Final Quarter and Graduation (PhD)

Preparing to Graduate

All students should be aware of their responsibilities and deadlines during their final quarter, as missing a deadline will result in your graduation date being delayed a quarter.  

What to know in advance

• You must be registered during your final quarter. 

• International students should review and understand ISS policies surrounding final-quarter reduced enrollment and what that means for their I-20s.

Final Quarter Timeline

This timeline, based on AA Department and Graduate School policies and procedures, is intended to help you understand the graduation process.  Pay close attention to deadlines!

Here is a good checklist that you need to follow.  It along with other info is at: Graduation Requirements

1. Schedule a doctoral final exam via MyGrad – Student View. Your exam must be formally scheduled in advance with the Graduate School to be valid.

   • If you are a concurrent student, follow the instructions of submitting a color-coded transcript to the GEMS office early in the quarter.

2. Verify accuracy of your Supervisory and Reading Committee membership in MyGrad. Contact your graduate program advisor if any corrections are needed.

3. Confirm your name and dissertation details on record with the UW and the Graduate School (as listed in MyGrad – Student View).

   • If you will publish your thesis using your Preferred Name, you must officially set that name in Identity.UW.

4. Check your unofficial transcript in MyUW for any missing grades from previous quarters. Contact your professors to submit change of grade requests if you see “X” or “N” grades on your transcript, especially if they are for required courses.

5. Create an account in the UW ETD Administrator Site.

   • We recommend creating your account before you submit your dissertation. The beginning of the quarter you intend to graduate is a great time to complete this step and familiarize yourself with the site.

   • Verify your name and thesis details entered in the UW ETD Administrator Site match your record in MyGrad exactly.

6. Review ETD Formatting Guidelines and insert the three required sections into the body of your dissertation (they will be the first three pages of the document):

   • title page

   • copyright page

   • abstract

7. Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) online. Upon completing the SED, you will receive an email from SEDWEB@norc.uchicago.edu, which includes your SED Certificate of Completion. Save a copy of this certificate.

8. Follow up with any reading committee members as necessary to obtain all required electronic reading committee approvals of your dissertation by the deadline (last day of the quarter at 11:59 p.m.). You can check the status of approvals any time by accessing your scheduled final exam.

9. Upload your SED Certificate of Completion to the Administrative Documents section of the UW ETD Administrator Site.

10. Upload your dissertation to the UW ETD Administrator Site

11. SUBMIT your (1) dissertation and (2) SED Certificate of Completion via the UW ETD Administrator Site by the quarterly deadline (last day of the quarter at 11:59 p.m.).

12. Confirm submission: after a successful submission, the message “Your dissertation/thesis has been submitted” will appear in the UW ETD Administrator site.

    • You will also receive an email from “Administrator of University of Washington” that you have submitted to the University of Washington.

13. Monitor your email after submission for any requests for revisions. Consider setting up e-mail forwarding if you will no longer be checking your UW e-mail.

    • You will receive an email either notifying you the ETD was accepted or requesting formatting revisions. If you are asked to make revisions, the email will indicate a new deadline. Upload the revisions by the provided deadline.

After the Quarter Ends

• The AA Department enters your Final Exam outcome (this generates an email to you) and the Graduate School does a final degree audit before awarding your degree.  When they graduate you, you will receive an email.

• Monitor your email after submission for any requests for revisions.

  • You will receive an email either notifying you the ETD was accepted or requesting formatting revisions. If you are asked to make revisions, the email will indicate a new deadline. Upload the revisions by the provided deadline.

• Your degree posts to your transcript 2 business days after the Graduate School processes your graduation and your diploma will be mailed 2-3 months later.

• Set up UW email forwarding and migrate files to a personal server (see below).

Graduation Ceremonies

All graduates may participate in the AA Department's graduation celebration and the UW-wide Commencement ceremony (or just one, or neither - it's up to you!).  Be aware that there are separate registration processes for both events - so if you want to do both, you need to register for both.

AA Department Celebration

• Who can participate: Anyone who graduated in summer, autumn, or winter or who plans to graduate in spring or the upcoming summer.

• How to register: Respond to the RSVP survey during spring quarter and request tickets for your guests.

  • The RSVP is sent to your UW email address - MAKE SURE YOU SET UP EMAIL FORWARDING!

• Dress code: Regalia is required.  Graduation can be expensive so if the cost of regalia is a barrier to you being able to celebrate this accomplishment please let Danyel know. The department has regalia available to borrow.

UW Commencement Ceremony

• Who can participate: Anyone who graduated in summer, autumn, or winter, or who has a final exam scheduled during spring quarter.

• How to register: Register through the Office of Ceremonies website.  The registration period is in May.

• Dress code: graduation regalia are required; purchase these when you register for the ceremony.

Summer Quarter Graduates

Many students who graduate in Summer Quarter (Late June to Early August) wish to participate in Spring quarter (Mid-June) graduation ceremonies rather than having to wait until the following June. If this applies to you, talk with Paul and he can discuss options with you.