manuscript to ensure it meets our formatting requirements. (See the General and Section-Specific Formatting Requirements.) Convert your thesis document to PDF using Word (Save as > PDF). Be sure to save the original Word document, as that is where you will make any required changes.
  • ProQuest Account Creation and Submission of PDF
    • Create a new account at the USF ProQuest website and upload the thesis in PDF format for review by the USF Office of Graduate Studies ETD Office.
    • *The submitted PDF must be the final, committee-approved version of the thesis. It will not be reviewed by the Office of Graduate Studies unless submission of all required documents and ETD Registration have been completed.

After the ETD Has Been Submitted to ProQuest

  • Confirmation of ETD Submission
    • After submitting to ProQuest, the student should receive a confirmation email from ProQuest – it will go to whichever email you list in ProQuest, so be sure it's an inbox you monitor frequently.
  • Graduate Studies Review
    • Review of the ETD will generally require at least 5-10 business days to review, although ETDs submitted close to or on the deadline may require longer review times.
  • Revisions Required
    • If the Office of Graduate Studies requires modifications to the submitted ETD, the student will receive an email with a link to an annotated PDF. The student must make all of the corrections and resubmit the corrected ETD to ProQuest by the stated final clearance deadline. (Be sure to click on all "Submit Revision" confirmations within ProQuest - there are several - this lets us know you are ready for your revisions to be annotated!) We will then re-review the corrected ETD as described above. The review may require an additional 5-7 business days. This step will repeat until the ETD is approved.
  • ETD Approval
    • Once the ETD is approved, the student and committee will receive an approval email. The process is now complete!
  • ETD Manuscript Processing Fee
    • Fees will be assessed after the ETD has been approved (usually at the end of the semester) and will appear in OASIS as a Graduate Manuscript Processing Fee (GMPF). Final transcripts and/or the diploma will not be released until all fees are paid.