PhD Forms in Chronological Order
Students in the PhD Program have numerous required forms to complete during their program. This page provides a brief explanation of each form in chronological order. Note that the exact date for submission of some forms is not provided here, please check with the Graduate School for these dates. Dates vary each year, so please check appropriate sources. If any of the links below become broken, please refer to the Graduate School’s Forms and Publications page.
Doctoral Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee for Doctoral Candidates form must be signed by the departmental graduate coordinator and turned in to the student’s major department. An approved copy, signed by the Graduate School dean, is returned to the student from the Graduate School.
Plan of Study
Terry PhD students are required to complete a Terry Plan of Study, which is a detailed account, by fields, of the coursework the student has or will complete as required for the PhD degree in business administration (PDF | 248 KB) or economics (PDF | 12 KB). This form should be turned in to the major department once it is completed. All students must also complete the university plan of study and program of study below.
Preliminary Program of Study
PhD students are required to complete a Preliminary Program of Study, which is a detailed account, by fields, of the coursework the student has or will complete as required for the PhD degree in business administration or economics. This form should be turned in to the major department once it is complete.
Final Program of Study
Once the Plan of Study has been approved, the coursework required to be completed at the University of Georgia is listed on the Final Doctoral Program of Study. The Program of Study is submitted to the student’s major department with the Doctoral Advisory Committee’s signatures. This form will be signed by the departmental graduate coordinator and is sent to the Graduate School for the Graduate School dean’s approval. A copy will be sent to the student once the Graduate School has approved it.
Written Preliminary Examination
Students may sign up for the written preliminary exam only after completion of all required coursework and after turning in approved Plan of Study, Program of Study, and Advisory Committee forms to the student’s major department. A student may cancel his/her registration for prelims up to two (2) weeks prior to the exam. All exams are administered through the student’s department.
Oral Preliminary Examination
The student must complete The Announcement of Doctoral Oral Preliminary Examination and return it to the major department a minimum of two weeks prior to the date of the exam. The student is also responsible for reserving a room and contacting each member of his Doctoral Advisory Committee to find a convenient time for the examination. The major department will fax the notification to the Graduate School. The Graduate School will post the Announcement of the Oral Prelim and will send a "Notification of Results of Oral Preliminary Examination" form to the major professor. This form can only be obtained from the Graduate School. Upon completion of the exam, the major professor will report the results to the student’s major department no later than two weeks after the exam is given on the form provided by the Graduate School.
Admission to Candidacy
The Application for Admission to Candidacy (PDF | 31 KB) must accompany the Notification of Results of Oral Preliminary Examination and both forms are sent to the Graduate School by the student’s major department within two weeks after the date of the oral prelims. A student must be admitted to candidacy at least two semesters prior to the date of expected graduation.
Graduation Application
It is suggested that doctoral students apply for graduation at the same time as submitting the Admission to Candidacy application. An application for graduation must be filed with the Graduate School no later than Friday of the first full week of classes two semesters prior to the anticipated graduation date.
Dissertation Proposal
The student is responsible for reserving a room and setting up a convenient time for the defense. The Announcement of Dissertation Proposal Seminar (PDF | 5 KB) must be submitted to the student’s major department at least two weeks prior to the date of the defense.
The Prospectus Approval (PDF | 5 KB) requires the agreement of at least four of the five members of the Advisory Committee as evidenced by their signing of the appropriate form. However, the approval form must include signatures of all five committee members. The signed approval form, along with a four or five page description of the proposal is filed with the student’s major department and is retained in the student’s file.
Dissertation Approval and Defense
When the student’s Advisory Committee is satisfied with the completed dissertation submitted to them, the final oral examination should be scheduled. The Graduate School must receive the "Announcement of Doctoral Defense of the Dissertation" form at least two weeks in advance. This form should now be given to the graduate coordinator for tranmission via the above web link. Results of the final oral defense and approval of the dissertation is indicated on the Approval Form for Doctoral Dissertation and Final Oral Examination.
Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines
It is important to be aware that the Graduate School has established a set of standards designed to ensure consistency, legibility, and professional appearance of theses and dissertations. You must follow these guidelines to format your thesis and dissertation. If it is apparent that you have not made a reasonable attempt to do so, your document will not be checked and your graduation may be delayed until a future semester.
