HOW IT WORKS:
You go to the Electronic Thesis and Dissertations web site (http://etd.gatech.edu). You enter basic information about yourself and your thesis on a form and, once your final thesis is approved by your committee, upload your thesis or dissertation in pdf format. The naming convention for the file and other useful information are given in the author information and FAQ sections of the ETD web site.
The Graduate Office checks your electronic document and lets you know about any corrections you must make via email. You make the corrections and submit the corrected file. If the Graduate Office has all of the pre-thesis and thesis-related documents you must turn, they will approve your thesis and notify the Registrar's Office that you are eligible to graduate. You and your committee members will get electronic copies of the approval notice. Approximately a month after you graduate, your thesis will be released for electronic circulation unless you have requested it be withheld for one year.
You can request that your thesis or dissertation be withheld from release for one year after your graduation if necessary for intellectual property reasons. The Graduate Thesis Office (MC 0215 or thesis@grad.gatech.edu) must receive a written request from your advisor approving your request at the same time as your other thesis documents.
WHAT CHANGES (AND WHAT DOESN'T) WITH ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION:
- You no longer have to submit any paper copies to the Graduate Office. You may still bring a paper copy by for a format check if you like. Paper copies for your advisor and department are your responsibility.
- The Thesis Approval Page is still the second page in the thesis, but it has no signatures. Instead, you list the committee members who approved your thesis or dissertation with their affiliations, and you type in the "Date Approved". That should be the date the last committee member approved the final draft of your thesis.
- Everyone must still submit a paper copy of the Certificate of Thesis Approval to the Graduate Office. That form must have original signatures of all committee members as well as the Chair or Graduate Coordinator of your department.
- Doctoral students must still hand in the packet of forms and must still pay the UMI fee at the Bursar's Office. This money goes to UMI, where your dissertation will be archived both electronically and in microfilm.
- You must still have all documents submitted and approved by the Graduate Office by the thesis deadline.
- You will be asked to verify (in submitting on the ETD web site) that the document you submit electronically is the same as the document your committee approved.