1. Current Students
  2. Graduation Clearance
  3. Submitting Your Thesis or Dissertation

Submitting Your Thesis or Dissertation

Overview

All theses and dissertations are submitted electronically to ProQuest, a global information content and technology company that provides support for research, learning, and the publication and dissemination of scholarly works. Theses and dissertations will also appear in Niner Commons, UNC Charlotte's institutional repository.

We do not accept hard copies of theses and dissertations. 

Submitting Your Thesis or Dissertation

Step 1: During the semester or summer term in which you intend to submit your thesis or dissertation for graduation, you must:

Step 2: Schedule the defense of your thesis or dissertation well in advance of the submission deadline in order to submit your final document to the Graduate School. (Doctoral students must announce their dissertation defense online two weeks prior to their defense.

Note: Your committee must have your complete dissertation or thesis three (3) weeks prior to your defense. If you are a doctoral student you must also share your iThenticate similarity report with your committee at this time. You need to leave adequate time to make any modifications required by your advisor and/or the committee. The deadline for submission of the final electronic thesis or dissertation to ProQuest can be found on the Academic Calendar.

Step 3: Defend your thesis or dissertation. Have your committee sign the title page of the thesis or dissertation and your Master's Final Defense Report for Thesis or Project or Doctoral Final Defense Report for Dissertation or Scholarly Project. (Doctoral students: your committee must review your iThenticate similarity report before signing this form!)

Step 4: Make any edits to your document as required by your committee. 

Step 5: Submit the Master’s Thesis Submission & ETD Form or Doctoral Dissertation Submission & ETD Form. The submission fee of $45 is payable online. You should also use this payment portal to pay for the optional copyright registration fee ($75). Scanned copies of the signed Title Page and the IRB/IACUC/IBC approval memo (if applicable), should be forwarded to your college liaison within one business day of the final defense. Information for connecting with your college liaison can be found in the block on this page. Please specify either Master’s Documents or Doctoral Documents in the subject line.

Step 6: Submit the final version of your thesis or dissertation electronically following the instructions below:

  • Create your ProQuest account. You will need to fill out several screens of information.
    • (Note: When you are asked to insert a copy of your abstract into the metadata, do not include the title and your name with the abstract. When asked to input your title, make sure that it is in title caps rather than all caps.)
  • After filling in the required information, upload a PDF of your dissertation or thesis. You should receive an email from ProQuest indicating that your document was successfully uploaded.
    • (Note: Do not upload the signed title page. The signed title page should be forwarded to your college liaison. Information for connecting with your college liaison can be found in the block on this page. The version of your title page in ProQuest should include signature lines and committee members' names, but not their signatures.)
  • If you receive a request for revisions, you should revise and resubmit. 
  • When this process is complete you will receive a "Congratulations!" email from ProQuest.

Step 7: Ph.D. candidates must complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates. (Ed.D., DNP, DBA, and Master’s students are exempt).

Confirmation: If you do not hear from the Graduate School or from ProQuest, this means that your document is still under review. Once your final submission is complete, it will appear as such in DegreeWorks.