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Processes

Registration       
Re-enrollment      
Review Academic File
Degree Application Completion Process

Registration

All graduate students are required to register online through SCORE in September in order to receive their graduate awards and other University benefits to which they are entitled. Failure to register will result in a loss of these benefits. The date, time and place of registration are announced in students' admission and re-enrollment information. Students not able to register at this time should inform the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs staff as soon as possible and make special arrangements. Students should communicate with their departments well in advance of registration to learn of any departmental schedules that they must meet. International students must be lawfully present in the United States as a condition of registration. The Office of the Dean of the Graduate School has the authority to grant exceptions to this policy.

Re-enrollment

Re-enrollment is the annual process whereby every department and the Graduate School evaluate the academic progress of graduate-degree candidates. The re-enrollment process, which is conducted during the latter half of the spring term, is often supplemented by other departmentally specific evaluations conducted at different times during the academic year (for example, doctoral students’ thesis committee meetings, which may occur once or at several times during an academic year). Students are encouraged to participate actively in the annual re-enrollment process by preparing their own written statement of academic progress during the current year, and goals and objectives for the coming year. All students eligible for re-enrollment, including those writing dissertations, must make formal application each year through their individual department. Students who have satisfied all academic requirements within their department and demonstrated their readiness for continuing graduate work are offered re-enrollment no later than June; others are notified about re-enrollment when a basis for judgment is available.

Degree Application & Completion Process

Deadline Date:                                Degree to be Awarded On:

Friday, August 29, 2008                     Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008                    Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, January 2, 2009                    Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009                       Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009                            Monday, June 1, 2009

If the candidate and/or the adviser want the dissertation to be reviewed for possible patentable results and subsequent patent application either by the University or by a non-University agent, or have the dissertation reviewed by an outside sponsor for the proprietary information or results, these processes must be completed before the department requests to hold the final public oral examination.

The candidate has completed all degree requirements after two bound copies of the dissertation and one electronic copy on CD in Adobe PDF format have been deposited to the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library archives within two weeks of successfully completing the final public oral examination. At this time the final public oral report form signed by a Mudd Library archivist must also be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs, 111 Clio Hall.

Each candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy must submit with the dissertation five copies of an abstract of the dissertation. Abstracts should not exceed 350 words. Two copies of the abstract are to be bound with the copies of the dissertation. The other three copies are submitted separately; one copy is retained by the academic department, one copy is submitted to the Graduate School's Office of Academic Affairs with the Request to Hold the Final Public Oral, and one copy is presented to the University archives with the copies of the dissertation.

At the time the copies of the dissertation are submitted to the Mudd Manuscript Library, the candidate must complete and sign the Microfilm Publication Agreement Form or present documentary evidence to the satisfaction of the Graduate School that the thesis will be published and made available in another suitable form.

The Princeton University archivist assumes responsibility for liaison with the microfilming agency. In order that certain minimum standards of uniformity be observed in the publishing process, the University archivist has established a format for the thesis and procedures for its deposition with the University archives. A brochure about this may be obtained from the archivist's office. When the student signs and files the Microfilm Publication Agreement Form, a microfilm of the dissertation is made and stored at Ann Arbor, Mich., from which any interested reader can obtain a copy inexpensively. Should sales of the dissertation amount to seven copies or more in a calendar year, the writer is paid a royalty of 10 percent on total sales for that year. The abstract is printed in Dissertation Abstracts, which is widely distributed.

The following forms are due in the Office of Academic Affairs, 111 Clio Hall, two weeks prior to the defense date. Your graduate department must receive copies of these completed forms before they are submitted to 111 Clio Hall.

Two bound copies of your dissertation are due in your department at least one full week prior to your defense date.

The authorization memo from the dean of the Graduate School approving the Final Public Oral must be posted in the department at least three full working days prior to the defense date.

The following items are due in Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library within two weeks of successful completion of Final Public Oral Examination:

  • Final Public Oral Exam Report (pdf)
  • Two Bound Copies of the Dissertation
  • One Electronic Copy on CD in Adobe PDF format
  • Title Page
  • Dissertation Abstract
  • Check Payable to: Princeton University Library ($135, $70 without copyright fee)
  • Doctoral Dissertation Agreement Form (contained in the booklet, Publishing Your Dissertation, distributed by the department after authorization from the Graduate School of the Final Public Oral Examination)

The below items are due in Office of Academic Affairs, 111 Clio Hall within two weeks of successful completion of Final Public Oral Exam. Please note that if the deadline for the advanced degree application precedes the Final Public Oral Exam Report deadline, the former deadline takes precedence over the latter. The trustees will not award the Ph.D. degree until these documents are received, and delay in submitting these documents can jeopardize the award of your degree.

  • Exit Questionnaire
  • Final Public Oral Exam Report (pdf), signed by Mudd librarian
  • Survey of Earned Doctorates (original plus one copy, distributed by department after authorization from the Graduate School of the Final Public Oral Examination)

Review of Academic File

Graduate students may review their academic file held in the Graduate School Office. Student files cannot be removed from the Graduate School Office. Therefore, all reviews must be done on the premises. Students must present a valid student I.D. and obtain prior permission to view their file. To obtain prior permission, students should complete the authorization form (pdf) and bring it to 111 Clio Hall for approval by the associate dean for academic affairs.

For information on privacy rights, please refer to the Student Privacy Rights Under Federal Law.