Final Degree Paperwork FAQ

Faculty signature requirements vary depending on the type of degree. 

Master's thesis (Plan I and Plan III) Final Report Forms must be signed by the entire faculty committee, and the program/department director/chair (or equivalent faculty with signing authority, i.e. department vice chair).

Doctoral dissertation Final Report Forms must be signed by the entire faculty committee, and the program/department director/chair (or equivalent faculty with signing authority, i.e. department vice chair).

Doctoral project (AuD only) Final Report must be signed by the entire faculty committee, and the program/department director/chair (or equivalent faculty with signing authority, i.e. department vice chair).

Master's degree comprehensive exams (Plan II) and professional master's degree forms may be signed by a staff designate.* 

*The Graduate Council (in March 2021) approved department/program faculty leadership to delegate signature authority to staff designates for approval of academic master’s comprehensive exams (Plan II) and professional master's capstone reports. (See the full announcement here)

• Each program may determine its own delegation of authority for master’s comp examinations (plan II) and professional master's forms.

• To implement a staff designate, the graduate program faculty are required to vote on all master’s comp exams and professional master’s capstone projects at the end of each quarter. Once unanimous faculty approval is given, the designated staff member has authority to sign the final report forms (via DocuSign) on behalf of faculty advisors and department chairs/program directors.

• There is no need to notify GEPA that the staff delegate process is being used. Please note that the name of the staff designate must be listed on the DocuSign routing, even if a role account is used for the email address.

See the DocuSign instructions on the DocuSign Forms page.

All diplomas are awarded at the end of the quarter. It may take the Registrar up to three months to mail the diploma after the end of the quarter. Please see the Registrar's website for more detail. 

Students will receive a Dean's Congratulatory Letter once they have turned in all final paperwork. The letter is signed by the GEPA Dean and states that all degree requirements have been fulfilled. In order to receive the letter, GEPA must have received and approved the student's dissertation/thesis, received the Final Report Form with all signatures completed, and must have approved all co-author permission letters (if applicable). Master's students must also have all final grades posted before they can receive the letter.

Students will have their accounts deactivated after they graduate. However, they may have any emails forwarded to their personal email address for 1 year. Students must update their email address to a personal email address in TritonLink. Students may also sign up for UCSD Alumni Email for Life to have permanent forwarding of UCSD emails to their personal email address.  More information can be found on the Alumni Email for Life webpage.

Filing Fee in lieu of registration: $188

For the use of unregistered graduate students who have completed all degree requirements, to establish a fee relationship with the University if the degree conferral will be in a quarter in which the student is not registered.  

Readmission Fee: $135

Upon approval for readmission, this fee is assessed for a student not on an approved leave of absence whose status has lapsed due to an interruption in registration. May be assessed in the quarter of final degree completion for students

Doctoral Advancement Fee: $50

Only applicable to doctoral students assessed upon advancing to candidacy. However, this fee pertains to the eventual processing and submission of the Doctoral Dissertation. 

Thesis Submission Fee: $25

Covers costs and services related to submission of the Master’s Thesis. Only applicable to Plan I master’s students upon degree completion.