Pre-submission Requirements

For more information on graduation requirements, see the Graduate School's page on graduation. Before you submit your disquisition to the Graduate School, you must complete the following steps:

1. At the beginning of the semester you plan to graduate, submit the Graduation Application in Campus Connection according to the Graduate College deadlines. If the application is not available to you, please email the Graduate School.
2. Submit your Notification of Scheduled Preliminary Exam or Final Defense to the Graduate School. This form must be received at least seven calendar days before you intend to schedule the defense.
3. Successfully defend your disquisition.
4. Submit the following forms within seven days of your final defense.
   1. Report of Final Defense
   2. IRB/IACUC/IBC Compliance Notification
5. Complete all revisions of your disquisition content, as required by your committee.

6. Submit your Disquisition Approval Page (Copy 1) to the Graduate School. This must include the signatures of all your committee members and your department chair.

   Note: Do NOT include Copy 1 in your disquisition; only include Copy 2. For more information, see the Disquisition Approval page section of this guide.

7. Pay the disquisition processing fee.
8. Review our submission checklist and address any outstanding issues.

If you submit your disquisition to the Disquisition Coordinator for review before these steps are completed, your disquisition will not be queued until all requirements have been met.

Page Contents

1. Research Compliance
2. Disquisition Approval Page
3. Submission Deadlines
   1. Initial Submission Deadline
   2. Final Clearance Deadline
4. Electronic Submission

Related Pages

1. Disquisition Templates and Forms
2. Forms for Graduate Students
3. Graduation
4. NDSU Academic Calendar

Research Compliance

You must submit the Compliance Notification form to the Graduate School, even if your disquisition research does not involve human subjects, animal subjects, or biohazardous substances. If your research involves human or animal subjects, or the use of biohazardous substances (i.e., rDNA, infectious agents, or bodily fluids or tissues), you must obtain approval from the appropriate campus committee before you begin your research.

• Institutional Review Board (IRB) – For research that involves human subjects
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) – For research that involves animal subjects
• Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) – For research that involves biohazardous substances

After your supervisory committee has finalized your research design, you must submit the appropriate forms to the IRB, IACUC, or IBC for review. You must receive research approval before you begin the research.

Your disquisition will not be accepted by the Graduate School if it involves the non-approved use of human or animal subjects, or biohazardous substances. IRB, IACUC, and IBC approval cannot be obtained retroactively.

Disquisition Approval Page

After your final examination, and after your major advisor and supervisory committee have approved the content of the disquisition, submit the Copy 1 version of the Disquisition Approval form to the Graduate School. This version of our form includes original signatures from your committee members and the chairperson of your department, and therefore should not be included in your disquisition.

Instead, your disquisition should include a version without personally identifying information, called Copy 2; our templates include Copy 2 by default, and alternate versions of Copy 2 are available on our templates and forms page, such as a version for co-chaired committees. Copy 2 does not contain original signatures or other personally identifying information, has the information typed into the form, and should be present as the second page of your disquisition.

Submission Deadlines

Roughly one month before the end of a semester, there is a deadline for the initial submission of disquisitions to the Graduate School. Documents submitted before the initial submission deadline are prioritized for reviews over post-deadline submissions until the end of the semester. If you do not meet the initial submission deadline for a particular semester, the Graduate School does not guarantee that your disquisition will be reviewed in that semester, and your graduation will likely be delayed.

Once you've begun the review process, you must submit your final revisions by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the semester for your degree to post in that term. Degrees are posted three times per academic year, in December, May, and August, at the end of the semester.

Deadline for Initial Submission for Format Review

Disquisitions (including all pre-submission requirements) submitted before this deadline will be prioritized for review over disquisitions submitted after this deadline. Forms that are missing required signatures are not considered as being submitted until they are completed--if you are missing signatures when you submit forms to the Graduate School, it may delay your submission date. The official submission date of your disquisition is the date on which the last item is received.

The following forms must be submitted by all students.

• Report of Final Exam
• IRB/IBC/IACUC Compliance form, with any required documentation attached
• Signed Approval Page (DocuSign form; it will route to the Grad School after all signers have signed it)
• Pay disquisition processing fee

See our Submission Checklist for more information about submission requirements and how to submit a document that is compliant with our Format Guidelines. Some frequently asked questions about the review process are answered here.

Spring 2026 Initial Submission Deadline

April 17

Deadline for Final Degree Clearance

The deadline for final degree clearance is the last day to complete your format review; by 11:59 pm on this date, you must make all changes requested by the Graduate School to gain final approval. The deadline for final degree clearance is generally the last day of the semester.

Additionally, any incomplete grades and outstanding items on your Graduation Audit must be completed by this deadline. Final clearance of academic requirements will be made when current term grades have been submitted.

Spring 2026 Deadline for Final Degree Clearance

May 15

Electronic Submission

When you have completed your pre-submission requirements, use our submission checklist to address all outstanding items, then submit your document. To avoid delays, review and follow our submission procedures.

Disquisitions should be submitted as a single PDF (.pdf); please use our specific instructions for creating your PDF to ensure its quality. In addition to your disquisition, supplementary files up to 2GB may be included with your submission. If you have larger files, or a large number of files, please contact the Disquisition Coordinator to discuss your options.

We recommend that you write your document in Microsoft Word. You are welcome to use a different software program or platform, but support from the Graduate School will be limited.

If you need help with Microsoft Word, contact the Center for Writers or Instructional Design Center (IDC) or use the help pages of our knowledge base. Video tutorials are available through our “Navigating the Format Review Process” video playlist on the GPS Academy YouTube channel. The playlist contains eight videos: one about the format review process, six that are a “Word Crash Course” demonstrating formatting tips, and one is an overview and demonstration of using our Word templates. For help with accessibility features, testing your document, and remediating outstanding issues, see our accessibility checklist and the video tutorials from The Accessibility Guy.