Thesis, Dissertation, or Capstone Project
Congratulations on reaching the final piece of your graduate journey. Below is the step-by-step process of writing, defending, and archiving your thesis, dissertation, or capstone project. Please reach out to the Office of Graduate Studies at gradstu@uwgb.edu with any questions.
1. Approval of Candidacy for Graduate Degrees
Approval of Candidacy (GR-2 Form) is a confirmation that your research proposal has been approved by your thesis, dissertation, or project committee. Students initiate the form, and send it to their committee members and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies & Research for review and approval.
2. Defenses or Project Presentations
Defenses and presentations are major components to the thesis, dissertation, and project process.
- GR-3 Forms: Announce to the campus community the day, time, and location of your defense. All defenses and presentations are open to the public, unless otherwise stated by the faculty committee. Students must defend before the last day of their graduation term.
- Evaluation Forms are completed by each member of the student’s thesis committee for Environmental Science & Policy and Sports, Exercise, & Performance Psychology defenses. Students not in these two programs should consult with the Major Advisor and/or Committee members about their evaluation criteria in advance.
- GR-4 Forms: Confirm to the Office of Graduate Studies that you have successfully defended your research. This form is initiated by your Major Professor, is signed by all committee members, and receives final approval from the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies & Research.
3. Thesis, Dissertation, or Project Review by Office of Graduate Studies
Final documents will become part of the permanent collection of the UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library, and may be widely circulated. It is important that students follow the below format and style requirements to ensure the final document of the highest quality. Students must submit their final document to the Office of Graduate Studies for a style and format review within
20 calendar days after the last day of your graduation term.
The Graduate Studies team will review your document based on the following guidelines:
4. Archiving the Final Thesis, Dissertation, or Project
Archiving your thesis, dissertation, or project gives current and future students the opportunity to access the high-quality research you produced. Archiving cannot be completed until steps 1-3 above are completed in full. The University subscribes to a library service that publishes your thesis or dissertation and makes it available for other people to find and read.
The last step of the manuscript review process is to submit the final approved version, the signed title page, and your Release of Rights Form to ProQuest by following the
steps on this guide. This guide will walk you through creating an account with ProQuest, and takes you through the process of submitting your materials. If you do not wish to share your work on ProQuest, complete the
Archive Waiver eForm.
Students must submit the following items to ProQuest within
42 calendar days after the last day of your graduation term.
After the above items are sent to ProQuest, the Office of Graduate Studies will professionally print and bind physical copies for you, if you would like. Physical copies are optional for all programs with the exception of Environmental Science & Policy (MS); students from this program should consult with their faculty advisor if physical copies are required. All physical copies are at the expense of the student.
To search past graduate student thesis, dissertation, or project documents, please visit: