Completing the Graduate Degree

Final Semester

If you are an unsupported full-time graduate student in good standing who has completed two or more years in residence in your graduate program, finished your course work, and filed an Intent to Graduate, you may register for as few as three credit hours of independent study, thesis or dissertation during your final semester at Tech. This level of registration will provide you with access to your committee for advising and degree approval, office space, laboratories, library services, computers and the like. If you fail to complete your degree during this semester, you will be required to register as a full-time student without reduced registration during all subsequent terms. Make every effort to complete all of the requirements for your degree before you depart campus.

What If You Don't Quite Finish?

You are expected to complete all of the requirements for your degree (defense/IS approval, submission of abstract and completion papers, etc.) 10 business days before the end of the semester or your proposed completion date. It is a corollary to "Murphy's Law" that things take longer to complete than expected. This is particularly true if you use a word processor, e.g., MS Word, for your thesis or dissertation instead of document preparation system, e.g., LaTeX. Your best strategy is to understand what delays might occur and to build a time buffer into your completion schedule. But even though you planned for delays, you may find yourself defending too late in the semester with too many corrections to permit making the deadline for graduation. See the Center for Graduate Studies web page for deadlines for completion. For monthly completions during the semester, the monthly deadline is already placed as late as possible, while allowing approval time for everyone up through the regents, there is no flexibility on this deadline. If your paperwork is late, your graduation date will be shifted to the next month.

Students who miss the completion deadline for the end of the semester, but who have successfully defended their independent study, thesis, or dissertation before the first day of the subsequent semester, may be allowed to register for one (1) credit for one (1) semester only one time to complete corrections to the independent study, thesis, or dissertation. For this to apply, the research advisor must submit the defense report to the Center for Graduate Studies before the first day of the semester. If a student does not complete their corrections during that semester, they must return to full-time registration.

Leaving Tech Before You Are Finished

Some students are tempted to take a job or begin another degree before the defense of their thesis. Before you do so, give this careful thought. Most students find that at their new job or school, their first priority is to please their new boss or advisor. After a long day, it can be difficult to make progress on the degree you've
walked away from. Remember that if you were admitted as a regular degree-seeking student, you must register every semester until certified for your degree. If you do not register for a semester, you are subject to the reapplication and readmission process and requirements. If you move out of state, you are subject to
nonresident tuition. If you do decide to leave early, please come by the Center for Graduate Studies to speak with the Dean. There are some strategies that can save you a little time and a lot of money down the line.

Defense Fee Option

If you met the eight-week deadline (see Completing the Graduate Degree and Thesis and Dissertation sections) for getting a preliminary copy of your thesis, or dissertation to your committee, but cannot schedule a defense before the end of the semester because one or more members of your committee are unavailable, you may qualify for the "defense fee option." If you are able to defend your work before the first day of the following semester, you may pay a $50.00 defense fee to defend before the next semester at which point you will need to register for one (1) credit to complete your corrections to your independent study, thesis, or dissertation. (Note no completions are processed during the first two weeks of classes or immediately prior to the semester; that time is reserved for new admissions, registration, and processing graduate contracts.) To qualify for the
defense fee option, your committee must first certify that they have judged your thesis to be defensible before the first day of the semester. For this to apply, your advisor must send this certification to the Center for Graduate Studies before the end of the semester. If you fail to satisfactorily complete all of the remaining requirements for your degree before the close of registration, you will be required to register full-time for the semester and to pay all full-time tuition and fees. Students considering these options should keep in mind that members of your advisory committee are not obliged to provide you with feedback on your research when
school is not in session and when you are not registered. If you are not registered in a semester, you cannot complete your degree.

Thesis and Dissertation

Communication with your advisor and committee is critical to the completion of your research and degree. We recommend that you use the LaTeX template to make your formatting and review process easier. If you need a tool that you do not need to install, you may consider ShareLatex, which has been tested with the
template.

Ensure that permissions are provided in the last appendix for all copyrighted material, including: figures, schematics, and long quotations, including for your own published papers.

If you are completing a degree with a thesis or dissertation, you must submit a preliminary copy of your manuscript to your advisor at least eight weeks before the end of your final semester so that corrections and suggestions can be made. Ask your advisor whether she/he prefers electronic or printed copies, but you may
use double-spaced formatting to allow for edits (you will have to submit your final work single spaced). You may expect to get back the edited copy within two weeks. Some advisors edit your thesis more than once, so discuss the timeline and process preferred by your advisor and be prompt.

After your written thesis is completed to the satisfaction of your advisor, distribute a copy to all defense committee members. Distribute your thesis at least two weeks before your defense is scheduled so that your committee members will have adequate time to read it. Provide the thesis electronically or printed based on
the preference of your committee members. The defense committee is usually the same as the advisory committee, but your department chair is encouraged to attend as part of the defense committee. It is an expectation of the Graduate Program that all of the members of your committee be active participants in the defense. That does not necessarily mean that they are all physically present. For example, defenses can incorporate videoconferencing for individuals that cannot attend the defense in person. Thesis defenses are done orally; the defense committee will ask you detailed questions about your research. The presentation of your research at the defense must be open to the public, although the public may be excused for some portion of the examination. It is typical for interested faculty and graduate students to attend. After all questions have been answered, your defense committee will ask you to leave the room while they decide if your defense is acceptable. The decision does not usually take long and they will typically inform you of their decision immediately. Your advisor must send a defense report to the Center for Graduate Studies stating when you defended, how all committee members were present (e.g., in person or via video conference), and listing what changes are required for your thesis. This report is to be delivered soon after the defense and you are to be copied so that you have a record of the required changes. The description of required changes may be a high-level description of changes with significantly more detail provided to you verbally by the committee, so be
prepared to take notes on what you must do. When you have made required changes and your committee accepts your thesis, make sure that all defense committee members, including your department chair, sign the MS or PhD "Report of the Advisory Committee" form. In some cases, the committee will agree to sign your form at the defense and leave it up to your advisor to verify that changes are made, so take your report with you to the defense.

After the defense committee has approved the final copy of your thesis, you submit a pdf copy to the NMT ProQuest link on the Center for Graduate Studies web page and the signed "Report of the MS Advisory Committee" or "Report of the PhD Advisory Committee" form to the Center for Graduate Studies. In addition, your academic advisor will check your thesis for plagiarism using iThenticate and submit the report to the Center for Graduate Studies. The Center for Graduate Studies must have your thesis and paperwork at least two weeks before the end of the semester if you are to remain on the graduation list and not be required to register in
the next semester.

Note your thesis is not officially accepted until it is approved in ProQuest by the Center for Graduate Studies. You must grant a non-exclusive copyright of your thesis to New Mexico Tech for distribution; it is kept in the library and is distributed online via ProQuest and in the New Mexico Tech Repository. New Mexico Tech retains the rights to the information and the right to distribute copies on request. This means any information on your thesis will be publicly available. Because of this, do not choose research of a confidential or proprietary nature as the subject of your thesis. Your thesis will not be accepted without all your experimental procedures and data included, so be sure you will not run into a conflict.

Independent Study Paper

An independent study paper is very similar to a thesis. You will be expected to maintain the same standards of quality in your writing and thought as with a thesis and the members of your committee must approve of the final product. The paper need not conform to the format requirements for theses and dissertations.

After approval of the independent study paper, the signed "Report of the MS Advisory Committee" form must be submitted to the Center for Graduate Studies at least one week before the end of the semester if you are to remain on the graduation list and not be required to register in the next semester. Note independent studies are not uploaded in ProQuest. The Center for Graduate Studies requires that a copy of your abstract in digital (ASCII, text, rich-text or HTML) form be sent to graduate@nmt.edu.

The other differences between an independent study paper and a thesis are differences in processing. There is no defense required by the graduate program, but most departments require a presentation. In addition, your independent study paper will be kept by your advisor and not by the library, and consequently it is not bound or distributed by the library.