Step 3 of the Thesis Process: Deposit
Pre-deposit considerations
Deadlines
For each graduation period, there is a deadline by which the thesis deposit with the Graduate College Thesis Office must be completed. All corrections and all required deposit materials must be received by the Graduate College Thesis Office no later than 4:45 p.m. on the day of the deadline.
When to submit the thesis or dissertation to the Graduate College Thesis Office
The Thesis Office strongly recommends that students submit the departmentally approved thesis to the Graduate College at least one week prior to the deposit deadline. Please note, however, that the thesis should be submitted to the Graduate College only after the thesis
- has been formatted according to Graduate College requirements (see Step 1), and
- has received departmental approval (see Step 2).
Note: The Graduate College does not require students to be registered at the time of thesis deposit.
Fellowship and Assistantship Appointments
Students holding fellowships must notify the Graduate College Fellowship Office in advance of thesis deposit. Effective Spring 2008, students with assistantship appointments (RA, TA, GA, PPGA) are eligible to hold their assistantships through the end of the semester in which they deposit, regardless of the deposit date during that semester. For additional information on campus fellowship and assistantship policies, please refer to the Graduate College Handbook. Questions regarding these policies should be addressed to the Graduate College Fellowship Office.
Withholding release of the thesis for patent review
If a thesis needs to be temporarily withheld from public release because there is material in the thesis that is protected by or could potentially be protected by a patent, the student should submit a Thesis Withholding Request Form to the Office of Technology Management before submitting the thesis for review to the Graduate College. Further information is available in the Policy for Withholding Graduate Theses from Publication.
Submit the thesis for review and deposit with the Graduate College Thesis Office
As of July 26, 2010, electronic submission of the master's thesis or doctoral dissertation to the Graduate College for both review and deposit is mandatory. To submit your electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD), please review our instructions for submitting an ETD.
Note: The Graduate College no longer accepts hard copy submissions for review or deposit.
Post-deposit considerations
Update your address information in UI Integrate Self-Service
Diplomas are mailed to graduates approximately 9 weeks after the degree conferral. To ensure delivery of the diploma to the correct location, students should enter a "Diploma Address" in their Self-Service account. If there is no "Diploma Address" recorded, the diploma will be sent to your "Mailing Address."
Additional information regarding the diploma and transcripts may be found in the Graduation FAQ compiled by the Office of the Registrar.
Set email forwarding
For information regarding discontinuation of access to email and other network services, please refer to the following Web page of Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES). Students with further questions regarding email and network access should contact the CITES Help Desk at (800) 532-2531.
Request a Certification of Degree Letter (if necessary)
Prior to the date of degree conferral, a student may need verification that he or she has completed all requirements for the degree (e.g., for employment or visa renewal).
After completing thesis deposit, a student may request a Degree Certification Letter (DCL) by downloading the Degree Certification Letter Reguest. After completing and signing the top half of the form, the student should submit the DCL request to their departmental or program office, which is responsible for completing the departmental section and routing the completed request to Graduate Student Academic Services (GSAS) for processing.
Note: The Graduate College Thesis Office can only verify thesis deposit; under no circumstances will the Thesis Office issue a statement of degree completion.
Participate in Commencement
For information about participation in the campuswide ceremonies and convocations sponsored by colleges, schools, or departments, contact the Commencement Office at (217) 333-8834 or vist their Web page.
Obtain bound copies of the thesis for personal use
The copy or copies of the thesis that you deposit with the Thesis Office become the property of the University of Illinois. Theses and dissertations submitted electronically will be made available through IDEALS, according to the release option chosen at the time of submission.
The Thesis Office does not provide or distribute thesis copies to students, departments, or anyone else. If you want to have copies of your thesis bound for yourself, your family, or your adviser, you will need to procure them independently. Three options are:
- Book binderies. At present, the Lincoln Bookbindery is the only local company that does hardcover binding: visit their Web site for further information. You can search for additional binderies in other locations on the Web.
- Copy shops. Local copy shops (e.g., Kinko’s and UpClose Copies) can make softcover copies.
- (Doctoral students only) ProQuest. ProQuest provides an order form for hardbound copies on page 7 of the ProQuest/UMI publishing agreement. Students who wish to inquire about the status of their ordered copies should contact ProQuest's Author Relations department directly.