Dissertation Completion

Students planning to complete all doctoral requirements prior to the June, September, December, or April degree dates must adhere to the following time-line:

• Final dissertation hearing must take place no fewer than four weeks prior to the degree date
• Upon receipt of a completed Dissertation Signature Page, doctoral students submit an electronic copy of their dissertation to the Library via Digital Commons at NLU (Instructions are found here: http://libguides.nl.edu/dc/dissertations).
• Students obtain approval from the program chair to schedule the final hearing, submit the Form to Schedule Dissertation Approval Meeting, and submit a copy of the final document to the Director of Doctoral Program and the Dean’s Representative, no fewer than three weeks prior to the final hearing date
• Students should plan to complete a final draft of the dissertation and obtain approval for scheduling a final hearing no fewer than seven weeks prior to the degree date
• Students wishing to participate in June commencement or hooding ceremonies must have their final hearing on or before April 30
• Students who have their hearing after the April 30 deadline will be invited to participate in the June commencement or ceremony the following year