Dissertation/Thesis Template (for Word)
Formatting Instructions (PDF)
Submission and Review Flow Chart (PDF)
Degree Completion Assistant
gad@binghamton.edu
607-777-2151
You are required to submit your thesis or dissertation to The Graduate School, and The Graduate School must accept it, in order for Binghamton University to confer your degree.
At this juncture in your academic career, you may be receiving a lot of instructions and working to fulfill many requirements. However, it is important that you read and follow these steps to ensure a smooth processing of your thesis or dissertation, as well as a timely conferral of your degree.
Note: You must complete steps 1-3 by the submission deadline.
Before submitting your thesis or dissertation, make sure it meets The Graduate School thesis and dissertation formatting requirements. It must meet these requirements in order for The Graduate School to accept it.
Binghamton University archives its theses and dissertations electronically through ProQuest/University Microfilms International (UMI).*
Make sure to have the following ready before you begin:
Go to the ProQuest submission webpage and follow ProQuest's instructions for submitting your document.
During the submission process, you will have the option to request that Proquest UMI file on your behalf for copyright for $55, payable directly to Proquest UMI. The Graduate School urges students to register their thesis or dissertation with the federal copyright office. Registration of the thesis or dissertation with the copyright office entails applying at the UMI website and paying a $55 fee. However, even without registering the thesis/dissertation with the copyright office, the copyright notice on the page following the title page is sufficient to effect a copyright for the author.
You may also order bound copies of your thesis/dissertation through ProQuest. However, The Graduate School offers affordable binding through Library Services (see below).
If you need technical assistance with the ProQuest website, please to contact ProQuest. View their Dissertations & Theses Support page.
After completing your online submission, deliver these documents to The Graduate School office, Couper Administration (AD), Room 134:
| Thesis/dissertation processing fee | Mandatory (See Fees table below) |
| Thesis/dissertation processing fees form** | Mandatory |
| Hard copy of thesis/dissertation*** | If required by your department/program |
| Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)** | Doctoral students only |
**You will receive an e-mail containing a link to the processing fees form and SED after you fill out your Graduate Application for Degree. You can also download a fillable PDF version of the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) here.
***All departments/programs require a bound copy of your thesis or dissertation EXCEPT the following: Computer Science (Master's students only), English, Philosophy (SPEL and PPL), School of Management
Fees (effective Fall 2008)
| Doctoral Dissertation Processing Fee | $100 |
| Master's Thesis Processing Fee | $85 |
| Department/Personal Copies Binding Fee | $10 each |
The Graduate School will review your submission. We will notify you when your submission has been accepted or if your submission requires revisions.
The Degree Completion Assistant will review your thesis/dissertation to ensure that it meets The Graduate School's formatting requirements and will notify you if revisions are necessary. Submit revisions both electronically on the ProQuest website and in hard copy form to The Graduate School.
We recommend submitting revisions in a timely manner. While there is no deadline for submitting revisions, The Graduate School must receive revisions in order to accept your paper, after which final copies for binding can be submitted. Since your degree will not be conferred until all of these steps have been completed, it is in your best interest to submit revisions as soon as possible.
Once your thesis/dissertation has been accepted, bring final (revised) copies for binding to The Graduate School office.
The Graduate School will make sure your academic record is complete and that there are no holds on your record, and then confer your degree.
Student Records is in charge of mailing diplomas. Once a student's degree is conferred, it could take a number of weeks for a diploma to be sent out. If a student would like to check on the status of their diploma, they should contact Student Records.
If you need to show proof of graduation before you have received your diploma, you can e-mail The Graduate School to request a completion letter. The completion letter states that you have completed all of the requirements for graduation. When the letter is ready, Student Records will notify you via e-mail.
All final bound copies, both departmental and personal, are sent to a student's department.
Library Services is in charge of the binding process. If you would like to check on the status of your bound copies, contact Virginia Howell in the Library Services department.
*Among its many advantages, electronic archival allows students to include multimedia in their projects, revise their theses/dissertations long-distance, pay less on photocopying and storage costs, and—most important—reach a larger audience. Prior to electronic archival, most hardcopy dissertations only received a few library requests each semester. Now, Binghamton University's theses and dissertations are downloaded electronically hundreds of times each year. By archiving with UMI, all theses and dissertations receive double-protection archiving (microfilm and digital) and FREE full-text access to the Binghamton University community. In addition, the Library of Congress retains full rights to the UMI collection.
UMI will prepare archival digital copies and microfilm copies, both of which are maintained in perpetuity and migrated to new storage media as necessary, in accord with UMI's contract with the Library of Congress. UMI then disseminates your work to various bibliographic databases and indexes, and publishes a full-text copy of your work on a website available to the Binghamton University community (see Current Research at Binghamton). Readers outside of Binghamton may find your dissertation and purchase copies directly from UMI.
