Completing the Program
Congratulations on nearing the end of your graduate program. We hope it has been an interesting journey.
Prior to graduation there is just a bit of paperwork to complete. If you have made changes in your program since you filed your Admission to Candidacy form, you will need to complete a Program Modification form. On this form you will indicate which class(es) you are deleting from your Admission to Candidacy form and which ones are being added. Remember, core classes are required, emphasis area classes are your choice and should help you gain the expertise you are seeking.
You will also need to file an Application to Graduate. This is often completed in Seminar but may be done ahead of time. It must be completed by the end of the fourth week of the spring/fall semester or the first week of the summer session in which graduation is intended. This form does not require Program Coordinator signature so may be submitted directly to the Office of Graduate Studies.
In the event that your program has taken longer than 7 years to complete, you will need to complete a Time to Degree Completion Extension Request. Each course in your program runs on its own 7 year timeline so if you transferred one or more classes into your program, you might run into time challenges. This happens. Complete the form.
If you have taken a course at a university other than UW Oshkosh and wish those credits to be applied to your graduate program, you must submit an official transcript from that university to the Office of Graduate Studies.
All of these forms can be found on the Office of Graduate Studies forms page.
Graduation Application and Verification
The graduation/completion application is on the web at http://www.uwosh.edu/gradstudies/gradrequirements/gradcompapp.php
If you've already submitted your application DO NOT submit another one. Once you submit your application you will receive an immediate thank-you message (after a security verification) in your browser window. This is your confirmation that your application has been sent to the Graduate Studies office. Feel free to print this message as a written confirmation.
Starting Thursday, March 5, 2009 please check the unofficial graduate graduation/completion list on the web for the listing of your name, program and conferral designation. The link to the list is http://www.uwosh.edu/gradstudies/gradrequirements/docs/spr09gradweblist.pdf.
Click here to go to the specific web page where the list is posted. On this page you will find the link above.
This list is updated weekly. Check for accuracy and please contact the Graduate Studies office if you have any corrections or comments about your listing. You will get information separately via your campus email account from the Commencement office about preparations for and participating in graduation.
Lastly, feel free to contact your program coordinator or the Graduate Studies office (gradschool@uwosh.edu, 920-424-1223) if you have any questions about applying to graduate/complete your degree, GAP or certificate.
Seminar or Thesis -- Your Culminating Experience
At the end of the program you must demonstrate your leadership abilities. You will do this in two ways. (1) Writing a Seminar project or Thesis and (2) completing your electronic portfolio which must have examples of how you have achieved each program goal. Seminar or Thesis must be taken at the end of your program, typically it is your last class. The Comprehenisve Exam has been discontinued as a program requirement effective Fall 2008. Yeah!
Seminar
Seminar is offered as a 3 credit class to those people who entered the program prior to Fall 2006. These people did not take EdL 701, Introducation to Educational Leadership.
Students who entered the program Fall 2006 or later took EdL 701 so will take the 1 credit Seminar.
In both classes students will complete portfolios and write a Seminar paper. Needless to say, the 3 credit Seminar entails more work than the 1 credit Seminar. Requirements for both classes will be spelled out in their respective classes.
Thesis
If you are writing a Thesis, your proposal must be filed by mid-term of the semester prior to graduation. The thesis itself must be filed by the end of the 14-week semester or the end of the summer session in which you intend to graduate. If you are planning to conduct a research project involving data collection from people, your project must be reviewed by the University's Institutional Review Board for Protection of Human Participants (IRB) to determine if adequate measures are being used to protect those individuals participating in your study. All research projects must be reviewed by the IRB. No research project is exempt from review. You will also need to submit your electronic portfolio for review prior to graduation. Other thesis and Human Subject details follow.
You select a committee chair and two graduate faculty designated to advise theses, and submit a proposal to the faculty members briefly describing what is proposed and how it will be accomplished. (Forms are available in the Office of Graduate Studies or online.) The thesis committee reviews the proposal, assigns the number of credits to be earned for the thesis (1 to 6 credits), and indicates its approval or rejection. Five (5) copies are forwarded to the Office of Graduate Studies for approval. According to University policy, proposals are to be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies by mid-term of the term preceding the term in which you expect to graduate. A thesis is formal written work and should follow the standards as established in the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Graduate Thesis Requirements book (available in the Office of Graduate Studies). Registration requires signatures of advisor and program coordinator.
The degree candidate will defend the thesis in an open, public oral examination. The members of the thesis committee will conduct the examination.
Format approval must be obtained on the complete draft thesis which must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies at least three weeks prior to commencement during the academic year and by July 15 for summer session graduation. The format approval is verification that the paper meets the requirements for style and form. Contact the Office of Graduate Studies for advice on unusual problems.
Two copies of the completed thesis, bearing the signatures of the members of the thesis committee on the approval page, must be approved by the Office of Graduate Studies by the end of the 14th week of the semester in which the student intends to graduate (by the end of the 8th week of a summer session). The thesis committee is responsible for attesting to the quality, accuracy, and content of the work.
A binding fee will be charged at the time the student deposits the thesis in the Office of Graduate Studies; a check payable to the bindery must be sent with the thesis. Mailing and wrapping fees will also be paid at this time by the student.
Persons unable to meet these deadlines will be considered for graduation the next term.
Human Subjects
All research which deals with human subjects must have the approval of the University Use of Human Subjects Committee prior to Graduate School approval of the proposal. The policy statement is as follows:
The University encourages and supports free investigation by faculty, academic staff, and students into any general area of knowledge. The University Use of Human Subjects Committee (UHSC) has the responsibility to assist investigators in insuring that the rights and welfare of human subjects are adequately protected. The UHSC reviews all projects that involve human subjects, including but not limited to extramural grant proposals, Faculty Development support requests, master's degree thesis submitted through the Office of Graduate Studies, and Independent Study.
It is the responsibility of each investigator to initiate the UHSC review process at the appropriate time so as not to delay or endanger their proposed activity. UHSC application forms for this purpose are available from the Office of Grants, or online http://www.uwosh.edu/grants/research_responsibility/human_subjects.php
