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Timeline for Filing your Dissertation and Graduating
The original version of this document is by Matthew d'Alessio, a 2004 graduate of EPS
Graduate Division: Guide to Submitting a Dissertation
Graduate Division: Top Ten Mistakes in Filing a Dissertation
The folks at the Graduate Division are very nice and can answer all your questions at Graduate Degrees, 318 Sproul Hall. Phone: (510) 642-7330, E-mail: degrees@uclink4.berkeley.edu, or FAX: (510) 643-1524.
| Task | Recommended Time Before Filing | Absolute Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Advance to Candidacy | Within 1 semester after you pass your qualifying exam. | 2 weeks? |
| Name Correction Your name on your dissertation must appear EXACTLY as it appears in the University Records. To check your name in University records, use BearFacts. CalNet ID is your student ID. Password is your password (not your 4 digit PIN). Check the “Show Student Name” next to “Show All Grades” button and then click the button. Fill out a name correction form at the Registrar's office on the first floor of Sproul. Bring a valid driver's license with your name correctly spelled. Note that a name CORRECTION is different than a name CHANGE, and there are separate forms for each. (If your name is too long or has special characters like an apostrophe, special accommodations can be made. I was able to contact Karen Denton, Assistant Registrar to clear things up, but everyone else at the office had to check with her). | NOW! | 1-2 weeks |
| Filing Fee Application [optional] Pros: Your advisor does not have to pay tuition. Absolute deadline for you and your advisor. As of 2004, you can now be paid as a “Junior Specialist” while on Filing Fee, so you can still get a salary equivalent to your previous salary. Cons: Absolute deadline for you and your advisor. Can only be used once or you have to re-apply for admission. You must pay 1/2 of the University registration fee from your own pocket (Filing fee was $178 in 2004). No Class Pass, No Student Health Insurance (can be purchased for ~$500 per semester), Reduced Library Priveleges, No RSF Student Membership. Graduate Division: Filing Fee Application Graduate Division: Filing Fee FAQ (note: slightly out of date…) | By the end of 1st week of semester | 2 weeks |
| Pay All Fees (including filing fee) | At beginning of semester | 24 hours (for the sytem to acknowledge payment) |
| Think About Your Cap And Gown The student store offers fancy, tailored gowns and floppy hats, but they are very expensive (over $600) and require 6-8 weeks to manufacture. To get one, you have to talk to a manager-type down there because the people behind the registers sometimes don't even know what a PhD gown is. The alternatives to purchasing one are to borrow a fancy gown from a former graduate (or there's actually a “spare” in Dexter's office). As of spring 2009 the student store no longer rents gowns. You must purchase even the boring, boring gown (for about $35). The octagonal “tam” must be rented–you can only purchase a mortarboard. The department will buy your fancy hood (ask). | 3 months before graduation | ?? |
| Get Permission to Include Previously Published or Co-authored Material Technically, the dissertation guide states: “If you plan more than incidental use of your own previously published or co-authored material in your dissertation or thesis – a practice common in the sciences and engineering and sometimes followed in other fields – you must have prior permission from the Dean of the Graduate Division.” Technically, you must send the Dean a packet with: 1. A letter from your advisor (dissertation chair) stating that he/she wants you to include the material in your thesis. This letter must list by name the individual papers that you want to include in your thesis (my advisor's original letter left out this information and the dean sent it back). 2. A letter from each coauthor on the previously published work granting you permission to use it (emails from each coauthor are now accepted; their signatures are not required). 3. A copy of each previously published manuscript. Some students have found that a letter from their adviser worked as a substitute for letters from co-authors, but other students who have sent a letter to the dean and not gotten all of their co-authors' signatures HAVE had problems. (Still other students have ignored this requirement entirely and simply kept mum about the previously published material. Doing this is, of course, against the rules, and risky, but there exist graduated Berkeley Ph.D.s who have taken this route.) For papers published in ApJ and AJ, the Journal has already granted you permission to reproduce the paper, so you shouldn't have to do anything about copyright. Call ProQuest at (800) 521-0600 if you're not sure. | 1 month before filing | 3 weeks for contacting co-authors, 2 weeks for submitting packet |
| Get tickets to graduation The physics department will send you a note asking how many tickets you want for friends and family. They cost around $3, and you can usually get extras later if you need them. | Requests are due about 3 weeks before graduation | ?? |
| Give to Committee Members Be sure to print a cover sheet explaining to them: 1) What chapters are already published (in other words, chapters they don't have to read carefully), 2) What sort of comments would be most valuable on each chapter, and 3) THE DEADLINE for getting it back to you. Make the deadline appear at both the top and the bottom of the page in font at least twice as large as the rest of the letter. And don't forget to thank them profusely for their time. | 1 month | 1 week, but anything less than 2 weeks could be considered rude, so don't push it! |
| Buy Fancy Paper You have a number of fancy paper options laid out in the dissertation guide, however you MUST use one of the approved brands and products. No substitutions. Many of them are available at the ASUC bookstore in the student union if you're in a rush. However, they are mobbed at the beginning of the semester, so try Radston's Stationary on Shattuck near Triple Rock if you don't want to wait in line during that time (Update: Radston is closed permanently as of 05/09/2007). The cheapest paper is XEROX acid free paper. It runs about $12 - 15 for a ream of 500 sheets. The most expensive is Crane's thesis paper at >$35 a ream. There are some intermediate levels of quality for $20-25. The choice is entirely yours. | It's a good thing to do while waiting for your committee members to get back to you with comments | < 1 hour |
| Fill out surveys There are 2 surveys you must fill out and one copyright approval form. The surveys are here and here and the copyright form you get from the Graduate Division office in 318 Sproul. | 1 week | You can do this when you file, though you'll have to fill out the forms in their office before you finish. It takes about 20 minutes minimum to answer the surveys, and you'll enjoy doing them more if you do them in advance. |
| Dissertation Signing Faculty are notoriously bad about forgetting about deadlines for signing dissertations. Allow about 1 week extra before any absolute deadline (i.e., end of semester, start of new job, plane trip out of country). Lie to your committee about the deadline. If they don't believe you, lie to them again and say that you are leaving the country and that the deadline is sooner. Trust me, it will take longer than it should. Don't forget to print the signing sheet on the fancy paper. | 1 week before any deadlines | 15 minutes to 2 weeks, depending upon how hard it is to track down your committee members |
| E-File (optional) You have to submit 2 copies of your thesis – one to the University Library (they will bind it and shelve it in the library), and one to an organization called “ProQuest” that is a clearing house for all dissertations around the country. The library copy must be on fancy paper, but the ProQuest copy can be E-Filed as a PDF or printed on regular white paper. See the dissertation guide for detailed instructions. Pros: Saves paper; gives others access to higher quality, digital version of your dissertation. Cons: Takes extra time to process electronic copy (so you have to wait a full 2 days after you have the final version ready to actually file it); extra time and technical expertise to make sure that you have properly embedded fonts in the PDF. When I sent the file to edegrees@uclink, the quota was overfull. You can try contacting Clarissa Hill (chill@berkeley.edu) directly, or call the Grad Division office. | 2 business days | can probably be rushed during non-deadline times, but otherwise plan on 2 days |
| Print Dissertation on Fancy Paper You can print the final version before or after the official signing. Note that the library copy must be on approved archival paper, but the ProQuest copy just needs to be on white paper that is 20-lb or greater (most typical printer paper is) and can be photocopied. | A couple of hours | Good laser printers do ~20 pages per minute in black and white, with more time for big files/pictures. Two copies at 200 pages each means about 40 minutes of continuous printing. Don't forget you also need extra copies of the abstract and title page. |
| File Dissertation in 318 Sproul (see the checklist in the dissertation guide) Hours: 9am - noon, closed during lunch, 1pm - 4pm. You will need: One copy on fancy paper, single sided, complete with signatures and a signed abstract (on fancy paper – they check!) One copy on regular paper for ProQuest if you haven't filed electronically (otherwise you need the receipt), no signatures required. An extra abstract (no sig. required) for the ProQuest copy An extra abstract (no sig. required) for your file An extra title page just to make you work harder Title pages with “Library copy” or “ProQuest Copy” (as appropriate) and the date written with a fat pen at the top affixed to the front of the box or envelope containing your thesis. The 2 surveys The ProQuest publication agreement (or receipt) | 1 hour | At the end of the semester, the lines can get really long. It takes about 10 minutes to file, but the if there are 10 people waiting in front of you and 2 people working at the desk, you'll be waiting for a while. |
| Dissertation Binding The University will take care of binding the Library's copy, but you'll want to give copies to all your friends and family. The cheapest route is to get it photocopied and bound in a plastic binding at Copy Central for a few dollars each. You can order fancy book binding versions from ProQuest (see the packet from the Graduate Division), from any number of online places (the cheapest looked like http://www.phdbookbinding.com/ for $30-50 per copy, depending upon the length of the thesis, the number of copies, and the options you choose). Alternatively, you can support the local book bindery for a bit more money (~$65), but a lot more personal service at Pettingell's at 2181 Bancroft Way in Berkeley (just below Oxford), 510.845.3653. Copy Central on Bancroft also offers hardcover binding (which is a factor of ~2 cheaper than Pettingell's), but their sample books are of noticeably low quality, and the employees don't seem to be knowledgeable about hardcover binding options. If you care about having a guaranteed good-quality hardcover copy, Pettingell's is probably the best bet. Many advisors don't care about having a fancy hardcover copy and prefer that you not waste your money. The same is true of many committee members. However, discuss the matter with them directly because some of them might even offer to pay to get the bound copy. | Allow 2-3 weeks for book binding (<1 week at the local shop), but thankfully this can all be done AFTER you're a doctor! | Copy Central can do softcover binding while you wait |
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