Defense Day Essentials: To-Do Items

DEFENSE NOTICE FORM

When you have decided upon a firm defense date, time, and location, please submit the Defense Notice Form here. All students must notify Graduate School of the defense date by filling out the Defense Notice Form and submitting it to the Graduate School before the day of defense. Defenses can be in-person only, virtual only, or hybrid (in-person and virtual). The Defense Notice Form should clearly specify whether the defense will be in-person, virtual, or hybrid (in-person and virtual). Your defense notice can be viewed by accessing the "Upcoming Thesis and Dissertation Defenses" section located in the Events section of the Graduate School Web site.

CERTIFICATE OF DEFENSE APPROVAL FORM

You can prepare the Certificate of Defense Approval here. Fill in the name and e-mail address of each of your committee members and the Graduate Program Director. Each committee member will receive notification that they must electronically sign the form to confirm your successful defense of the thesis, dissertation, doctoral essay, or lecture recital essay after you have defended. This form, when electronically signed by all committee members and your Graduate Program Director, is your proof that you passed the defense. Committee members should sign this form after the defense has taken place, not before the defense day, so it is recommended that you prepare this form the day after you have defended so it is signed on the proper date.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE CERTIFICATE OF DEFENSE APPROVAL FORMS When you create the Certificate of Defense Approval Form, you will be asked to input an e-mail address for each required signee so they can access and sign the form electronically. Because many UM faculty have multiple e-mail aliases, it is best to ask each individual what e-mail address is the one they use to sign in to Dynamic Forms before you create this form so you input the correct e-mail address that will allow the individual to access your form for signing. For example, the UM directory may show that Dr. Jane Doe has been assigned the Cane e-mail address j.doe1@miami.edu, but also has assigned a second e-mail alias, jane.doe@med.miami.edu. In a case like this it would be prudent to ask Dr. Doe which e-mail address is the one she uses to access Dynamic Forms and input that e-mail address for her when you create the ETD form. If you input a UM e-mail address that the signer does not use to access Dynamic Forms, then the individual will not be able to access your form for signing, which can delay completion of your ETD submission.

PREDEFENSE FORMATTING REVIEW (optional)

If you want to get a head start on formatting issues, an optional predefense formatting review from the Sr. Editor is available upon request by e-mailing the draft to grad.dissertation@miami.edu. Students who request the predefense formatting review typically send the draft to the Sr. Editor at the same time the draft is sent to committee members for review before the defense date, usually two weeks before the defense date. Drafts can be sent as (1) one Word file of the entire manuscript; (2) the entire manuscript separated into no more than 4 Word files; (3) one PDF of the entire manuscript (preferred).