Thesis and dissertation
A page within Graduate Education
All students completing a thesis or dissertation must adhere to the University Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines for formatting. Theses and dissertations will be archived at the Murphy Library and, if you approve, published online at Minds@UW and ProQuest.
Students completing a seminar paper or graduate project are not required to submit their work for editing and printing by Graduate & Extended Learning. If you wish to do so for some reason, email gradstudies@uwlax.edu for directions.
Formatting your document (before your defense)
It is the student's responsibility to ensure the document submitted meets all standards as laid out in the University Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines. Careful attention to formatting details will speed up the editing process. Failure to do so could result in missing semester deadlines for graduation.
Click the button to the right to download the Guidelines. The document includes templates for the title, signature, and abstract pages. Below there is a button that links to videos to assist you with formatting. You should also review the list of common errors.
Ed.D. students
The information below is specific to MS students completing a thesis. For information on your process, visit the Dissertation completion page.
Committee chair signature (after committee approval)
After you have defended your thesis and completed any edits requested by your committee, your committee chair (advisor) should sign the signature page to indicate the committee's approval of the final content of your manuscript.
Your committee chair must sign the signature page digitally, to facilitate its submission online.
Order editing, printing and binding
Once the signature page is signed by your committee chair, you are ready to order editing, printing and binding for your manuscript.
If you are facing significant economic hardship, email gradstudies@uwlax.edu to request a waiver of the editing fee prior to submitting your order.
Complete the Thesis Submission Form to provide the information needed to start the editing process. You will also use it to pay online for editing, and for printing and binding one or more copies of your thesis.
The form will ask whether you wish to release copyright, allowing your thesis to be posted in the university online repository, Minds@UW. While the majority of publishers do not find the posting of a thesis problematic, potential conflicts should be carefully considered and explored.
Submit documents
After you have ordered editing and binding, you will submit your thesis for editing.
Email your signed signature page (PDF), and your thesis manuscript (must be a Word document) as two separate file attachments to gel@uwlax.edu. Include the signature page within the thesis manuscript document (unsigned).
You will hear back from us within 3 days, with instructions about how to proceed with the editing process. Check your email spam/junk folder if you have not heard from us, and email gel@uwlax.edu to follow up if need be.
Editing and final approval
The editor will review your document for proper formatting. This process typically takes several rounds of revisions. Failure to carefully follow the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines will significantly extend the editing timeline and may result in failure to meet completion deadlines.
After the document has been approved by the editor as meeting the formatting guidelines, it will be reviewed by the dean of Graduate & Extended Learning. They will sign the signature page when they approve.
Once signed by the dean, Graduate & Extended Learning will generate a final digital version of the document, including the completed signature page, which will be shared with you. We will also send it to Murphy Library, for submission to Minds@UW, unless you indicated you do not wish it published in that online repository. At this time you may submit your manuscript to ProQuestETD, if desired.
Graduate & Extended Learning will notify you, your advisor, and college office of final approval via email. Once the college office has received this notification, you will be processed for graduation.