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- Thesis Defense Schedule
The table below contains the important due dates for planning your dissertation defense. Be sure to familiarize yourself with Rackham's Completing the Doctoral Degree Requirements in order to ensure a successful conferral of your Ph.D. Please note the Rackham Deadlines are firm.
Grace Periods allow a Ph.D. student to confer within the extended time period without registering and paying tuition for the following semester. For example, a student who confers in the Winter 2023 Grace Period does not need to register or pay tuition for the Spring/Summer 2023 semesters.
International Students should take care to plan ahead for OPT or I20 extensions. A minimum of 90 days is required for processing. Be sure to read the International Center's webpages below carefully.
Helpful webpages:
- Rackham Doctoral Degree Deadlines
- Rackham Resources for Grad Students in response to Covid-19
- Rackham Completing the Doctoral Degree Requirements
Defense Term Conferral Date Rkhm Hooding Commencement |
Selection of Committee Members: (4-6 months before Defense) Latest Date: |
Schedule Defense Date: (10 weeks before Defense) |
Draft of Thesis to Committee Members: (Recommended 9 weeks before Defense) |
Rackham Pre-Defense: (3 weeks before Defense) |
Doctoral Committee Approval & Reader Reports Due: (2 weeks before Defense) |
Rackham Thesis Committee Member Forms Deadline: (3 days before Defense) |
Recommended Defense Date (2 weeks before Rackham deadline)
Latest Date: |
Rackham Post- Defense Deadline |
Fall 2022 12/18/22 4/28/23 12/18/22 or 4/29/23 |
7/15/2022 | 8/26/2022 | 9/2/2022 | 10/14/2022 | 10/21/2022 | 10/31/2022 | 11/4/2022 | 11/18/2022 |
Fall 2022 Grace 4/28/23 4/28/23 4/29/23 |
9/20/2022 | 11/1/2022 | 11/8/2022 | 12/20/2022 | 12/27/2022 | 1/6/2023 | 1/10/2023 | 1/24/2023 |
Winter 2023 4/28/23 4/28/23 4/29/23 |
11/24/2022 | 1/5/2023 | 1/12/2023 | 2/23/2023 | 3/2/2023 | 3/12/2023 | 3/16/2023 | 3/30/2023 |
WN 2023 Grace 8/18/23 4/26/24 12/17/23 or 4/27/24 |
1/16/2023 | 2/27/2023 | 3/6/2023 | 4/17/2023 | 4/24/2023 | 5/4/2023 | 5/8/2023 | 5/22/2023 |
Sp/Su 2023 TBD 4/26/24 12/17/23 or 4/27/24 Must pay Sp/Su tuition |
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Sp/Su 2023 Grace TBD 4/26/24 12/17/23 or 4/27/24 Must pay Sp/Su tuition |
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense To Do List
- Select Dissertation Committee Members & 2 Readers & inform Math Grad Office by: 4-6 months before Defense Date
- Choose defense date with committee members, inform Math Grad Office, & request room from Math Undergrad Office by: 10 weeks before Defense Date
- Give copies of thesis to committee members by: 9 weeks before Defense Date
- Complete Rackham Pre-Defense by: 3 weeks before Defense Date
- Remind Readers to submit reports to Math Grad Office by: 2 weeks before Defense Date
- Remind Committee Members to complete Rackham Thesis Evaluations by: 3 days before Defense Date
- Defend your thesis on: Your Defense Date (recommend at least 2 weeks prior to Rackham Requirement Deadline)
- Complete Rackham Post-defense submission by: Rackham Requirement Deadline
Sample Timing for a Winter Grace Period Conferral of August 18, 2023
- Select Dissertation Committee Members & 2 Readers & inform Math Grad Office by: January 16, 2023
- Choose defense date with committee members, inform Math Grad Office, & request room from Math Undergrad Office by: February 27, 2023
- Give copies of thesis to committee members by: March 6, 2023
- Complete Rackham Pre-Defense by: April 17, 2023
- Remind Readers to submit reports to Math Grad Office by: April 24, 2023
- Remind Committee Members to complete Rackham Thesis Evaluations by: May 4, 2023
- Defend your thesis on: May 8, 2023
- Complete Rackham Post-defense submission by: May 22, 2023
How to Set up a Zoom Defense
Be sure to login to Zoom with your umich account.
Set up your Zoom meeting as follows:
- Passcode - Yes (Be sure to give it to the math-grad-office.)
- Waiting room - No
- Alternative Hosts - Your advisor(s); After your defense, they need to be able to go to a breakout room to discuss your defense without you.
- Do not "enable join before host"
- Mute Participants upon Entry
- Do not restrict to U-M users or your parents won't be able to get in.
- You may want to record for posterity's sake - that's up to you.
- As soon as you open the meeting, click chat and disable chatting between attendees.
- As soon as you open the meeting, click participants and disable "Allow participants to unmute themselves."
