Review the Graduate School website, Graduation Information and Deadlines, for important information
and timelines. Graduation deadlines are different for each semester; please pay special attention to
these dates when deciding your defense date.
F / J visa holders: Check with Duke Visa Services if you expect a delay in your graduation from four
years past your prelim date. There is a pdf form to complete as soon as you know you will need a visa
extension.
Optional Paid Training (OPT) – student can apply for OPT 1-3 months in advance of their thesis defense.
Contact Duke Visa Services for more information.
Health Insurance
December graduates will be responsible to either cancel their student health insurance or pay for the
remaining 7 months. The Graduate School will send you an email about this with further instructions.
September graduates can make a special request to the SOM to pay for their health insurance for the
month of August. Please talk to the DGSA if you are interested to extend your coverage for an additional
month.
Domestic May graduates are covered until July 31 unless they receive other coverage from an employer
before then. International May graduates are also covered until July 31.
Length of stay as a graduate student after defense
September 1 (summer) & December 31 (fall) graduates can remain in the laboratory at the graduate
student rate until August 31 (summer) and December 31 (fall). This applies to both domestic and
international students. May graduation (spring) is different. Domestic students can remain in the
laboratory through May 31 at the graduate student rate; however, for internationals their visa ends on
the official graduation date of the University (mid-May).
If your committee has changed since your prelim and you haven’t yet submitted a change form,
download and email a Committee Approval Form from the Graduate School website to the DGSA
designating your committee as the PhD final examination. The DGSA will process it with the
Graduate School.
Four weeks prior to your exam email the DGSA with the following information about the dissertation
defense: time, (place), date, title, Zoom link and passcode if remote/hybrid and committee member
names. The DGSA will create a dissertation flyer/announcement and email it to the department and add
your defense date to all appropriate calendars. The DGSA will download the Final Examination for the
PhD Degree Form from T3 and submit it to the Graduate School, per their requirement.
Four weeks prior to your exam date ask your mentor to run your thesis through iThenticate. Get more
information on this tool to avoid plagiarism.
Two weeks prior to your exam date email the DGSA with your post-defense plans and an estimated
“last day in the lab”. The DGSA will work with Immunology’s business office to begin processing your
termination as a graduate student and/or your transition to a Duke postdoc.
How to get your exam card
Two weeks (at least) prior to your defense submit your dissertation to ProQuest. Review the Graduate School guidelines for theses and dissertations. Do not destroy original file from which you create the PDF, as you will need this version for revision purposes. Two weeks before your exam date, have your mentor read the thesis in its entirety and initiate your Dissertation Defense in T3. T3 will then generate the Advisor Letter saying he/she has read the dissertation and it’s ready to defend. T3 will also generate a Dissertation Defense
Announcement form, and a Final Exam Certificate/Card. The DGSA will send these documents to TGS, gradacademics@duke.edu
Two weeks before the exam date and AFTER you’ve received your format changes, upload your
dissertation to T3 and send to each committee member.
T3 will generate an electronic Final Examination Card. Following the defense, T3 will route to
committee members and DGS. The DGSA will download it from T3 and submit it to TGS.
Printing your thesis
Students can print a maximum of 1600 pages (can be increased to 2000) using Duke’s printing service.
They can also print color.
Your defense
We will be using the T3 system of evaluation/rubrics so this will take the place of our department
Annual Committee Meeting Report form. Be sure to upload an updated CV to T3.
Make an appointment with Todd Leovic in the Immunology business office (Jones 156). Department
exit meeting to turn in keys, badge and sign paperwork, if need be..
Email DGSA with post-graduation position details, personal email, mailing address if known.
Complete three Graduate School surveys: (look for email from Graduate School with links)
1. Survey of Earned Doctorates
2. Duke Graduate Exit Survey
3. Duke Placement Survey
Send in the signed Embargo Agreement from student and advisor (and ensuring it matches what is
selected in ProQuest) to gradacademics@duke.edu
Final Submission
Submit revised PDF file to UMI/ProQuest. Submit what you consider to be the final version of your
dissertation, taking into consideration the revisions required by the Graduate School and the revisions
required by your committee. You will receive notification when the Graduate School has accepted your
dissertation.
Submit the following materials to the Graduate School after your defense:
Final electronic Exam Certificate (DGSA will submit this)
Completed “Survey of Earned Doctorates.”
Signed “Non-Exclusive Distribution License and Dissertation Availability Agreement.”
NOTE: Final submission must occur within 30 days of your defense; however, if you defend within 30 days of
the semester deadline of your graduation date, you must adhere to semester deadline, and do not have 30 days to complete your final submission.
Thesis copies
The department requires a copy and will pay for it. Department will also pay for a gift student copy. If
advisor wants a copy, get advisor fundcode to pay for it and give to the DGSA. Department will reimburse
you for acid free paper and for binding at the Textbook Store on campus. Tell the Textbook Store to
charge binding fees to Integrative Immunobiology and the DGSA will go in and pay for them with the
PCard. They can call the DGSA to pick up the order when it’s ready.
ProQuest: Please note the following limitation with ProQuest copies:Pages will be printed front and back with no option to print front page only. Because the Duke
Template margins are set at 1.5 and .5, bound copies will not be correct.
Image resolution will be lower than on the self-printed copy brought through the Textbook Store.
Copies will not include your signed signature and abstract title pages.
Mail Department copy of your thesis to: (DGSA name), Campus Box 3010, Duke Integrative
Immunobiology, DUMC, Durham, NC 27710
Textbook Store in the Bryan Center – They outsource to a binding company and do hardcover binding, not leather. There’s a 4-6 week turnaround. Student provides the thesis copies. Cost is $15.50 for the title on the spine and $21.50 for the title on the spine and cover (please get the title on the spine and cover, $21.50, for the department copy). The Textbook Store provides shipping at $7 for first copy and $2.00 for every additional copy to
that same address which the department will cover.
Dissertation Binding Form Instructions
The DGSA has acid-free paper in Jones 150 office and you can ask Darren or Todd to open the
office to pick up a ream. Please return the unused paper for other graduating students to use. Most
commercially produced copy paper is made to be acid-free these days.
Print 1 copy for the department plus an additional 1 or 2 copies of your dissertation depending on
whether both you and your advisor want a copy.
For the printing on the dissertation, there is a department standard for full name of student, full
dissertation title, and graduation year on both the spine and the front cover. The department
recommends single-sided printing for the initial pages up to the Table of Contents and then doublesided
printing for the remainder of the dissertation. Use color printing if you have tables that need it.
Choose a binding cover color from the ‘Summit Cloth Cover’ options, see the attached binding cover
options.
Please fill out the binding form, attached, and bring it with you to the Textbook Store.
Fill in ISSN if you have this number. Check New Title, Pocket/Cloth, Thesis, enter your Name.
Instructions to Bindery: your name, dissertation title, graduation year on both spine and front cover.
The DGSA will pick up at Duke Textbook Store.
Enter your choice of Cover Color, Set of 2 or 3 if your advisor also wants one, Print Color=gold
