Graduation Checklist

Planning to graduate soon? If so, please review and following the steps below:

  1. Go to DukeHub and complete the “apply to graduate” process by the deadline listed in the link contained in # 7 below.
  2. Get your advisor to submit a note on his/her letterhead to Graduate Program in Religion office indicating:
    • Your advisor has read your dissertation
    • The dissertation is complete and ready for defense
  3. Notify GPR office of your intention to graduate and date and time for defense. The program coordinator will:
    • Book a room for your defense or set up a Zoom meeting
    • Complete and send a defense announcement for you and send to the Graduate School
    • Verify that your paperwork is in order
  4. Verify that the GPR office has a committee approval form on file for you
    • The sooner you verify this form, the better (but a minimum of 7 weeks prior to defense).
    • A Ph.D. committee should have 4 to 6 people
      • 2 committee members including the chair must have primary or secondary appointment in the department or program
      • 1 committee member must be from a minor area
    • A majority of the committee members must be from Duke
    • A majority of the members must be from the major research area
  5. Initial electronic submission due to The Graduate School at least 2 weeks before defense, and professors should be given at least 3 weeks to read the dissertation before the defense.
  6. If you thought you were graduating in a previous semester and you didn’t, you’ll need to re-apply for graduation. The form does NOT carry over.
  7. Refer to Graduate School graduation deadlines for all dates pertaining to graduation.
  8. See the guidelines for formatting dissertations here.