• Thesis orals should be scheduled only during academic periods — not during holidays or weekends — and should occur during normal business hours. Exceptions must be approved by the program director.
• The student should coordinate the date with the committee members and finalize the date at least one month in advance to allow time for travel arrangements, final review and comments by the committee. Be sure to check with the PhD Program Manager before finalizing the date to make sure there are no other orals scheduled at the chosen time. Thesis orals or proposals will not be scheduled to overlap.

Send the Graduate Program Administrator the following information:

• Information for posting the notice.
  • Date
  • Time
  • Place
  • Title
  • Thesis committee members, including external member and their affiliation.
• Thesis abstract: Less than 350 words describing the thesis. Send a link (optional) to the draft document.
• If the talk will be remote, complete the livestream consent form.

• Make sure all of your committee members are in attendance before you start the talk.
• After your talk, your committee will discuss the defense and inform you of their decision. Please ask your adviser to send the PhD Program Manager an email confirming that you have passed your defense.

Thesis Committee Chair -- The Thesis Committee Chair must notify the PhD Program Manager via email that the final thesis document has been approved by the committee. This notification must include the link to the final, completed thesis document.

Title Page -- Format of the thesis title page

https://www.ml.cmu.edu/current-students/thesis-title-page-format.html 

• Month Year (i.e., December 2025)
• Technical Report number (contact PhD Program Manager)
• Both of these should be a smaller font than the thesis title and your name
• Contact Russ O'Lare for the funding information to list at the bottom of the title page.
• Second page is blank except for keywords at the bottom

Thesis Title Page & Doctoral Thesis Completion Semester Form -- The PhD Program Manager will request the signatures of the Thesis Committee Chair and SCS Dean on the thesis title page and Doctoral thesis completion semester form.

Dissertation & Thesis Institutional Repository Form -- Complete the Dissertation and Thesis Repository Google Form

Update Commencement Information -- In SIO, under Academic Info | Graduation and Diploma, update the following:

• Name on Diploma (students who fail to update their name before the diploma is ordered will be responsible for covering the charge for a replacement)
• Degree Information including Thesis Title
• Commencement Ceremony Attendance 
• Diploma Delivery -- Address is required; it cannot be a campus or PO Box mailing address

Complete the PhD Exit Survey Form

Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates Questionnaire

Note: Your degree cannot be certified until have submitted your final and approved thesis document and Dissertation & Thesis Repository Google Form.