Departmental Approval Form Information

Doctoral candidates should contact their graduate program administrator as soon as they are ready to submit their dissertation to Knowledge@UChicago. After asking the department to review the dissertation, the student should not make any changes other than those requested by the department. The departmental review occurs:

• after the dissertation defense,
• after revisions requested by the dissertation committee have been completed,
• after proofreading and editing the dissertation,
• and before submitting the dissertation to Knowledge@UChicago.

Departmental review procedures vary among programs, as do the deadlines. Graduate program administrators coordinate this process with the student. Program administrators can provide copies of the Departmental Approval Form. Students should ask their program administrator about the departmental approval process.

In order to submit the dissertation to Knowledge@UChicago, the student must upload a completed copy of the Departmental Approval Form, signed by the department chair or dean of the professional school. The approval form confirms that the dissertation is in its final form, meets the University-Wide Requirements for the Ph.D. Dissertation, and has been accepted as satisfying the degree requirements of the department or school. If the degree is from more than one program, the student will need more than one completed and signed approval form.

After the student has uploaded the signed and completed Departmental Approval Form and completed the dissertation submission to Knowledge@UChicago, Dissertation Office staff will audit the dissertation files and information to ensure University requirements are met. Dissertation Office staff may request additional changes from the student and notify the graduate program administrator of the request. The student should make the changes requested by the Dissertation Office promptly.