Current Students

We recommend that you form your thesis or dissertation committee by the beginning of your second year. Use this link to start the Committee Appointment form in Docusign. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions.  

Committee members from outside of USF need to be registered as affiliate faculty. To do so, please send their up-to-date CV and a brief statement of the expertise they bring to your committee to Sami Francis, associate director of academic affairs (sfrancis1@usf.edu). CVs must be up-to-date and reflect engagement in research (i.e. publications, PI or co-PI on a grant) within the last 24 months.  For committee requirements, please see the Graduate Program Handbook.  

Things change, and that is okay. Email Sami Francis (sfrancis1@usf.edu) to initiate the Change of Committee form in Docusign. Any new committee members from outside of USF will need to submit their up-to-date CV for affiliate graduate faculty approval. See above for details.

Congratulations on hitting this benchmark! Use this link to start the Proposal Approval form in Docusign. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions. Your advisor (or co-advisors) will sign on behalf of your committee. This form will not be complete until all Thesis Proposal SACS Eval MS-1 or Dissertation Proposal SACS PhD-2 rubrics are received. The rubrics are completed through a Qualtrics survey in addition to the Docusign form linked above. Please email the appropriate survey link to your committee and instruct them to complete the rubric within one week of your proposal defense or assessment meeting. 

• Thesis Proposal SACS Eval MS-1 rubric
• Dissertation Proposal SACS PhD-2 rubric

Master’s students who have formed their committee and completed the steps for proposal approval will be given a permit to enroll in thesis credits each semester. If you think you qualify to enroll in thesis credits, please email Sami Francis (sfrancis1@usf.edu) with your UID for a permit. Doctoral students do not take thesis credits unless they are approved to earn a master’s degree along the way. You must qualify for thesis credits by the add/drop deadline to enroll in thesis credits in that semester.

Great job! Your hard work is paying off. Please email Sami Francis (sfrancis1@usf.edu) with the names and current email address of your committee members to initiate the Admission to Doctoral Candidacy form in Docusign. This form requires your unofficial transcript, which Sami will attach to the Docusign form. Each committee member must sign this form. They will also need to complete the PhD Comp Exam SACS PhD-1 in Qualtrics. Please email the survey link to your committee and instruct them to complete the rubric within one week of passing your exam.

• PhD Comp Exam SACS PhD-1 (Qualtrics) 

Congratulations on passing your comps! The university requires students to be classified as a level 6C – doctoral candidate to enrollment in dissertation credits. Your classification is updated to 6C when your Admission to Doctoral Candidacy form is processed. You cannot petition to enroll in dissertation credits in the same semester that you submit your Admission to Doctoral Candidacy form.

You will be able to register for dissertation credits for the semester following the submission of your Admission to Doctoral Candidacy form. Admission to Doctoral Candidacy forms need to be submitted to the university by the last day of the term to enroll in dissertation credits in the next term. For example, your Admission to Doctoral Candidacy form needs to be submitted by the last day of the Fall term in order to enroll in dissertation credits in the Spring. If you are concerned about enrolling in or earning enough dissertation hours to graduate, please contact Sami Francis at sfrancis1@usf.edu.

Remember, doctoral candidates must enroll in at least two credits every semester, including summers, until they graduate or go on leave.

The Academic Affairs office will notify Human Resources of the students who advance to candidacy at the beginning of each term. HR will adjust the candidate’s rate of pay for their college appointments. Fellowship awards do not increase due to candidacy status.

Sami Francis in Academic Advising will conduct an internal credit check upon approval of thesis proposals MS students and upon admission to doctoral candidacy for doctoral students. As part of this check, she will confirm that you have met the requirements for your preferred concentration and send you the Change of Concentration form in Docusign. This will add your concentration to your curriculum record and transcript. (You are “changing” from no concentration to the requested concentration.) Sami will reach out to you if there is a question or concern about your concentration selection or requirements.

Please note, students choosing the Interdisciplinary or Cross-disciplinary option do not need to complete this process.

Use the resources at the top of this list and/or schedule a credit check meeting with Sami Francis (sfrancis1@usf.edu).

There is no grade forgiveness option for graduate-level courses at USF. 

Review the resources in the Defense Process & Graduation section below and schedule your grad check meeting with Sami Francis (sfrancis1@usf.edu).

Contact Sami Francis (sfrancis1@usf.edu) to schedule a time to discuss your goals, options, and pathways.