* The following information may not be up-to-date thus can't be guaranteed its correctness. Make sure to doublecheck with the graduate school and its website : http://www.uab.edu/graduate Also be sure to check out the requirements at CIS website : http://www.cis.uab.edu/Graduate/phd.html 1. Application for Degree form * Prerequisites : you are supposed to pass the level 2 (or candidacy/proposal) exam and have taken Dissertation Research course (CS799)- check out the minimum credit hour requirement for this course with your advisor. * Deadline : no later than 3 weeks after classes begin (stated on the Graduate school web site) * Type : Form available on the graduate school web site * Submission : to the secretary of computer and information science (CIS) after filling out the form * Payment : the fee will be automatically charged to your school account * Other : make sure to request a graduation guide pack from the Graduate school 2. Final defense notification * Prerequisites : set the final defense date after consulting with all your committee members, make a reservation of the room for the defense with the CIS secretary * Deadline : 30 days before the final defense * Type : notification * Submission : to the graduate school by filling out a form on the web * Contents : defense date, time, location, thesis title, committee names (include the middle initials, if applicable), department name * Other : send an email to the CIS secretary with the same information so that an announcement of your defense will be posted in the UAB Reporter * Result : Graduate school will notify you when the approval forms are ready, which is prepared by the graduate school according to the information you have provided. At this time, the Graduate school staff will provide you with the forms to fill out and which you need to submit after final defense. 3. Dissertation draft submission * Prerequisites : submit your first draft to your advisor 30 days before the final defense and make all the corrections that are made by your advisor. The style or format of the dissertation doesn't need to conform to the requirements of the Graduate school at this time * Deadline : 10 days before the final defense * Type : paper submission * Submission : to all your committee members * Other : set an appointment with the Graduate school staff to have an initial checking on your dissertation before the defense. You may need to meet the staff more than once for this. 4. Final defense * Prerequisites : Submit the approval forms to your advisor and talk to the CIS system administrator if equipment is necessary to be set up * Deadline : stated on the Graduate school web site * Type : presentation * Comment : the presentation should last inbetween 45 to 50 minutes. After the meeting, leave the room with other people so that your committee can have a discussion and make a decision in private. * Result : You will hear the result from your advisor. If you pass the exam, request comments and corrections from all your committee members by email or in person 5. Submission of dissertation for corrections * Prerequisites : Make all the corrections that are pointed out by your committee. Pay all the fees [Microfilm Fee, Copyright Fee (optional), copy binding fee] at the student accounting. The approval forms have to be signed by all the committee and the CIS chairman. * Deadline : not later than 10 days of final defense (stated on the Graduate school web site) * Type : dissertation, forms, payment receipt submission * Content : dissertation has to be well-formatted. The form for the fees (at least two extra copies are to be requested; one for your advisor and the other for the department). The form for microfilm has to be filled out regardless you apply for copyright or not. The style guideline (e.g., IEEE if you are using LATEX) is required. Ask about this to the Graduate school staff beforehand. The receipt from the student accounting is to prove that you have paid off all the fees. * Result : it will take about 2 weeks minimum to get the reader's copy but sometimes several additional weeks. 5. Submission of corrected dissertation and the reader's copy * Prerequisites : Make all the corrections that are pointed out by the graduate personal. * Deadline : not later than 2 weeks after the notification of corrected version ready to pickup. However, the specific deadline date will be found in the instruction sheet that comes with the reader's copy. * Comment : once submitted the corrected version, it may takes from 1 to 7 days. If it takes longer than a week, make sure to doublecheck if the graduate school staff is awared of the delay. Usually the second corrections are minor or very small in its number. * Type : corrected dissertation * Result : possibly couple of more corrections. You may get a letter from graduate school that your transcript reflects the fact that you have graduated. 6. Making copies for binding * Prerequisites : All the corrections are made and the graduate school approved you to make the copies for binding. * Deadline : You will be given about 10 days to make the copies. However, the specific deadline date will be found in the instruction sheet that comes with the copy instruction sheet. * Comment : a voucher will be given to you from the graduate school, which you want to give it to the UAB copy staff. Make two copies for the graduate school with water mark but other copies can be regular copies. The graduate school will cover maximum 75$ for making copies (the ammount may change). The copy process will take about one or more day depending on how busy the UAB copy is. * Type : making copies * Result : wait for your copies and deploma. Congratulations! 7. Misc. * Clear any and all outstanding debts with Student Accounting Office. * If your address will change, let the graduate school know about it to receive the deploma at the new address. * Official UAB graduation ceremonies are held in June for graduates of the preceding winter and spring terms and in December for graduates of the preceding summer and fall terms.