Summary of Important Milestones
Milestones mark the stages as your progress through your degree(s). There are usually forms that will need to be filled out and submitted at particular stages in your program. Some of the forms are online and some on paper, but you cannot progress through to the next stage until the paperwork is done and has hit the system. It can take up to a month or more before the a form passes through various hands and is entered into PeopleSoft. Therefore, it is very important that you complete each milestone in a timely manner. For example, you can’t request the form for the M.A. Exam until you have your committee entered and you can’t do that until you’ve submitted your Graduate Degree Plan (GDP) form/Graduate Planning & Audit System (GPAS) Planner. It can take three months or more to do these steps.
Milestone summary
M.A.
- Choose advisor
- File Graduate Degree Plan (GDP) form, or submit Graduate Planning & Audit System (GPAS) Planner
- Select & submit M.A. committee
- M.A. reading list
- Apply to Graduate
- Initiate Final Exam Form
- M.A. final oral examination
- Submit the signed Final Exam Report form
Ph.D.
- Choose advisor
- File Graduate Degree Plan (GDP) form, or submit Graduate Planning & Audit System (GPAS) Planner
- Select & submit Ph.D. preliminary exam committee
- Ph.D. reading list
- Language requirement
- Schedule oral prelim (online)
- Written preliminary examination
- Initiate Preliminary Oral Exam Report
- Oral preliminary examination
- Prospectus meeting
- Write dissertation
- Select & submit final oral exam committee
- Apply to Graduate
- Initiate Reviewers' Report Form
- Schedule the Final Oral Exam (online)
- Initiate Final Exam Form
- Final Oral Exam
- Initiate Dissertation Approval & Deposit Agreement
- Submit final version of your dissertation