uiuc thesis graduate college

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School of Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics

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Thesis and dissertation information

Thesis and dissertation help.

The  Thesis Office , which is part of the Graduate College, has an extensive list of resources for students writing a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. Please take time to look at them.

For an overview of what to expect during this last stage of your thesis or dissertation, please see our detailed explanation of the steps involved in completing your deposit below.

Be sure to speak to your graduate advisor and to SLCL Student Services if you have questions about any part of the process.

Dissertation and thesis deposit information

We hope the following information will provide you with a clear idea of what to expect during the final steps of your thesis or dissertation. Most of it will apply equally to both master's and PhD students, but any differences in the procedure are indicated. 

The deadlines to defend and to deposit  are set by the Graduate College. These deadlines are firm; if you don't meet them, you  will not graduate  in that semester.

The SLCL deadline is somewhat flexible; missing this deadline does not   mean you won't graduate, but it does mean you increase the likelihood of not meeting the Graduate College's deadline. The internal SLCL deadlines for format review are:

• Summer 2024: July 1 for PhD, July 8 for MA
• Fall 2024: TBD (previously November 13 for PhD (due to Fall Break), November 21 for MA)
• Spring 2024: TBD (previously April 5 for PhD, April 19 for MA)

Note: The Graduate College doesn't require master's students to defend their theses, although most of our departments do.

A PhD candidate must hold the defense on or before  the Graduate College deadline  for the semester in which they want to graduate. Even though the defense deadline falls relatively late in the semester,  the number-one thing you can do to ensure you graduate when you want to is to hold your defense as early as possible . The earlier you defend, the more time you have for revisions and for the SLCL and Thesis Office reviews.

After the defense, you will likely have to make at least some revisions. Great or small, they have to be completed before your committee will approve you for deposit. When your committee is satisfied with the revisions, your dissertation/thesis advisor will need to send an email to  [email protected]  and tell us you are ready for format review. Student Services cannot review your dissertation until they get this confirmation from your advisor.

Format review

After your advisor has sent us a confirmation email, you will need to email your dissertation or thesis to the same address in PDF format. We will review the formatting to ensure it complies with  the Thesis Office guidelines . If anything needs to be corrected, we will return it to you and indicate what you need to change. After you have made the corrections, you will email it back to us and we will review it again. This will continue until the formatting is correct.

Three main factors can help speed up this part of the process considerably:

• following the Thesis Office's guidelines
• responding to any correction requests as quickly as you're able to
• keeping your table of contents as simple and streamlined as possible. (We have to make sure every numbered item in the TOC corresponds to the correct document page number, so the more complex it is, the longer it will take us to review it.)

Almost all theses and dissertations require at least some corrections (the title page if nothing else), so you shouldn't be too worried if we request a correction as long as you respond in a timely fashion.

After you've made all the necessary corrections, we will clear you to upload your thesis or dissertation to the Thesis Office. We will also upload the TDA form, signed by your committee, which the Thesis Office will require before they can accept your document for review.

Thesis Office

After you've uploaded  on the Thesis Office website , the Thesis Office will conduct their own format review (in case we missed something) as well as a review of your academic record. They will contact you by email if there are any corrections or problems. When they're satisfied with everything, that's it — your deposit is complete!

Final considerations

We review all dissertations (and after that, master's theses) on a first-come, first-served basis without any other considerations. The later it gets in the semester, the busier we are, and the more students there might be ahead of you. Our internal SLCL deadline takes into account the Graduate College deadlines and the amount of time it can take to complete these final steps.

This is a lot of information to digest. If you have questions about this or anything else related to your program, don’t hesitate to contact us! Graduate Student Services  3070 Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics Building [email protected] (217) 244-5783

University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The items in the Digital Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library contain materials which represent or depict sensitive topics or were written from perspectives using outdated or biased language. The Library condemns discrimination and hatred on any grounds. As a research library that supports the mission and values of this land grant institution, it is incumbent upon the University Library to preserve, describe, and provide access to materials to accurately document our past, support learning about it, and effect change in the present. In accordance with the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read statement, we do not censor our materials or prevent patrons from accessing them.

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois

This community contains the collection for dissertations and theses produced by students in masters and doctoral programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. If you are a graduate student depositing your thesis or dissertation, please do this through the Graduate College at http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/submit-etd . If you deposit electronically, once your degree is conferred, your dissertation or thesis will appear in this collection. If you have authored a dissertation or thesis in the past at the University of Illinois and would like to see it appear here, please contact [email protected] for more information.

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Dissertations

Dissertation writing resources.

This page contains a variety of resources for graduate students in various stages of their dissertation research.

The Writers Workshop hosts a number of resources for long-term project writing on a variety of topics including:

• Staying on track with thesis or dissertation writing
• Committing to regular writing routines
• Navigating critical feedback

The Graduate College at UIUC

The  website  for UIUC's Graduate College contains information about the resources available for students completing their theses or dissertations. The Graduate College offers workshops and many other resources across the academic year to help students with their dissertation process.

CWS Dissertation Library

CWS keeps copies of all thesis and dissertation projects completed by Center graduates in hard copy. These dissertations can also be accessed through  ProQuest Digital Dissertations and Theses (UIUC students and faculty have full access).

Thesis Reference Guide: The Thesis

Suggestions for organizing the thesis, preparation of the thesis for submission.

• Title Page Information Check

Faculty Signatures

Format check, final registration.

• Writing ECE Theses and Dissertations

Preparation of a thesis plays an important role in the development of a student into a scholar who can conduct independent research. Students gain the necessary basic knowledge by taking courses, and they demonstrate their capability for original thought and competence in research by conducting a research program on a topic selected in consultation with their thesis advisers. The thesis records the results of such a successful research program.

While conducting research on the chosen topic and also while writing their theses, students should consult frequently with their thesis advisers. Learning how to write technical papers (including theses) is an important part of the research training of the student. Thus, during the course of the research, the thesis adviser may require the student to write one or more papers to report the research work. In fact, since one measure of success in a research program is the publication of the results in a reputable technical journal with rigorous review procedures, the Department expects that the results in a Ph.D. thesis will be published in one or more journal articles. The Department hopes that most M.S. theses also describe research that can be published in a journal article, but recognizes that M.S. theses are less extensive in scope than Ph.D. theses. In any case, M.S. theses are expected to be of sufficient quality to be published as conference papers.

Note that the copyright for thesis material that has been published in a journal or conference proceedings likely no longer belongs to the author. While publishing agreements may vary, typically they transfer the copyright from the author to the publisher. Therefore, permission should be secured from the publisher in order to include previously published material in the thesis. (IEEE does not require authors working on a thesis to request formal permission, but other publishers may have less generous policies.) The same applies to previously published material by other authors: figures, tables, and excerpts incorporated into the thesis from other works require permission from the copyright holder. The Graduate College Thesis Office (http://www.grad.illinois.edu/thesis-dissertation) provides links to further resources.

The text of the thesis should be organized into chapters. The first chapter should introduce the problem studied and describe the main results obtained in the thesis. In order to provide guidance to the reader, the first chapter should briefly describe the organization of the rest of the thesis. The first chapter can also give the background of previous work on the subject and the method used in attacking the problem. Succeeding chapters provide details of the new results obtained by the candidate including, where appropriate, proofs, numerical data, simulation results, and experimental data. In order to properly state the results and to place them in perspective, it may be necessary to include one or more chapters that give further details on the problem being studied, introduce notation and terminology to be used, survey the relevant literature in detail, etc.

The conclusions drawn from the study are given in the last chapter. The last chapter also can include discussions of the advantages and limitations of the results obtained, comparisons with previous work, possible applications for the results, and suggestions for future work. Matters that are of little conceptual interest but that need to be included for the sake of completeness should be relegated to appendices. Examples of such matters are listings of computer programs used to generate numerical data or simulation results. Also, long and complicated proofs or derivations that unduly disrupt the flow of ideas should be placed in appendices unless the proofs are of independent interest because of the novelty of the techniques used. Most important, all of the above are merely suggestions for the proper organization of the thesis, and the student should consult with the thesis adviser to decide what to include in the thesis, and how to divide the thesis into chapters and appendices.

The Graduate College (http://www.grad.illinois.edu/thesis-dissertation) gives format specifications and details on all the materials to be submitted. Before preparing the thesis, the student should read this material carefully. All the requirements stated on the website must be met in full. Furthermore, the Department has its own guidelines and support available from ECE Editorial Services (https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ECEThesisReview) .

All graduate students must apply for graduation (http://www.grad.illinois.edu/step-2-departmental-approval) by the deadline for their intended graduation period (May, August, or December).

Administrative Requirements

The Graduate College publishes thesis deposit deadlines for students who wish to graduate each semester. Deadlines are published in the Graduate College Academic Calendar .

Note that the ECE thesis check must take place well ahead of deposit with the Graduate College (see Format Check, below).

File Title Page with the Thesis Office

Early in the term in which the thesis is to be submitted, the student should file the title page (http://www.grad.illinois.edu/step-2-departmental-approval) with the Graduate College via email.

The signatures of the thesis adviser and the Department Head are required on M.S. theses. If the M.S. thesis adviser is not a member of the ECE Graduate Faculty, an ECE Graduate Faculty member must co-sign the Thesis/Dissertation Approval form prior to submission to Editorial Services . The signatures of the director of research (adviser), all voting committee members who voted to pass the student at the final exam, and the department head  are required for PhD dissertations.

Both the ECE Department and the Graduate College check the thesis to verify that the format requirements are satisfied. The Departmental format checking is performed by ECE Editorial Services (https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ECEThesisReview) , Room 2064-66 ECE Building. A minimum of three weeks should typically be allowed for format checking and the corrections and changes usually required to make the thesis conform to Departmental and Graduate College format requirements (find departmental deadlines on the Editorial Services site). When the thesis is in acceptable format, Editorial Services issues the Departmental format approval. After this, the thesis is submitted to the Department Head for approval and signature. Allow up to 48 hours for obtaining Department Head approval.

Each Ph.D. degree candidate must be registered in ECE 599 (even if only for zero hours) at the time of the Final Examination. Registration is not required when the thesis is submitted for approval to the Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering or when the thesis is deposited in the Graduate College, unless the student has an assistantship or fellowship. The Ph.D. thesis must be deposited with the Graduate College no later than one year after passing the Final Examination.

Students who will hold an assistantship or fellowship during their last semester should plan carefully. Students must work at least 91 days in a semester, or 41 days in a summer session, to receive a tuition waiver under an assistantship or fellowship unless they either withdraw from the University at (or before) the time that their appointment becomes void, or file a clearance form for graduation within one week following the resignation date. Employees on a student visa may not hold an appointment beyond the visa expiration date. Hence, if the employee holds an assistantship or fellowship carrying a tuition waiver and the visa will expire before the 91 days have been completed, the student may be required to pay tuition and fees.

Thesis Deadlines

When you start planning to write your thesis, pay particular attention to the deadlines for defending and depositing your thesis in order to meet a particular graduation date. Also, you must apply for the degree by a certain deadline in order to be included on the degree list. All deadlines and a useful checklist are posted on the Thesis Office website .

Writing Your Thesis

The Ph.D. degree in Physics certifies your ability to carry out independent research. An essential requirement for the degree is a written thesis describing an original reseach project in physics.

Format of the Thesis

While the content of the thesis is approved by your adviser and the thesis defense committee, the format of the thesis is regulated by the Graduate College. The Graduate College is located at 507 East Green Street, Suite #101. A complete set of instructions for preparing your thesis is available online. Please keep in mind that prior to depositing your thesis with the Graduate College, you must provide a PDF copy of the thesis to the Physics Department Graduate Office, so that the Departmental Format Approval can be completed.

You can find links to thesis templates here .

Acknowledgments

You must acknowledge the supporters of your thesis research (e.g. the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, etc. in your thesis). Some federal agencies, such as the NSF and DOE, require specific language and disclaimers in the acknowledgment. Check with your thesis adviser for the proper language. In addition, please consult information from the Graduate College Thesis Office regarding very important information on the use of previously copyrighted material, including how to request permission to reprint previously copyrighted material.

Your Thesis Defense

The thesis defense consists of an oral presentation by the student on the motivations for the proposed project, the methods used in the project, and the key results obtained and conclusions drawn in the research. Please keep two things in mind when writing your presentation: First, the presentation should be no more than about 30 minutes in length when given without questions . Committee member questions during the thesis exam typically lengthen the presentation considerably, and the ensuing discussions usually comprise the main body of the 1.5 – 2 hour. Second, the presentation should be written so that members of the thesis committee who are not expert in your subfield can understand the motivations for, methods used in, and results obtained in your project.

Suggestions for writing a ~30 minute scientific presentation appropriate for the thesis defense can be found on the Prelim/Final Defense Workshop site.

It is the candidate's responsibility to contact each member of his or her thesis committee and to schedule a date and two-hour time slot for the exam that all the committee members can attend. The Physics Graduate Office must be notified of the agreed-upon time at least three weeks in advance. It is also the student's responsibility to ensure that any needed A/V equipment is reserved and working properly in advance of the thesis examination. Most conference rooms do have overhead projectors kept in them, but if you need to reserve a portable projector, staff members in Room 213/233 Loomis and Room 38 Loomis can assist with reserving A/V equipment.

After Your Dissertation Defense

After your thesis defense, you should read the following important information regarding depositing your thesis and resigning your appointment: The End Game . It is also important to schedule an Exit Interview with the Grad Programs Associate Head to discuss the proper procedures for resigning your appointment and depositing your thesis with the Graduate College. Please schedule an appointment by contacting the Grad Programs Office.

Depositing Your Thesis

"Depositing your thesis" means submitting the thesis and other mandatory documents to the Graduate College Thesis Office. You will not receive your Ph.D. from the University of Illinois without complying with the detailed instructions for depositing your thesis located at http://www.grad.illinois.edu/thesis/submit .

Posting Your Thesis On-Line

The doctoral dissertation is a published work that announces research results, and the University of Illinois, like other Ph.D.-granting institutions, holds to the tradition that there is an obligation to make research available to other scholars. Every doctoral candidate is required to complete the ProQuest Microfilm Agreement form whereby certain rights are assigned to ProQuest.

In addition, the IDEALS (Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship) Database is located at https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/5131 .

If you have any questions about thesis requirements, consult the Physics Department Graduate Programs Office.

Graduate Admissions Contact

Lance Cooper Associate Head for Graduate Programs 227 Loomis Laboratory (217) 333-3645 [email protected]

Have questions about the admission process? Read through the Admissions pages or contact us.

Apply Online

University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dissertation and Thesis Research and Writing Guide for Music Students

• Getting Started
• Conducting Your Research
• Writing Your Thesis or Dissertation
• Citation Resources
• Copyright Permissions
• Depositing Your Thesis or Dissertation

Music & Performing Arts Library

Introduction

Once you've finished writing your thesis or dissertation, you can prepare to deposit it. This page will walk you through the final steps. We've included some suggestions for crafting an effective abstract and choosing good keywords to ensure that your work is discoverable so others can read it. The final section explains the submission and deposit process.

Writing an Abstract and Selecting Keywords

An abstract is a brief summary of the topics and ideas you addressed in your thesis or dissertation.

There are four basic criteria your abstract should address:

1. The problem: What does your paper address? What are your research questions? What makes your topic different from published research? What is the importance of your research?

2. Your methodology: What process did you use to lead you to your conclusion? (Analyze books, score study, archival research)

3. Your findings: As a result of your methodology, what did you discover?

4. Conclusion: How does your work fit into that which is already done?

Tips for writing a good abstract:

• Be concise and to the point
• Your thesis statement is usually the first sentence
• Include the most important information at the beginning
• Use the same chronological structure as your thesis or dissertation
• Search ProQuest or IDEALS dissertations for examples

Keywords are broad terms that relate to your study and allow readers to quickly and easily access your work through search engines. You want to choose the terms that relate best to your topic of study. Some things to consider when choosing keywords include: composer names, performers, composition names, instruments, era of study (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc.), theory, analysis.

Use of counterpoint in Beethoven's late string quartets

• Beethoven; counterpoint; string quartets; theory; analysis; nineteenth century; Austria

Traces of the French Revolution in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique

• Berlioz; Sinfonie Fantastique; French Revolution; France; Romanticism; Napoleon 

Submitting Your Dissertation or Thesis

• PhD and DMA Option 1 Students
• Masters or DMA Option 2 and 3 Students

For those doing a formal dissertation option (PhD and DMA 1 students), once the dissertation format has been approved by the School of Music Academic Affairs Office, the dissertation must be deposited electronically to the Graduate College.

The Graduate College has a  deadline  to complete the thesis and dissertation deposit process each semester. Because all corrections and all required deposit materials must be received by the Graduate College no later than 4:45 p.m. on the day of the deposit deadline, the Thesis Office strongly encourages students to submit the thesis or dissertation for review several days before the deadline.

Information about how to submit an electronic thesis or disseration is available online from the  Thesis Office .

The Thesis Office also provides all required forms and checklists, and resources to assist students during the writing process.

After you present your thesis to the School of Music Academic Affairs Office and they have conducted the format check, they will submit the approved document to the Library for deposit into IDEALS.

The thesis will be limited to UIUC access by default. Once you have received confirmation from the Library that your thesis has been deposited, you may contact IDEALS to change the access settings.

In addition to a PDF file for the thesis or paper portion, you may submit audio or video files. Consult IDEALS for format preferences and deposit guidelines .

The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS) is a service that preserves and provides persistent and reliable access to the digital research and scholarship of faculty, staff, and students on the UIUC campus. IDEALS aims to complement traditional scholarly publishing. Most theses and dissertations deposited from 1958 onward are available in IDEALS.

If you have any questions concerning preparing papers for deposit, deposit agreements, or copyright and intellectual property policies, please visit the IDEALS Resources and Information Page .

• << Previous: Copyright Permissions
• Last Updated: Jun 5, 2024 3:41 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/musicdissthesis

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Thesis and Capstone Project Formatting Requirements

There are specific formatting rules that must be followed when you are writing your thesis or capstone project. Some of these are established by the Graduate College, and others have been imposed by the NRES faculty.

Graduate College Requirements

Graduate College thesis format requirements  are summarized below:

An abstract is required for all master's theses and doctoral dissertations.

Previous degrees are not included on the title page.

The curriculum vitae or author's biography section is optional for both master's theses and doctoral dissertations.

There are no requirements for page number location (or page numbers with rotated figures), but pagination should be consistent throughout.

Minimum margin requirements are 1 inch on all sides.

Learn more about the electronic thesis deposit process at  http://www.grad.illinois.edu/thesis/submit .

NRES Requirements

An overall summary must be included after the last chapter (unless the thesis is a single chapter). 

NRES requires the student to supply data analyzed in the thesis or dissertation to their adviser but leave it to the adviser to determine whether this should be contained in the appendix or supplied in an alternate format.

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Graduate Students

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This page answers questions frequently raised by our current graduate students.  For more in depth information, please familiarize yourself with the College of Education Handbook and the Graduate College Handbook .  All forms listed can be found on our Forms page.

All Students

Information regarding currently available courses is found on Course Explorer .

It is the student’s responsibility to register for courses using Self-Service by the deadline each term.   When registering for courses, please make sure to register for the correct section, credit hours, and part of term.  If a course is closed for registration, you will need to email the instructor of the course for permission to register.  If approval is given, you will need to forward that email to the registration authorizer so that an override can be completed for you to register.  The College of Education registration authorizer can only provide overrides for course in Education, for other courses you must contact that department.

Once registration on Self-Service has closed, you must complete the Late Registration form to enroll, drop, or change credit hours for a course.  

All students wishing to register for an Independent Study must first fill out an Independent Study Learning Contract .  The form will then be sent to the instructor for approval. Once the instructor approves the form, the registration authorizer will complete an override and send you the unique CRN. If you have any questions, contact the registration authorizer .

For students completing a thesis or dissertation, registration in thesis hours (599) is required.  Registering for thesis credit requires the approval of your advisor or committee chairperson.  You will need to email your advisor or committee chairperson to ask for approval to register for thesis credit.  Once you have the approval, you will need to forward that email to the registration authorizer who will then complete an override and send you the instructor’s CRN.  

Exceptions to College of Education policies may be requested by completing the College of Education Exemption Request form . The request will be forwarded to the student's advisor for a decision, along with any other relevant parties. A final decision will be made by the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Education.

Actions such as fulfilling the foundations requirements using a four-hour course instead of two two-hour courses or using a similar graduate level course that has been completed elsewhere can be requested through this process. Copies of official transcripts from the institution where the graduate credit was earned must be submitted with the form.

To request exceptions to the Graduate College policies or deadlines, the student should complete the Graduate Student Petition . Depending on the nature of the request, petitions for exceptions require different information or supporting documentation. Students must: (1) clearly identify the issue, (2) provide justification as to why the student should be allowed an exception to this policy or deadline. 

Petitions require a minimum of two signatures (advisor and department chair/head or authorized signatory) but may require additional signatures. Upon receipt of the department chair/head's signature (or authorized signatory), the departmental contact in the Graduate Student Services Office will forward it to the Graduate College for final decision. Students will be notified of the Graduate College’s decision via email. 

Students who wish to change advisors must complete the Request for Change of Advisor . Students should obtain the signature of their new advisor and submit the form to their departmental contact in the Graduate Student Services Office.

Each spring, all enrolled graduate students in the College of Education are required to complete an Annual Evaluation of Academic Progress.  This is used to determine that students are making adequate progress in their program.  Information will be sent out via email to your Illinois.edu account.  Failure to complete the evaluation by the deadline will result in a hold on your account which will prevent future registration and possibly cause conflicts with degree conferral.  

Graduate students are responsible for adding themselves to the degree list in the appropriate term by the deadline using the Self-Service system (the same system used to register for courses).  Failure to do so may result in a delay in degree conferral.  

Registration is required to participate in the College of Education Convocation ceremony each spring.  Please see the College’s Convocation page for more details.  

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). At any time after degree requirements have been satisfied, the student may request a Degree Certification Letter or use the on-line Degree Verification system.

Doctoral Students

Every dissertation requires a letter certifying either a) approval for use of human subjects or b) confirmation that human subjects review is not required.  This letter can be obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and must be obtained prior to any research done on the dissertation topic.  A copy of the letter must be submitted with any request for preliminary or final exam.  It is suggested that you begin the approval process a minimum of 8 weeks prior to the preliminary exam.

The Early Research Project (ERP) is intended to be completed within the first 2 years of study in a doctoral program.  The ERP committee consists of three faculty members, generally the advisor plus two members.  The student will present a written and oral report to the committee and the committee will complete the ERP form if the student passes.  The form is then filed with the Graduate Student Services Office.  The student is responsible for scheduling the room for the ERP.  There are no additional scheduling forms for the ERP.  For students completing a Master’s thesis and continuing into the PhD program the Master’s thesis may be used for the ERP.

All PhD students must complete the Research Area Requirement.  This requirement exists to ensure that all PhD students have had sufficient coursework to attain proficiency in at least one research area and are able to conduct independent dissertation research.  Students will select their Methodology Focus Area in consultation with their advisor and complete the coursework necessary to satisfy the requirement.  Once completed, the Research Area Approval form is filed with the Graduate Student Services Office.

The cognate requirement requires an EdD student to complete 16 hours of coursework in an academic area or areas outside of their major program area. These hours will be chosen by the student in consultation with their advisor. The purpose of the cognate requirement is to provide the student with a scholarly perspective outside of their major program area, but one that relates to and supports their major area and intended field of professional practice. The cognate requirement must be completed prior to the preliminary oral examination.  The EdD Cognate form should be filed with the Graduate Student Services Office once complete.  

Qualifying Examinations (quals) are written comprehensive examinations administered to doctoral students near the completion of their coursework.  Prior to completing quals PhD students should have satisfied the Early Research Project requirement and EdD students should have completed the Cognate requirement.  

The specifics – committee, length, time frame, format - of the exam vary between departments, divisions, and students.  The student and advisor will discuss these specifics.  A committee consists of at least 3 faculty members.  It is not required that all faculty members are in the College of Education, nor is it required that the committee be the same for each qual.

Students are responsible for completing the Qualifying Examination Information Form at least one week prior to the start of quals.   

Students should submit their completed qualifying exam to the appropriate Graduate Student Services Office contact by the deadline.

Faculty are responsible for completing their evaluation within the two week timeframe after a student submits the exam.  

A student must pass all quals before taking their preliminary examination.  

Helpful links for information on literature reviews:

• Demystifying the Literature Review
• Literature Review Overview
• Literature Review Basics

The preliminary oral examination (prelim) follows successful completion of all required coursework, the early research requirement (PhD), the cognate requirement (EdD) the qualifying examinations, the research area requirement (PhD), and human subjects approval. In addition, all incomplete (I) or not recorded (NR) grades must be changed to final letter grades prior to the prelim.

The student and advisor should consult the College of Education Graduate Student Handbook for requirements concerning the development of the prelim committee.  

The Graduate College’s Thesis Office is a very helpful resource.  The College of Education follows their guide for format of dissertations and does not have additional College requirements.  

Students must submit the Request for Appointment of Committee Form , including IRB approval, at least 4 weeks prior to the prelim.  A prelim will not be held unless the Request for Appointment of Committee form is submitted and approved by the chairperson, department, and Graduate College.  Failure to complete this form could result in an exam delay or cancellation.  

The Graduate Student Services Office will handle scheduling the room for the exam and notify the student and chairperson via email.  

Students must be registered when they take the prelim.  The prelim must take place on campus and all chairs and co-chairs of the committee must be present, along with one additional voting member.

The final oral examination (final) follows successful completion of all required coursework, the early research requirement (PhD), the cognate requirement (EdD) the qualifying examinations, the research area requirement (PhD), human subjects approval, and the preliminary examination.  

The student and advisor should consult the College of Education Graduate Student Handbook for requirements concerning the development of the final committee.

Students must submit the Request for Appointment of Committee Form , including IRB approval, at least 4 weeks prior to the final.  A final will not be held unless the Request for Appointment of Committee form is submitted and approved by the chairperson, department, and Graduate College.  Failure to complete this form could result in an exam delay or cancellation.  

Students must be registered when they take the final.  The final must take place on campus and all chairs and co-chairs of the committee must be present, along with one additional voting member.  Finals are open to the public and will be publicized with a weekly email to all College of Education faculty, staff and students.

Prior to final deposit with the Graduate College Thesis Office, students must have successfully defended their dissertation and obtained departmental dissertation format approval.  In the College of Education this is broken down into three parts:

• Dissertation committee and chairperson via the Final Exam Result (FER) form
• Head/Chair of Department via the FER
• Graduate Student Services Office dissertation format reviewer

The Graduate Student Services Office (GSSO) contact will review the dissertation format.  Due to the volume of dissertations for any given semester, students must submit the dissertation to the GSSO contact a minimum of two weeks before the Graduate College’s deposit deadline.  Late submissions may result in a delay in a student’s degree conferral and graduation status.  Once approved by the GSSO contact a student is then responsible for submitting their final dissertation copy to the Graduate College Thesis Office by the deadline.  It is recommended that you submit your final copy to the Thesis Office at least 48 hours before the deadline to allow time for revisions.

Master Students

Students in the MA and MS programs are required to defend and deposit a thesis.  Please refer to the College of Education Graduate Student Handbook for specific information regarding committee setup and deposit procedures.  

The School and Community Experiences Office is your resource for questions related to field placement.  

The Council on Teacher Education will assist you with obtaining your license and any endorsements.  

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois

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The Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Requirements and deadlines, what are the graduate college admission requirements.

Please view our full list of our Minimum Requirements webpage. Remember that departments may have additional requirements for admission.

Will Pass/No Pass or Credit/No Credit grades impact my admission eligibility? 

The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign evaluates applicants for admission to its graduate and professional colleges and schools holistically, meaning that we consider an applicant’s combination of personal accomplishments, letters of recommendation, personal statements, academic record, and test scores in making our admissions decisions. Such a review will consider the significant disruptions of COVID-19 when reviewing students’ transcripts and other admissions materials from Spring 2020. We understand that many institutions across the country instituted P/NP or CR/NCR grading policies during that semester. Thus, we will not penalize students for the adoption of P/NP, CR/NCR and other grading options during this unprecedented period, whether the choices were made by institutions or by individual students. Our admissions evaluation will focus primarily on a student’s academic performance prior to this period, and if applicable, following this period. What is most important is that applicants demonstrate that they pursued a challenging curriculum that was relevant to their plan for graduate and professional education.

What is the application deadline?

Application deadlines are set by individual degree programs. It is your responsibility to visit the program web site to determine the deadline for your proposed admission term. If you apply after the deadline, you may not receive full consideration and you will not receive an application fee refund. Please visit our program directory for specific program web site and contact information.

Do my test scores and other application materials (transcripts, personal statements, writing samples, recommendation letters, etc.) have to be submitted by the program application deadline?

Most graduate programs require that all application materials be submitted prior to the application deadline to receive full consideration.

Is the GRE required?

The GRE is not a requirement of the Graduate College. However, it may be a program admissions requirement. Visit the program website for specific test score requirements.

What are the GRE & toefl codes for Illinois?

The institution code is 1836. Department codes are not necessary for our school. You can fill in any number there or leave it blank (if that is an option). As long as the institution code is correct, your test score will be available to any graduate program at Illinois.

Have my test scores been received?

Contact your proposed program of study directly to confirm the receipt of your official test scores.

If applying to multiple programs, do I need to submit my test scores multiple times?

No. Your test scores will be available to all graduate programs at Illinois.

Academic Probation Based on Program Recommendation

Programs are responsible for monitoring the academic progress of their students, including through annual academic reviews. Factors that a program may use to assess academic progress include, but are not limited to, performance in course work, satisfactory and timely completion of all milestones as determined by the program, satisfactory progress in research, overall graduate and/or program GPA, and performance on qualifying, preliminary, and other examinations.

When students fail to meet these requirements, a program can recommend to the Graduate College that the student be placed on probation or dismissed (dropped) by the Graduate College. The Graduate College will review the recommendation. If it is determined that the student will be placed on probation, the Graduate College will communicate the length of the probationary period and requirements for returning to Good Standing.

See Chapter 3.2 of the Graduate College Handbook for the full policy . 

Graduate College probation is a significant indicator that a student is not making satisfactory academic progress. Students on academic probation have certain restrictions, including not being eligible for credit/no-credit classes and not being able to hold assistantship or fellowship appointments without approval.

Timelines for Academic Standing Review

Academic standing based on program recommendation will be reviewed and determined once per academic term according to the timelines listed below.

If a department intends to recommend that a student be placed on academic probation, it is recommended that the program discuss these plans with the student in advance of the Reading Day deadline.

To start this process, the program will submit a recommendation for academic probation to the Graduate College. This recommendation (using this form ) should include:

A letter from the Executive Officer or Director of Graduate Study that describes the academic progress concerns and provides information about how these expectations have been communicated to the student

Copy of the most recent annual academic review for the student

Copies of departmental handbooks, letters/emails about expectations or other items that show how the department has communicated expectations to the student

Implications on funding of probationary status,

Recommended probation length, and

Specific academic expectations that the student is expected to meet to return to good standing.

After this recommendation has been received by the Graduate College, the Graduate College will notify the student that their program has recommended academic probation and provide a copy of the entire recommendation package. The student will have five business days (excluding university holidays) to provide a written response to be considered as part of the Graduate College review.

The Graduate College will review the documentation provided by the program and the student before making a decision regarding the student’s academic standing for the upcoming term. The Graduate College may request additional information as part of the review. The Graduate College will communicate the decision to the student and the program including, if applicable, the length of the probationary period and requirements for returning to good standing.

Appeal Process

The student has five business days (excluding university holidays) to appeal the decision on the grounds that the process was not followed in a manner that resulted in significant disadvantage for the student or new information is available that was not available at the time of the initial review. The written appeal should identify the grounds for appeal and provide any additional information to be included in the review. An appeal committee in the Graduate College will review this material and the information included in the initial review before reaching a decision. The appeal committee may request additional information as part of the review. The decision of the appeal committee is final.

Assessing Progress for Students on Academic Probation

When a student is on academic probation based on program recommendation, the Graduate College will ask that the student and program develop an academic plan to provide guidance to the student in achieving the academic expectations. The Graduate College can provide support to the student and program in this process if requested.

During the final term of a student’s probationary period, the department will be asked to provide an update regarding the student’s academic progress by the deadline within that term and a recommendation that the student be returned to good standing, dismissed from the program, or continued on academic probation. This recommendation should include a letter from the Executive Officer or Director of Graduate Study that describes the student’s academic progress and discusses whether milestones have been met. The department may also include letters/emails about expectations or other items that show how the department has communicated expectations to the student. If the department wishes to recommend that the student remain on probation, the department must include specific academic expectations that the student is expected to meet to return to good standing. The Graduate College will send this recommendation to the student. The student will have five business days (excluding university holidays) to provide a written response to be considered as part of the Graduate College review.

The Graduate College will review the documentation provided by the program and student before making a decision regarding the student’s academic standing for the upcoming term. The Graduate College may request additional information as part of the review. The Graduate College will communicate the decision to the student and the program including, if applicable, the length of the probationary period and requirements for returning to good standing.

The student will have the ability to appeal the decision using the appeal process described above.

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Graduate College

Graduate student among chancellor’s committee on status of latinos award recipients.

The GC's Jodi Aguilar continues to rack up accomplishments

Note: The original article is entitled "Chancellor’s Committee on Status of Latinos awards students, employees"; we have modified it to highlight our graduate student's involvement.

The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Latinos gathered in May to celebrate the recipients of the annual CCSL Recognition Awards and the CCSL Hilda Lopez-Arce Scholarship.

The CCSL Recognition Awards and the $500 CCSL Hilda Lopez-Arce Scholarship are given to hardworking and committed UIC faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students who serve the Latino community. This year’s awards were competitive, and the awardees are role models and mentors in the Latino community and leaders who are actively involved with Latino issues at the university.

The 2023-24 awardees are:

David Xavier Marquez, Faculty Awardee:  Professor Marquez is interim department head of kinesiology and nutrition and director of the  Exercise Psychology Laboratory . He is also the leader of the Latino Core of the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. His research focuses on reducing health disparities and, especially, older Latino adults and those at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The Bailamos dance program he co-created is at the heart of his work. Marquez has advised more than 80 undergraduate research assistants, the vast majority of whom are Latino, and seven Latino PhD students.

Paula Melissa Hernández, Academic Professional Awardee:  With over 25 years of dedicated service in higher education, Hernandez has committed herself to addressing racial and ethnic inequalities and striving to create a more inclusive, equitable environment for all. With a wealth of experience in STEM education, Hernandez is the associate director of strategic initiatives for Break Through Tech Chicago. She collaborates seamlessly with administrators, faculty, students, community partners and researchers to achieve academic and career goals. Her passion lies in researching, educating and mentoring students and lifelong learners who aspire to interdisciplinary STEM professions. Her unwavering dedication to their success is a testament to her commitment to fostering a future where everyone can succeed.

Vanesa Velázquez, Civil Service Awardee:  Velázquez, assistant director for the Center for Student Involvement, advises a diverse array of student organizations, spearheads departmental marketing initiatives and coordinates campus-wide programs. As adviser to the LatinX Heritage Month student planning committee, she successfully supported programs, recruited and trained new Latino-identifying student leaders and promoted an inclusive environment for Latino students to thrive.

Jodi Aguilar, Graduate Student Awardee:  Aguilar is a doctoral candidate in the literacy, language and culture program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, as well as a gender and women’s studies concentrator. Their transdisciplinary dissertation research, “Envisioning Queer Chicanx Futures in Education: Centering Testimonios de Trans, Non-Binary y Queer Chicanx Educators in Chicago ,”  places trans, queer and nonbinary educators of color at the center of queer and trans studies, reflecting critical conversations that challenge disciplinary constraints and hegemonic and status-quo neoliberal educational agendas. Through testimonio (storytelling) methodology and queer Chicana feminist zine-making, they analyze how the lived experiences of trans, queer and nonbinary Chicanx educators in Chicago make futuristic, cariñoso (tender care) and artivist interventions toward queering education. Their commitment to the Latino community is demonstrated through culturally relevant programming, queer/trans feminist approaches to care and intersectional spaces of joy for graduate students.

Dayane Padilla, Undergraduate Student Awardee:  Padilla, a recent graduate, will be pursuing her master’s degree at UIC. She is part of the L@S GANAS Research Fellowship and conducts research on increasing physical activity among Latinos in the Chicago area. She co-founded Mujeres En Medicina, an organization to support first-generation and Latino students pursuing careers in health care in the UIC community. She also is the undergraduate volunteer coordinator and a run leader in the Mobile Migrant Health team. She provides basic health care assessments and translates for physicians and medical students in Chicago police stations for the emerging migrant population. In her role, she creates opportunities for undergraduates to support the migrant community through donation drives and by organizing packing and sorting of medical supplies. Additionally, she works as a medical assistant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Her goal is to become a physician, working with Latino and underrepresented populations to address health care disparities.

Paulina Sequeda Malave, Hilda Lopez-Arce Undergraduate Scholarship Recipient:  Malave is an undergraduate student in the College of Engineering pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering with a concentration in neural engineering. Currently a junior at UIC, Malave received her associate degree in engineering science at Elgin Community College. During her time there, she discovered a passion for community service when she participated in the Phi Theta Kappa Honors in Action program and served as a co-marketing officer for the Organization of Latin American Students. Malave extends her dedication to the Latino community by volunteering to support Venezuelan migrant communities and advocating for education. Her focus on assistive technologies reflects her dream of pursuing rehabilitation engineering in graduate school and helping people, especially those in underrepresented communities.

Monica Padilla, Hilda Lopez-Arce Undergraduate Scholarship Recipient:  Padilla is an undergraduate student pursuing a dual degree in biology and public health, with a minor in Chinese on the pre-medicine track in the Honors College at UIC. She founded the Chinese Club and Taekwondo Club at UIC to create spaces that celebrate cultural diversity and foster a sense of belonging. Padilla is the vice president of Mujeres in Medicina and is dedicated to empowering Latina women pursuing careers in health care. As a Chicago EYES on Cancer research assistant intern at UIC, she translated materials from English to Spanish, conducted church interventions and increased Latina diversity in a breast-cancer clinical trial by 550%. As the founder of Charla De Salud, an initiative under the American Cancer Society, Padilla develops visually captivating educational materials in Spanish on health topics such as nutrition, cancer awareness and preventive care. Padilla led inclusive group discussions and created safe spaces for health dialogues that resonate with diverse Latino communities. As an American Cancer Society Legislative Ambassador, she advocates for cancer-related policies directly impacting the Latino community.

Original article: https://today.uic.edu/chancellors-committee-on-status-of-latinos-awards-students-employees/

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How LAS has enabled me to explore diverse passions

Through the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and my majors’ departments, I have had countless life-changing experiences. I have spent a semester away from Champaign-Urbana in Washington, DC, doing a full-time internship in U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office. I have been able to design, execute, troubleshoot, and put together a complex senior thesis in organic chemistry, where I am synthesizing a derivative of cannabinol, which might have positive pharmaceutical applications. I have visited countless locations around Champaign-Urbana that impact our environment and met with the people who work there to understand more about how these systems work, which will be invaluable for my future in environmental public policy.

So how can I do this and still graduate in four years? Well, I utilized the excellent resources that our college has to offer—from college-wide advisors that help you declare a dual degree or double major, to department-specific advisors who do everything in their power to work with a secondary program of study, to faculty who are often cross-listed between departments, meaning they have numerous fields of expertise. Yes, it is a lot of hard work, but I know I have a strong safety net behind me with all of the resources between our college and the university community. Oh, and I should mention that pursuing a second program here at Illinois doesn’t cost a dime extra!

I am receiving a robust, multifaceted education that will set me apart from my competitors in the job market, allow me to hit the ground running in my career, and give me the knowledge and background information necessary to effect meaningful change in humanity’s treatment of the environment.

So why do I think you should do it too? I get this question a lot from my current students in the class I am a teaching assistant for and from prospective and admitted students in my capacity as a student admissions representative. Here is why I think this is so advantageous: the job market is currently inundated with people with cookie-cutter degrees from cookie-cutter programs; designing your own education to support your career and life goals sets you leagues apart from other applicants. It makes you more interesting, makes you seem more capable, and makes your resume have a little bit more flair.

Many students have diverse academic interests, and you should jump at the opportunity to explore these passions at the college level. Here at Illinois, especially in LAS, that pursuit is not only possible—it is encouraged.

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Illinois College graduate follows in father’s footsteps, accepts same position his father worked in as a history teacher

When payton lanning ’24 began taking courses to become a licensed educator, he had no idea that in a few short years he would end up taking over his retiring father’s role as the 8th grade u.s. history teacher in his hometown of lincoln, illinois..

While on campus, Lanning made the most of his IC experience. He was a member of the Sigma Pi literary society along with the men’s soccer team. He also was involved with the Center for Student Engagement, Inclusion, and Belonging (CSEIB), serving as a programming team intern and involvement leader. Lanning credits campus experiences such as these with his personal growth.

“I went on a BreakAway to New Zealand, made best friends for life, won the Midwest conference championship in men’s soccer, and gained experience not only in my field of study but in many other areas that have helped me grow as a human being,” Lanning notes, “People on this campus have cared for me and my future no matter the circumstances. I am so grateful for that.”

Along with athletics opportunities, Lanning was drawn to the Hilltop because of the high praise he had heard about the education department . He notes that the combination of his interactions with professors and the collaborative environment in the classroom made him feel well-equipped for teaching. “I learned a lot not only from my educators but from my peers going through the same educational process I was,” Lanning explains.

The education program at Illinois College prioritizes hands-on experiences, giving students access to the classroom as early as their first semester. Field placements in area K-12 classrooms start in ED 101 and provide a wide variety of classroom settings throughout the program, culminating with student teaching experiences.

As Lanning completed student teaching at Jacksonville Middle School, he began to think more seriously about where he wanted to end up after graduation. A Lincoln, Illinois, native, Lanning wanted to teach somewhere close to home and looked at various job opportunities around Central Illinois before landing on Lincoln Junior High School. Initially, Principal Michael Workman joked with Lanning about taking over his soon-to-be-retired father’s position as an eighth-grade history teacher; the amusing idea soon became reality. 

“I am very proud of Payton going into teaching. We are a family of educators, and he will continue that legacy,” Lanning’s father Gordon said, “I am very excited for Payton to start his teaching career by taking my position. He will be ‘Mr. Lanning 2.0’ at Lincoln Junior High School. New and improved! I think it will be a great fit for him.”

Lanning is looking forward to getting into the classroom in the fall. “If you’d asked me a year ago, I never would have thought that I would be taking over my father's job,” Lanning states. “He has had an amazing career not only as an educator but as a track coach, a mentor, and an inspiration to others. I strive to be like my father one day and will always keep striving to be like him.”

Illinois College has a strong reputation for preparing educators to be exceptional teachers, illustrated most recently by alumna Christina Beck '04 receiving the prestigious Golden Apple ‘Excellence in Teaching’ award. 

In addition to the traditional four-year degree, IC offers teacher preparation programs online. The Post-Baccalaureate Education Licensure program offers individuals with bachelor's degrees who want to become classroom teachers a flexible and fully online pathway to earning a teaching certificate. A fully online reading teacher endorsement and English as a second language endorsement are available to enhance existing Professional Educator License (PEL) and provide advanced reading instruction to students. Additionally, IC is a Golden Apple Scholar Partnership Institution. 

To learn more about the education program at Illinois College, visit the website .  

About Illinois College

Founded in 1829, Illinois College is a residential liberal arts college fostering academic excellence rooted in opportunities for experiential learning while preparing students for lifelong success. The college is located in Jacksonville, Illinois. With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, the college offers over 50 undergraduate programs. In 1932, the society of Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at Illinois College, and it remains one of only 11 in the state.

Illinois College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.

Visit  www.ic.edu   for more information.

Media Contact Information Emily Titsworth '19, Writer Office of Marketing and Communication 217.245.3219 | [email protected]

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