Graduation
The University holds commencement exercises at the end of the spring semester. Those who graduate in the preceding summer session or fall semester are eligible to attend along with those who graduate in the spring semester. In addition, the Graduate School holds a Convocation at the end of the spring semester at which master’s and doctoral degree candidates are individually recognized.
Graduation under a Particular Catalog
Degree requirements may be changed from one catalog to the next. The student is normally bound by the requirements of the catalog in force at the time of his or her first registration; the student may choose, however, to fulfill the requirements of a subsequent catalog. If the student does not fulfill the requirements within six years of his or her first enrollment in the Graduate School, he or she is then bound by the requirements of a subsequent catalog. The student may choose the catalog in effect in any year in which he or she is enrolled in the Graduate School, within the six-year limit.
Procedures of Graduation
Candidates for Master of Business Administration and Master in Professional Accounting degrees should consult advisers in their programs for graduation procedures. All other degree candidates must follow the procedures below. More detailed guidelines, deadlines, and forms are published by the Office of Graduate Studies at http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/pdn/ .
Master’s Degree Candidates
- Be registered in the Graduate School in the semester or summer session in which they plan to graduate.
- Submit the online Master’s Graduation Application, Program of Work, and post-graduation employment information via the Graduate School Web site.
- Submit the thesis or report to the supervising committee by the deadline the committee establishes.
- Submit the thesis or report to the Office of Graduate Studies for final approval by the graduate dean no later than the published deadline. The thesis or report must be submitted in an approved electronic format. The format must follow the guidelines published online.
- Submit a signature page containing the original signatures of the thesis or report supervising committee and all required forms associated with degree certification to the Office of Graduate Studies no later than the published deadline. Candidates in these options must also submit a copy of the title page and an abstract.
Doctoral Degree Candidates
- Have completed the Intellectual Property (Copyright) Tutorial. If the candidate’s research involves human subjects, he or she must have provided evidence of ethical review by the departmental review committee and, if appropriate, by the University Institutional Review Board. The Institutional Review Board form should be attached to the Statement of Research with Human Participants form.
- Be registered in the Graduate School in the semester or summer session in which they plan to graduate.
- File the Doctoral Graduate Degree Candidate Form including post-graduation employment information in the Office of Graduate Studies by the published deadline; if the student’s graduation is postponed, he or she must file a new form.
- Provide each member of the Dissertation/Treatise Committee with a copy of the dissertation or treatise for evaluation.
- Schedule the final oral examination with the Office of Graduate Studies.
- Pass the final oral examination. The candidate’s Dissertation/Treatise Committee will report the successful result of the examination to the Office of Graduate Studies on the form Report of Dissertation Defense.
- Upload the final dissertation in electronic format to the submission site by the published deadline.
- Submit the Committee Certification of Approved Version (signature page) and all required forms and fees associated with degree certification by the published deadline.