Checklist for Graduating Ph.D. Students Computer Science Department Carnegie Mellon University

1. SCHEDULE A DATE:

• Thesis orals should be scheduled only during academic periods -- not during holidays, weekends, etc., and should be scheduled in normal business hours. Exceptions must be approved by the Associate Department Head.

• The student should coordinate the date with the committee members and finalize the date at least one month in advance to allow time for travel arrangements, final review and comments by the committee. Be sure to check with Deb Cavlovich (deb@cs) before finalizing the date, to make sure there are no other orals scheduled at the chosen time. Thesis orals or proposals will not be scheduled to overlap. Once you have settled on a date/time Deb will help you to reserve a room.

• The room scheduled must be available to the public and must accommodate a reasonably large number of people (~30). WeH 5409, WeH 4623, WeH 4615A, NSH 3005, NSH 3002 and NSH 1305 are all acceptable rooms. Other smaller rooms are strongly discouraged.

• If it is necessary to arrange for a speaker phone or other AV Equipment you must do two things well in advance (at least 5-7 days).:
  1. Reserve the conference phone. This must be done using Corporate Time -- you can ask your advisor's assistant, or Deb Cavlovich, or the Help Desk to do this for you. (The resource name is "SCS Conference phone"). The phone can then be picked up at and returned to the SCS Help Center on the reserved date.
  2. Contact Paul Stockhausen to arrange for a special call-out code number to be set up. You will need a charge number from your advisor to arrange for this.

• Thesis orals will be announced to the public only after the thesis advisor has notified the graduate program administrator that the committee has approved the thesis for defense.

2. AT LEAST ONE WEEK BEFORE THE ORAL send to Deb (deb@cs):

• Information Needed for Posting Notice
  • Your name as it should appear on the diploma
  • Thesis Title
  • Date/Time/Location of Oral Presentation
  • Thesis Committee Members, including external member affiliation

  • Thesis Abstract - Less than 350 words describing the thesis. Send on-line, ascii text.

3. DAY OF ORAL EXAMINATION - Pick up signature forms from Deb before going to the examination.

• Graduation Record Card - to be signed by all members of the thesis committee indicating successful defense of the thesis.

• Thesis Forms - Three copies to be signed by the thesis advisor only, once the final copy of the thesis has been approved by all committee members.

4. SUBMITTING YOUR THESIS:

• Before you print the final copy:
  • Latex Template
  • Check research credits with Sophie Park (sp43+@cs.cmu.edu)
  • Get a TR number from Catherine Copetas (copetas@cs).
  • Check for proper title page format.

• When the final copy is ready:
  • Give Deb one hard copy single-sided of the thesis. This copy will be microfisched, bound, and placed in the E&S Library.

  • Talk with Catherine about making your thesis into a CS Technical Report by putting it on-line. If you are able to do this successfully, she will not need a hard copy. If not, you will need to provide a second copy to her for the Tech Report. This copy should be formatted for two-sided copying.

  • Print and fill out the Survey of Earned Doctorates form and return to Deb. (You may have to use Internet Explorer to print; Netscape doesn't seem to work.) This is requested by NSF and is a requirement of the university for graduation.

  • Fill out the University Microfilms Publishing Agreement Form, if you want to register your copyright (in which case you must include a check as indicated) and return to Deb with the final copy of your thesis. This form is required by the university for graduation, so cannot be ignored. If you wish to register your copyright you must attach a check. If you do not wish to register for a copyright, do not fill out this portion of the form. Please note the TR-1 and TR-2 options are free. The OA-1 and OA-2 have a $90.00 fee. The copyright option form also has a $65.00 fee. Most students chose the TR-1, without copyright for no fee.

5. BEFORE YOU LEAVE

• Leave your forwarding address with Deb and with the receptionist in the main CS office.
• See Deb Cavlovich to fill out exit forms.