1. Your committee chair will determine when your work is complete and ready for defense.
   
   
2. Schedule a date and location for the defense meeting (if required by your program). Inform committee members of meeting logistics and submit copies of the thesis/dissertation to committee members for their review at least two weeks prior to the defense date. Either you or your committee chair (depending on department practice) will announce the defense date to the public and invite administrators and guests.
   
   
3. Create an approval form for your thesis/dissertation. The approval form must include:
   
   
   • The title of the study
   • The author’s name
   • Names and titles of all committee members, the department head, and the Dean of the Graduate School
   • Lines for the dated signatures of all committee members, the department head or school director, and the Dean of the Graduate School. 
     
     
4. Defend your thesis/dissertation. The full thesis/dissertation committee must be present for the defense. Check with your committee chair for format and procedures for the thesis/dissertation defense meeting. The meeting typically involves the committee chair introducing you and you giving a 20-30 minute formal presentation on your thesis/dissertation, followed by a question-and-answer period with committee members. You are then asked to leave the room while the committee discusses your defense. Approval of the defense requires a unanimous vote of the committee. You return for their decision and for any additional questions and comments.
   
   
5. After the defense meeting, rework the thesis/dissertation in response to any editorial comments from committee members. Your committee has been charged with helping to bring your thesis/dissertation to a level of excellence appropriate for viewing by scholars around the world, so you want it to be as polished as possible.
   
   
6. Resubmit your thesis/dissertation to your committee or committee chair for approval and sign-off. (Check department procedures—sometimes the committee members sign off following the defense and the chair signs off after document has been reworked.) The department head or school director will also have to approve and sign off on the document before it is submitted to the Graduate School.
   
   
7. Submit an original print of the edited version of your thesis/dissertation to the Graduate School for review and editing by the Graduate School reader. This copy is not to be in a notebook, bound in any way, or duplicated on special paper. Complete the Thesis/Dissertation Information Sheet and submit it with the thesis/dissertation. Be sure all the required information is provided on the form so that a thesis/dissertation reader can contact you. Submit the original signed Approval Form along with evidence of Human Subjects approval or exemption.
   

NOTE: Review and editing by the Graduate School reader will not begin until the Approval Form, Information Sheet, and evidence of human or animal subject approval (if required) have been submitted.

The final approval of theses/dissertations is the responsibility of the Graduate School, which assumes the role of final proofreader. Although the thesis/dissertation committee members are responsible for evaluating the validity of the content and its editing, the Graduate School reader will check for correct use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as adherence to style and formatting requirements.

The Graduate School holds students to high standards because the thesis/dissertation process is a crucial component of graduate studies. And because your thesis/dissertation is made available to the international academic community, it serves as an example of the quality of scholarship produced at Eastern Michigan University.

The following steps will complete the final phase of your thesis/dissertation: the binding and microfilming process. 

1. Once your document has received final approval from the Dean of the Graduate School, pick up your original manuscript from 200 Boone Hall. You now need to make copies that will be bound and convert the document to PDF and save to disk or CD-ROM.
   
   
2. All theses and dissertations MUST be submitted to room 310 Halle on disk or CD-ROM in PDF format. Bound copies are no longer an University requirement
   
   
3. Determine how many copies to duplicate for binding by consulting your department. You may make copies for yourself, committee members, family, and friends.
   
   
4. Complete the Thesis/Dissertation Binding Payment Form.  All theses/dissertations are bound on campus. The binding is black, with the thesis/dissertation title embossed on the cover and the spine. The binding fee per copy is $14. This fee is paid at the Cashier’s Office, 201 Pierce Hall. The Cashier will note payment on the Thesis/Dissertation Binding Payment Form and will give you two receipts. Take the binding form and cashier receipts plus all paper copies to Client Services Office, room 116 Halle Library.
   
   
5. Review the ProQuest materials regarding microfilming and copyright procedures. ProQuest will microfilm your thesis/dissertation and make it available on the Web and include your abstract in their monthly publication Thesis/Dissertation Abstracts International (TAI).
   
   
6. Complete the ProQuest form given to you at the Graduate School.  You will send this form and the original thesis/dissertation or electronic version to ProQuest. Attached to the form will be your check for $55 to cover microfilming and $45 (optional) for copyright. Make the check payable to ProQuest Information and Learning and mail to 6216 Paysphere Circle, Chicago, IL 60674.  If you have any questions, please contact ProQuest at 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3548.
   

Nationally and internationally, universities are encouraging students to submit their thesis/dissertation in an electronic format. Electronic versions allow for unique publication format, the inclusion of video clips, color graphics, sound, and motion. They also may provide links to related Websites and may enable electronic searching and navigation of the overall document.

These documents, upon approval from the student, will be posted to the EMU library Website. Students have found their work to receive high acclaim and exposure when available electronically. Other scholars readily access the work and continue the research endeavor. The goal behind research is to advance knowledge in the discipline. What better way to do that than to have many more scholars build upon your work through electronic access versus viewing the bound version from the EMU Library? Cyber libraries broaden availability as never before.

You may consult library staff regarding the preferred format and process used to format your document. They can provide assistance with electronic submission.