The University awards degrees three times a year (May, August, and December). Please note that candidates for the MA, MS or PhD must apply for graduation, simply completing the requirements for degree will not initiate the graduation process; you must register to graduate online. For Ph.D. candidates, there is a fair amount of paperwork involved in graduating. Signatures must be gathered on various forms and submitted to GAS by specified dates, and the dissertation itself must be correctly formatted, duplicated, signed, and submitted by the deadline. It is the student's responsibility to complete these various bureaucratic steps properly and on time; the Graduate Coordinator cannot do these things for you. At the start of the term in which a graduate student expects to graduate, candidates should consult both the Rules and Regulations for graduating and the Degree Calendar*: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/gas/home/grad&beyond/graduation.html. If there are any questions, students may make an appointment to meet with the Associate Director for Academic and Student Affairs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences office is located at 3401 Walnut, Room 322A, Philadelphia, PA, 19104. Register to Graduate: At the beginning of the final semester, degree candidates may register to graduate online at: https://fusion.sas.upenn.edu/degree/app-start.php (The Degree Calendar* provides the cutoff dates for registering.) If for some reason a student is unable to graduate after registering, they must notify the Graduate Coordinator in order to remove their name from the list – there is no financial penalty. The Degree Calendar* provides: 1.The deadline for registering to graduate 2.The final date for depositing dissertations 3.Commencement Date http://www.sas.upenn.edu/GAS/home/grad&beyond/degree_index.html Formatting and Printing Your Dissertation: http://www.upenn.edu/VPGE/DissManual.html Regular drafts should be submitted to your committee on a regular schedule. Dissertation Defense: •The Dissertation Committee consists of at least three people including: the student’s advisor (must be a standing faculty member in Sociology), at least one other member of the Graduate Group, and a third member either within or outside of the Graduate Group. •The candidate will present dissertation research to a public audience composed of faculty, students and any other interested persons. Questions from the audience will follow the presentation. This can be in the form of a practice job talk or presentation to the department. The actual The defense usually runs for about 2 – 2½ hours. Scheduling Your Defense: Please contact the Graduate Coordinator to schedule dissertation defenses by calling 898-5711 or email. One month prior to defending: Candidates should be in touch with their committee to ensure all members are available for the date set. During the defense, stop by the coordinator's office to ensure all necessary forms are printed out and ready for signature by the committee members present. Depositing: This step should be quick and fairly painless if candidates have followed instructions carefully. Students must schedule an appointment to deposit their dissertation with the Graduate Office (215-898-5720). Early reservation of an appointment is recommended as appointments fill quickly, especially those requested at the end of the semester. A staff member at the Graduate Office (3401 Walnut Street, Suite 322A) will check your dissertation for: 1.Correct signed title pages (two originals) 2.Correct margins 3.Correct pagination 4.Completed supplementary documents as indicated in the Dissertation Manual including: Survey of Earned Doctorates, the Survey of Doctoral Degree Recipients' Opinion form, and "Publishing Your Dissertation/Microfilming Agreement Form" as sent by the Graduate Office. What to bring: •Two copies of the final dissertation (paper and formatting requirements are listed in the Dissertation Manual: http://www.upenn.edu/VPGE/DissManual.html) •A signed 153 form (Certificate of Dissertation), signed by the graduate chair and given to the candidate at the Dissertation Defense •Supplementary documents (listed above) •A receipt from Student Financial Services reflecting a zero balance (if student has a current balance).
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