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Students should be aware of the Graduate Study Timeline available on the Graduate College website.
Degree and certificate requirements are typically completed under the Graduate Catalog in effect at the time of a student’s admission. However, with departmental and Graduate College approval, the Graduate Catalog in effect during the semester of graduation in which degree requirements are completed may be used. All students seeking an advanced degree or graduate certificate under the Catalog year must adhere to the regulations and requirements outlined herein.
Policies & Procedures
Advising and Advisory Committee
Advisor
Students are assigned an advisor by their graduate program at the time of admission into the Graduate College. The advisor is typically the Graduate Coordinator, or another Graduate Faculty member selected by the department.
Some degree programs (all thesis and dissertation tracks, and some others) require students to convene a Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC).It is the responsibility of the student to personally select an advisor to serve as chair of his or her Graduate Advisory Committee, and appropriate Graduate Faculty to fulfill the other required roles on the GAC.
Committee Composition
Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC)
The Graduate College must approve the Graduate College Representative, and all advisory committee members on the Appointment of Advisory Committee form, before students proceed to work with their advisory committee, sit for exams, defend a prospectus, or otherwise participate in any milestone event involving their advisory committee.
The Graduate Advisory Committee is responsible for guiding the student through the graduate program, assisting the student with her/his professional paper, thesis, or dissertation, and administering the final examination or culminating experience. Advisory committees are mandatory for master’s theses, professional doctoral projects, and doctoral dissertations. Programs with other culminating experiences may opt to require a GAC, and if so, this information must be in the Graduate Catalog and Program Handbook. The primary purpose of the GAC is to train, support, socialize, and educate graduate students via the mentorship model, to elevate them to successful completion of their culminating experience, and to prepare them for career success. Not all graduate degree programs require the appointment of an advisory committee.
Students should consult with their advisor to determine whether or not an advisory committee is necessary. All departmental members of the committee should have expertise in the student’s research area. Master’s and doctoral students must submit the Appointment of Advisory Committee form to the Graduate College before establishing the degree program and before submitting their Prospectus Approval or Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy forms.
Graduate Advisory Committee Composition and Guidelines
- The GAC is always comprised of a minimum of four graduate faculty filling specific committee roles and responsibilities. These mandatory GAC positions are:
- Chair: Chairs must have GFS with full privileges in the student’s home Department/School. This person is the primary advisor and mentor for the student and guarantor of quality and excellence in the final document and defense. This includes but is not limited to:
- maintaining high standards of disciplinary excellence;
- providing strategic advisement and mentorship to students to help them progress in a timely and successful manner through their graduate programs;
- overseeing high-quality, original, rigorous and ethical research;
- making sure that the student is aware of, prepared for, and meets all required program milestones and university requirements over their student lifecycle;
- advising students on critical professional development skills and opportunities that align with their career goals and pathways;
- and preparing students to successfully defend a well-written and appropriately formatted final document.
- Two Department/School Committee Members: D/S Committee Members must have GFS with committee rights in the student’s home Department/School. GAC members are also responsible for:
- maintaining high standards of disciplinary excellence;
- supporting the GAC Chair to provide strategic advisement and mentorship to students to help them progress in a timely and successful manner through their graduate programs;
- overseeing high-quality, original, rigorous and ethical research;
- coordinating with the GAC Chair to make sure that the student is aware of, prepared for, and meets all required program milestones and university requirements over their student lifecycle;
- advising students on critical professional development skills and opportunities that align with their career goals and pathways;
- and helping to prepare students to successfully defend a well-written and appropriately formatted final document.
- Graduate College Representative (GCR): Must have GFS with approved GCR rights at UNLV. These faculty may not hold GFS in the student’s home Department/School. See #7 below for additional guidelines regarding the role of the GCR.
- In addition to the above, students may opt to add extra members to their GAC:
- Co-Chair: Must have GFS somewhere at UNLV (either all privileges or committee member designation). This person shares advising responsibilities with the other co-chair.
- Additional Committee Member: May hold GFS in any graduate/professional program at UNLV, may be a recognized faculty member at another university, or may be a highly esteemed and accomplished community member with documented expertise in the student’s area of study.
- Faculty must hold the terminal degree from the same or a very closely related discipline in which they chair or serve as a school/department committee member for master’s or doctoral students.
- Case-by-case exceptions may be permitted depending on context (i.e. a DDS chairing an oral biology master’s degree, etc.) via the Graduate College GFS appeal process.
- Faculty with non-research-based terminal degrees may not solo chair committees for students earning research degrees.
- The GAC chair and school/department committee members should be active researchers/scholars/performers and have some experience or demonstrated capacity to successfully advise graduate students.
- Graduate faculty who have never chaired a GAC before should have a faculty mentor in their department with whom they can consult and seek guidance as needed.
- GAC chairs and department/school committee members are responsible for ensuring that the student is well-advised, progresses at an appropriate pace, and completes their degree after successful defense of a rigorous, original, high-quality thesis, project, or dissertation. The GAC must ensure student compliance with university requirements and appropriate, ethical, disciplinary standards and practices. Final documents must be formatted correctly and consistently (using the format of your choice — APA, Chicago, etc.), and must reflect Graduate College thesis/dissertation formatting requirements.
- Graduate College representatives (GCR) on the GAC must have GCR privileges in order to serve in this capacity.
- GCR privileges require that the faculty member have a terminal degree in their field, be employed full-time in a tenured/tenure-track faculty position at UNLV, and hold GFS.
- The role of the GCR is to be a representative of the Graduate College on the committee, fully informed of all the policies, procedures, and best practices of student mentorship. The GCR represents the university on committees, and as such must:
- mediate as necessary to ensure appropriate, fair, and equitable treatment of students and graduate faculty on the GAC;
- ensure appropriate standards of scholarly conduct and research ethics are upheld;
- attest that the final document is:
- original;
- academically rigorous;
- publication quality, particularly if serving on a doctoral GAC;
- well-written;
- appropriately formatted (per both the applicable style guide, i.e. APA, and UNLV thesis/dissertation formatting requirements).
- Any concerns witnessed by the GAC should be reported to the Graduate College dean or associate dean, and if necessary, also to the appropriate office on campus (i.e. Compliance, IRB, Student Conduct, Risk Management, Disability Resources, etc.).
- GCRs may have substantive expertise related to some or all of the student’s project, but this is not required because their role on the GAC is to ensure general rigor, quality of writing, propriety, fairness, and compliance with all university policies and processes.
Change of Graduate Advisory Committee
If a student needs to make changes to his/her advisory committee after submission of the Appointment of Advisor Committee Approval Form, they may do so with the Change of Advisory Committee form. Students have a right to change their committees as they see fit, however, all ethical and professional rules and guidelines governing research data, creative activities, funded projects, must be considered and followed. Also, please note that when a student requests a change of advisory committee immediately after a failed exam or defense, and prior to the retaking of said exam or defense, the department and/or Dean may not allow the committee change until the current milestone exam or defense is completed, or the student may need to start the process over with her/his new committee. Committee change forms must be approved by the student’s department, academic college, and the Graduate College before the committee change may take effect.
Resources
UNLV Degrees Directory
The UNLV Degrees Directory is a resource for exploring individual degrees or programs and accessing learning objectives, program handbooks, , graduat coordinator information, and more. It is important to note that all information contained in the UNLV Degrees Directory is subject to change and students should refer to the Graduate Catalog as the primary source of information regarding your program requirements.
Program Handbook
Each graduate program has a handbook to help guide students through their respective programs. The program handbook typically contains more detailed information regarding program benchmarks. It also may provide sample plans of study. The program handbook does not supersede the description of the program requirements in the graduate catalog. Program handbooks are made available on the UNLV Degrees Directory. The purpose of the program handbook is to provide program- specific information for students that is not found in the Graduate Catalog. Students are responsible for understanding and following the policies and procedures delineated in program handbooks and the UNLV Graduate Catalog, as well as the NSHE Code, UNLV Bylaws, and the UNLV Student Conduct Code. Handbook questions should be directed to your Graduate Coordinator; questions about policies and the Graduate Catalog may bee directed to the Graduate College.
Graduate College Website
The Graduate College website provides information for future students, current students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and staff and contains detailed information regarding the organization and activities of the unit. It is important to note that all students are responsible for submitting the proper forms to the Graduate College as they progress through their degree or certificate program. Failure to do so may cause a delay in the student’s graduation or certificate conferral.
Graduate College Professional Development Academy & your Retention Progression Completion (RPC) Team
The Graduate College Professional Development Academy is a virtual support center that provides current UNLV graduate students access to the following:
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Academic support certifications: Free, year-long professional development programs—complete with workshops, cohort meetings, and culminating experiences—in the areas of research, teaching, mentorship, and communication
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Professional development workshops and training: These workshops are hosted by members of the UNLV community and topics cover a broad range of topics from academic and professional topics to personal skills.
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Grad Rebel programs: RAMP (Research & Mentorship Program); Grad Rebel Ambassadors; Grad Rebel Advantage
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Non-academic advising & graduate ombuds services
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Graduate career development resources to help you prepare for life during and after your graduate studies.
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Graduate College events to highlight, celebrate, and build a strong and thriving community of graduate faculty and student scholars and collaborators.
Retention, Progression, & Completion (RPC) Team
The RPC team is an organizational unit within the Graduate College that facilitates the degree progression and completion of each student. The RPC team helps graduate students to assess their progress toward degree completion, understand degree requirements, correctly format and proceed through the thesis and dissertation preparation and submission processes, as well as conducting final degree checks and conferring students’ degrees.
The Plan of Study form outlines the courses the student will complete for the degree or certificate program and the courses listed must fulfill all degree requirements specified in the Graduate Catalog from the student’s first or last semester of enrollment. The Plan of Study form has two parts: part I is an electronic signature page available in your Grad Rebel Gateway portal, and part II is available in the Degrees Directory for the student’s graduate degree or certificate program. The Plan of Study form requires approval of the student, advisor (if applicable), the graduate coordinator or department chair, and the Graduate Dean. Both parts of the form must be electronically submitted at the same time. Please visit the Graduate College website page for Current Students to reference our graduate student timeline and student lifecycle guide that shows what students need to do in each stage of their graduate program.
The most important component of graduate education is the student’s culminating experience. All graduate programs require a culminating experience of some type. This generally takes the form of a Master’s thesis, a doctoral dissertation, a final scholarly research project, a professional paper, a capstone course, a performance, an exam, and/or an oral defense. The culminating experience demonstrates the student’s mastery of their research, scholarship, professional expertise, or creative abilities in their field of study, as well as their written and oral communication skills.
When the culminating experience is a professional paper, thesis, or dissertation (research, professional, or creative) the final document is intended to reflect the student’s research, scholarship, or creative activities, contribute in meaningful ways to the ongoing development of the academic discipline or profession they are in, and have broader significance or impact. Other forms of culminating experiences generally assess the student’s specific knowledge, expertise, and/or professional skills and abilities.
Students required to complete and defend a final research or creative document (thesis or dissertation) must write and successfully defend (in an oral defense setting) a prospectus describing the nature of their proposed research, scholarship, or creative activity, their methods, and other relevant details prescribed by the student’s disciplinary practices. Once the prospectus is written, successfully defended, and approved by the student’s entire Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC), students musts submit the Prospectus Approval Form (for master’s and specialist students) or Advancement to Candidacy form (for doctoral students) to the Graduate College along with a brief written statement describing their proposed thesis or dissertation topic and approach prior to beginning work on their Master’s thesis, doctoral dissertation, or doctoral project (for professional doctoral programs).
After the prospectus is defended and accepted by the GAC and the student has submitted their Prospectus Approval Form (masters) or Advancement to Candidacy Form (doctoral), students may then proceed to work on their final document. If the nature of the research deviates from the written description submitted to the Graduate College then a new prospectus defense must be held and a new prospectus approval form (for master’s and specialist students) or Advancement to Candidacy form (for doctoral students) must be submitted along with a brief written statement describing the new research. Students may not enroll in thesis or dissertation credits until they have completed all required course work and exams, and submitted their signed Prospectus Approval form (for master’s and specialist students) or Advancement to Candidacy form (for doctoral students) to the Graduate College.
Final documents, including theses, dissertations, professional or scholarly papers, and projects must meet acceptable standards of the given profession. Theses and dissertations must also meet Graduate College standards according to The Guide to Preparing & Submitting a Thesis or Dissertation. The Graduate College and advisory committees expect students to give careful attention to the style and format of the final scholarly or creative documents.
Students must maintain continuous enrollment (a minimum of 6 graduate level credits in any three consecutive semesters, including summer) while working on their degree and final document. Since we cannot graduate and confer a degree upon a student who is not active and enrolled, students must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 graduate-level credits in the semester in which they graduate, even if they have already completed all the required degree credits.
Master’s Thesis, Doctoral Dissertation, and Doctoral Projects
Some master’s programs require a thesis, or offer the option of a thesis, for the master’s degree. All research doctoral programs (Ph.D.s) require a dissertation. Professional doctoral programs require a dissertation or doctoral project, depending on the field of study. The thesis, dissertation, or doctoral project should demonstrate the student’s ability to select a specific problem or topic, assemble pertinent and necessary data, conduct original research, organize ideas and data in a compelling manner, and prepare a clear, well-written document detailing their work.
The minimum number of thesis credits required for a master’s degree program is six. For the doctoral degree program, the minimum number of dissertation credits required is twelve. A grade is not reported for thesis or dissertation credits. When the final copy of the thesis/dissertation is submitted electronically to the Graduate College and approved by the Graduate Dean, the title of the thesis/dissertation is posted on the student’s transcript with the number of credits earned. Unless approved for a leave of absence, a student must register for a minimum of three thesis/dissertation or non-thesis/dissertation credits each semester (summer excluded) until the thesis or dissertation is completed, submitted to the Graduate College, and the student graduates. However, students intending to complete, defend, submit a thesis or dissertation to the Graduate College, and/or graduate during the summer term, must be registered for a minimum of three credits. It is strongly suggested that no later than eight weeks prior to the last day of instruction in the term the student will graduate, a draft of the work should be submitted to the advisory committee. The committee will review the thesis or dissertation for any corrections and changes, which must be incorporated before the final examination (oral defense) and submission of the final document to the Graduate College. The completed, unbound work must be resubmitted to the committee at least two weeks prior to the final examination.
After the successful defense, the final document (incorporating all changes and formatted appropriately) must be submitted to the Graduate College. Instructions on how to submit your document for format check can be found on the thesis and dissertation format and submission guidelines page. The Graduate College must approve all theses and dissertations prior to final electronic submission. Both the student and their committee must review and approve your document and style and formatting prior to submitting your final document to the Graduate College for final format check. Upon approval, the Graduate College will provide the student with a final electronic version of their document. The thesis or dissertation must be submitted electronically to ProQuest and Digital Scholarship@UNLV by the posted date each semester. All members of the advisory committee must approve the thesis or dissertation for submission to the Graduate College. Extensions to thesis and dissertation deadlines are granted on a case by case basis with the full permission of the student’s committee and department. Extensions are requested via appeal and must be approved by the Graduate College Dean.
Students are required to run their final document through iThenticate similarity check software prior to their final defense. All doctoral students and all master’s students with 15 credits toward their degree have access to this software through the Graduate College. Students that do not have access should contact the Graduate College to create an account.
Advisory committee members should be sent the full iThenticate similarity report via email a minimum of 7 days before the scheduled defense. At the time of the defense, the student’s committee will attest that they have received copies of the report and approve the percentage as acceptable for the student’s discipline on the student’s Culminating Experience Form. The first page of the student’s iThenticate similarity report that lists the overall similarity percentage for the final document should be attached to the approved Culminating Experience Results Form before it is turned into the Graduate College.
Matters of format and style with respect to capitalization, abbreviation, quotations, footnotes, citations, bibliography, etc., should conform to the discipline’s standard publishing format (APA, ASA, MLA, Chicago style, etc.). Departments will advise the student on which style manual is appropriate, and members of the Graduate Advisory Committee are responsible for ensuring full compliance with the chosen style guidelines in all final documents. Beyond the style guidelines used in the student’s field, final documents must conform to UNLV formatting and style requirements. The Guide to Preparing & Submitting a Thesis or Dissertation is available on the Graduate College website and these resources, along with workshops provided by the Graduate College each semester, should make it easy for students to conform to UNLV guidelines. Failure to do so will result in mandatory formatting edits to the final document prior to final submission and before a student’s degree can be conferred.
As part of the requirements for completion for all theses, dissertations, and doctoral projects, once final documents are accepted by the Graduate College as complete, approved, and properly formatted, students must then submit their final approved document electronically to ProQuest and Digital Scholarship@UNLV by the posted date each semester. Failure to do so will result in delay of your degree conferral. Please note that documents posted in ProQuest and Digital Scholarship@UNLV will be available online for viewing and download
Students who have a documented rationale for needing to delay the release of their document to ProQuest and Digital Scholarship@UNLV are required to submit an Embargo Form to the Graduate College. Embargos may be approved for periods of 1, 3, 5, or 7 years and under special circumstances may be renewed. Even with the implementation of an embargo, students still must upload their final document to ProQuest to graduate.
Three Article Dissertation
The three article dissertation must include a minimum of three under-review, in-press, or published articles reporting on research or scholarship undertaken as a doctoral student at UNLV (prior research, scholarship, creative activity, articles or publications may not be used in a UNLV dissertation). In addition to the articles, this format requires an introductory chapter, a concluding chapter, and bridge sections introducing and linking each of the articles to form a cohesive document.
The three article dissertation is not an option for all programs. The degree-granting department must indicate in their program handbook whether the three article dissertation format is an approved option for that program of study. Program handbooks are available online through the UNLV Degrees Directory. The department may impose more stringent requirements than those delineated in this document, but additional requirements must be described in the program handbook. If this format is an option provided by the department, the student and their committee may then decide whether or not to use a three article dissertation format, and indicate the intended dissertation type at the time of the dissertation proposal. In this model, an under-review, in-press, or published manuscript serves as a chapter within the larger dissertation. If the committee and department accept this dissertation format, the dissertation must adhere to Graduate College guidelines pertaining to this type of dissertation.
The three article dissertation must have a general introductory chapter that provides an introduction to the student’s topic, a review of the relevant literature and presentation of research questions. Each article chapter must include a contextual explanation of the significance of the article chapter ahead as a “bridge” at the beginning of the chapter, to link it to the broader study of which the chapter is a part. This format must also include a concluding chapter that puts the multiple papers in a broader context and explains their significance to the field, as well as offering suggestions for future research. These introductory and concluding chapters ensure that the multiple papers have a general coherence and constitute a singular whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
All dissertations must adhere to Graduate College formatting and stylistic guidelines (e.g., acceptable font, use of headings, margins, spacing, tables, appendices, page numbers, etc.), regardless of whether they are presented in a traditional format or a multiple (three or more) article format. The three article dissertation must have a general abstract; whether abstracts are included for respective chapters is at the discretion of the committee and department. References may be presented at the end of individual chapters, or in a single references section at the end of the dissertation. Acknowledgments should be given not at the end of each chapter but in one place for the dissertation as a whole; proper placement is outlined in the Graduate College formatting guidelines. Appendices should be given near the end of the entire dissertation, as outlined in the Graduate College formatting guidelines, rather than at the conclusion of individual chapters. Article chapters must be included in the appropriate Graduate College format, consistent with the Introduction and Conclusion chapters. Students may not simply “add in” a journal article reprint to serve as a dissertation chapter.
For three article dissertation chapters that are published or in press, the student must secure the appropriate copyright from the publisher to include the chapter contents in the dissertation. These must be included in an appropriate Appendix per Graduate College formatting guidelines.
For coauthored articles or chapters used in three article dissertations and approved by the GAC for inclusion, the student must obtain written permission from co-authors to include the chapters in the dissertation. Co-author approvals should be noted in the dissertation, either in the general Introduction or in introductions to respective co-authored chapters, and written permission should be included in a separate Appendix.
For co-authored articles or chapters in three article dissertations, the student must have made a substantial and documented contribution to the work in order to include it in the dissertation. In practice, this may be acknowledged by the student being the lead author on a manuscript. If not the first author on an article, the student should have made substantial contributions to the research design, execution of the study, analyses, and/or write-up and these must be documented, as well as reviewed and approved by the student’s committee. Quantifying the requirements of “substantial” can be challenging, with best practices in leading peer-reviewed journals (such as PLoS ONE, Nature) offering guidelines for determining sufficient contribution for journal publication authorship, and in turn for inclusion in a dissertation. A student’s contribution in co-authored chapters should be noted and clearly explained either in the general Introduction or in introductions to respective co-authored chapters. A three article dissertation may not include more than one co-authored article/chapter in which the doctoral student is not first author, unless it is included as a fourth or subsequent additional chapter.
Professional or Scholarly Papers or Projects
Master’s students not pursuing a thesis option may be required to complete a professional/scholarly paper or project as part of the degree program. Students are encouraged to use The Guide to Preparing & Submitting a Thesis or Dissertation available on the Graduate College website when preparing a professional paper. Professional/scholarly papers or projects are not, however, reviewed, retained, or approved by the Graduate College. Some graduate programs require students doing a professional paper to have a graduate committee and to defend their work; other departments incorporate final papers into culminating experience courses or have other requirements. Please check with your department and review the program information and requirements herein for detailed guidelines regarding your own program requirements.
Defense Announcements
Master’s and doctoral defenses are partially public events and must be announced to the campus via the UNLV Master Calendar a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the scheduled event. The date, time, and location need to be emailed to GradRebel@unlv.edu. In addition, students are encouraged to publicize their defense in their department, and in relevant campus and community groups. The first part of the defense is open and public; after the student’s presentation and questions (conducted in a manner that is typical and appropriate to the program/discipline), everyone other than the student and her/his Graduate Advisory Committee should be asked to leave and then the private part of the defense with the student and his/her GAC may commence.
There are three types of program examinations which, depending on the graduate program, students may be required to pass in order to proceed in their graduate program. The following descriptions are general and may be used interchangeably by departments or programs. For the application of these terms and their use by a particular department or graduate program, please refer to the appropriate section of this catalog.
Qualifying
Some departments require doctoral students to take one or more qualifying examinations as part of the admission screening process or for diagnostic purposes not long after admission. The examination may be written, oral, or both.
It is recommended that: 1) the student is assigned a faculty mentor or committee at least one semester in advance to provide guidance on preparing for the exam; 2) there are at least three committee members who evaluate the exam; and 3) timely feedback is provided to students who fail the exam regarding what is needed to pass.
Comprehensive and Final Examinations
Many master’s degree programs require students to successfully complete one or more comprehensive or final examinations. For master’s students, the comprehensive, or final, examination is generally conducted during the last semester or term of enrollment in which a student intends to graduate.
For doctoral students, the comprehensive, or preliminary, examinations are generally taken after all course work, other than dissertation credits, has been completed and always before advancing to candidacy. The examination is intended to test the student’s knowledge of an area of specialization and may be written, oral, or both at the discretion of the department as specified in the Program Handbook. Written department guidelines determine who prepares the exam(s), who reviews and scores the exam(s), the timetable on which the exams are given, and the consequences for failing to pass one or more qualifying exams. Doctoral students do not take final exams, as their dissertation or doctoral project and oral defense constitute the culminating experience.
It is recommended that: 1) the student is assigned a faculty mentor or committee at least one semester in advance to provide guidance on preparing for the exam; 2) there are at least three committee members who evaluate the exam; and 3) timely feedback is provided to students who fail the exam regarding
what is needed to pass.
Students must be enrolled for at least one graduate-level credit during the semester in which a qualifying, comprehensive/preliminary, or final examination is taken. In the examination, the student must be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of a broad field of study and a detailed understanding of one or more specialized fields of expertise.
Generally, the advisory committee must unanimously pass the student. If the committee votes unanimously to fail the student or the vote is not unanimous to pass, the student, in consultation with his/her advisor, may request the committee to administer a second examination, depending on departmental policies and guidelines. Generally, depending on department rules in their Program Handbook, two failures of required exams leads to separation of the student from the program for failure to make adequate progress toward degree.
Qualifying exams are a department requirement only (as specified in the Graduate Catalog and detailed in the Program Handbook) and do not require any form to the Graduate College. However, students should submit the results of their comprehensive/preliminary and/or final examinations to the Graduate College in a timely manner. For doctoral students, the results of all required comprehensive/preliminary exams (when done with all of them) should be submitted by completing the Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy Form. For master’s students required to take final exams the results should be submitted by completing the Culminating Experience Results Form.
Advancement to Candidacy
The Graduate College designates the advancement to candidacy status for doctoral students only. Doctoral students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of all course work, passing all required qualifying, preliminary, and/or comprehensive exams, completing and successfully defending the dissertation prospectus, and submitting the Appointment of Advisory Committee, Plan of Study Parts 1 and 2, and the Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy forms to the Graduate College.
Final Oral Defense
Graduate students completing a thesis, dissertation, or doctoral project are required to demonstrate their ability to select a specific problem or topic, master the literature on it, gather/create and analyze/present relevant data/scholarship/creative products, engage in original research, scholarship, or creative activity, and prepare a well-written final document that is successfully defended publicly and to their entire Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC). The oral defense must be held at least three weeks before the last day of instruction in the term in which the student plans to complete the degree requirements. Students must be enrolled in three graduate credits during the term the oral defense is conducted and the student intends to graduate. The expectation is that thesis and dissertation defenses will be conducted on campus and with the defending student, committee chair, and other committee members present.
Under extenuating circumstances, a student may submit an appeal for remote involvement of the student or committee member to take place. An appeal form must be submitted and approved by the graduate committee Chair, departmental Chair and Graduate Dean for a remote defense to take place. The appeal form should be submitted at the time the defense is scheduled. The appeal form must specify the reason—the undue hardship or emergency—for the request for up to two of the student and committee members to participate remotely. How and where the defense will take place must also be specified; this includes technical capacity and support. Such circumstances might include a faculty emergency or undue hardship on a student related to international travel. To ensure the integrity of the defense process and exchange, at most, two remote connections (e.g., a student and a committee member would count as a maximum of two remote connections) may be allowed at a defense. A Graduate College representative must be present in person. The defense location must have the necessary technical capacity to allow a remote defense. If technical problems interfere with the ability to successfully conduct the presentation and discussion, the defense meeting must be rescheduled.
Satisfactory performance on a final examination will consist of a presentation and defense of the student’s original thesis or dissertation research. At a minimum, the defense consists of an oral presentation open to university graduate faculty, staff, students, and the community, followed immediately by a closed deliberation and vote by the advisory committee. More specifically, the oral presentation will be open to UNLV Graduate Faculty, graduate students, relevant administrators, and invited guests.
The oral presentation may be followed by general questions of clarification from attendees (other than the advisory committee members). The advisory committee and chair may choose to include a session of more in-depth questioning open only to the advisory committee and the UNLV Graduate Faculty. An additional phase of questioning with only the advisory committee and candidate may also be included. The final phase of closed deliberation, and the vote to pass or fail the student, will only be open to the student’s appointed advisory committee, after which the student will be immediately informed of the committee’s decision.
During the oral defense, the student must be able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of a broad field of study and a detailed understanding of a more limited field. The advisory committee must unanimously pass the student. If the committee votes unanimously to pass or fail the student, that vote is final. If the advisory committee vote is not unanimous to pass or fail, the student, in consultation with his/ her advisor, may request the committee to administer a second examination. The student must wait at least three months before taking the second examination, during which time the department may require additional course work, substantial reworking of the thesis, dissertation, or professional/scholarly paper or project, or whatever is believed necessary to prepare the student for a successful second examination. The Graduate College will not approve third examination requests.
Students must submit the results of their oral defense to the Graduate College immediately after they receive them or it is recommended no more than two weeks prior to the last day of instruction. The results are submitting by completing the Culminating Experience Results Form.
Application for Graduation
Students are responsible for applying for graduation by the semester deadline. Doing so triggers your Graduate College Retention, Progression, and Completion (RPC) Coordinator to review your file and make sure that everything is in order for you to graduate. The graduation application is submitted via MyUNLV. The application must be submitted by the deadline posted on the Graduate College website in order to graduate in your desired semester and participate in Commencement.
If students do not complete the degree requirements in the term anticipated, it is expected that they will do so in the next term. One rollover of the graduation application and fee is allowed to the next term (including summer). If the student does not graduate in the next term, a new application for graduation must be filed, and an additional graduation application fee will be charged. In addition, students must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 graduate-level credits during the term in which they graduate. This applies to all graduates, regardless of whether or not they have completed all required course work or are finishing an Incomplete course or culminating experience.
Granting of Degrees
Degrees are awarded three times a year in May, December, and August. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 graduate-level credits during the term in which they graduate. When students apply for graduation, the Graduate College RPC Coordinator reviews the degree program and all degree requirements to ensure every Catalog requirement for the student’s program has been successfully met and completed. The Graduate Dean certifies that students have met degree requirements, and a recommendation is forwarded to the Board of Regents. If any requirement has not been met, the degree will not be awarded. The degree will be revoked if it is awarded in error, or if it is later discovered that the degree requirements were not met, or if fraudulent claims, unethical student behavior, or other breaches of protocol are later discovered.
Commencement
Commencement is a wonderful celebration of student accomplishments and a lovely ceremony recognizing your transition from student to alumni, from mentee to colleague. Though we encourage all graduates to participate in Commencement, students must complete all degree requirements by the posted semester deadline in order to participate in Commencement.
Students’ names will appear in the Commencement Program issued for the semester of degree completion. Summer graduates’ names appear in the program for the following fall semester. To ensure their name appears in the program, students must release their information through MyUNLV.
Commencement is held twice a year in May and December; August graduates participate in the December commencement. Students completing graduate certificates are not eligible to participate in Commencement unless they are also completing a graduate degree in the same semester.
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