Program completion guide
As you approach the culmination of your doctoral degree requirements at the University of Toronto, you may have questions about how to get from completing your thesis to convocation. This page contains information regarding your Final Oral Examination (FOE).
For additional important information, please see:
The Final Oral Examination (FOE)
Registration
You must be registered in the session during which your thesis is submitted. If your exam falls near the end of a session, be aware that your thesis needs to be submitted before that session closes. If it isn’t, you will need to register for an additional session and pay fees.
SGS allows a 15-day grace period at the start of each new session. If you submit your thesis within those first 15 days, you will not be registered for that session, and you will not owe fees for the new session. After the fifteenth day, you will need to register in the new session. For example, if you submit your final, approved thesis on January 13, you are not required to be registered for the Winter term.
Scheduling your exam
Once your thesis has been approved by your supervisory committee to proceed to the FOE, please follow your graduate unit’s procedures and deadlines, as well as other established practices (e.g., departmental defense) to schedule your examination. Please note, your exam can take up to 3 hours.
Your graduate administrator will work with SGS to plan the exam. To get started:
- Confirm the exam date with your supervisor and notify your graduate administrator.
- Check departmental requirements. Your graduate unit may need more than 8 weeks if there are internal steps to complete before booking. Each unit has their own requirements and processes. If you have a specific location on campus in mind for your exam, reach out to your graduate administrator for assistance to book the space.
- Review the SGS Sessional Dates Calendar if you want to attend a specific convocation ceremony or meet a fee deadline.
- Review the SGS General Regulations Calendar for in-depth information regarding FOE regulations.
Public seminar
Some graduate units require a public seminar before the exam, where you present your research to a broader audience including fellow students. Other units make this optional, and many do not hold one at all. Your graduate administrator will let you know whether a public seminar is expected in your department and, if so, how to arrange it.
Submitting your thesis before your exam
Formatting
Your thesis must conform to the University’s formatting requirements. Review the thesis formatting & submission guidelines and use the University thesis template to ensure your document meets the standard. Formatting issues can delay acceptance of your thesis in ProQuest, so it is worth getting this right before you submit.
If you need formatting help, the Information Commons at Robarts Library (416-978-4292 or digital.studio@utoronto.ca) also has staff who can help with common formatting issues.
Getting your thesis to your graduate administrator
When you are ready to defend, submit the final copy of the thesis that will be defended to your graduate administrator. This allows them to begin the administrative work required to schedule your exam, including ensuring that the external examiner and committee members receive the thesis with enough lead time.
The external examiner report
Every examination must have an external examiner who has been identified by your graduate administrator and approved by SGS.
You must not have any direct contact with the external examiner. Your graduate department will request approval for the examiner from SGS. Once an external examiner has been approved, your graduate department will send your thesis to the external examiner for review, distribute the appraisal to you and your committee before the exam, and coordinate the external examiner’s attendance at your exam. The external examiner’s report should reach you and your committee at least 2 weeks before the exam. Your committee can ask questions arising from the report during the exam, so having time to consider it matters. If the report has not arrived, contact your graduate administrator. The exam cannot proceed without the report.
If your graduate administrator advises you that that the report will arrive less than 2 weeks before the exam date, there are two options that you must discuss with your graduate administrator:
- You may request to postpone the exam date so that you will have a full 2 weeks to review the report.
- If you would prefer to proceed with the exam as scheduled with less than two weeks to review the report, you will need to sign a Late Appraisal Waiver form. Your graduate administrator will provide the form. This does not mean that the exam can proceed without the appraisal. This just means that you are willing to go ahead with the exam without having 2 full weeks to review the appraisal report.
How the exam works
When the exam begins, you will be asked to leave the room so the Chair and committee can discuss procedural elements, confirm that all members have read the thesis and the external examiner’s report, and agree on the order and length of questioning. You will then be called back and invited to present your research in no more than twenty minutes, followed by rounds of questioning from the committee. After questioning, you will be asked to leave again while the committee deliberates and votes. The Chair will then invite you back and share the result.
Who can attend your exam
Only the approved committee members and the Chair. Family, friends, fellow students and members of the public cannot attend the exam.
Remote participation
You may attend the exam remotely. If you choose to do so, you must complete a Remote Participation Attestation Form (PDF) confirming that you have a quiet, private space from which to join online. Your graduate administrator will provide the form, and you must return it to your graduate office before the exam date.
Students with accessibility accommodations
Students registered with Accessibility Servies may inquire about how their accommodations may be integrated into their examination. You should reach out to your Accessibility Services Advisor for additional information and support.
Acceptable devices and technology in the exam
Hybrid or online exams should be held over Zoom or Teams.
Personal electronic devices (phones, tablets, etc.) must be turned off or silenced during the examination. You may use your personal laptop to share slides or other materials during your 20-minute presentation during the exam. Recording of any part of the proceedings, audio or video, is strictly prohibited. Candidates and committee members may attend in person or via SGS-approved remote conferencing technology.
Other items in the exam room
If you wish to bring food and drink to your exam, please ask your graduate administrator to check with the administrator of the room in which your exam is booked.
After the committee deliberates and votes, you will receive one of four results. Your graduate administrator will also send you post-examination instructions prepared by SGS describing your result, the deadline for completing any required revisions, and how to submit your thesis for publication.
Possible results
| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Accepted “As it Stands” | You have up to 1 week to submit the thesis to ProQuest. |
| Accepted – Revisions must occur within 1 month | The final thesis must be submitted in ProQuest within 1 month of the exam date. Substantial typographical errors, corrections in style, expanding on material, such as adding a limitation, and less than major changes in the thesis. Your supervisor supervises the proposed revisions and confirms in writing whether all required corrections have been completed. An email from your supervisor to sgs.doctoral@utoronto.ca copying your graduate administrator is required. Once this confirmation is received, you can submit the final, approved thesis to ProQuest. |
| Accepted – Revisions must occur within 3 months | The final thesis must be submitted in ProQuest within 3 months of the exam date. Less than major changes in the thesis. A typical example of revisions might be more substantial clarification of textual material or qualification of research findings and conclusions. An email from your supervisor or convenor to sgs.doctoral@utoronto.ca copying your graduate administrator is required. Once this confirmation is received, you can submit the final, approved thesis to ProQuest. |
| Adjournment | On a first examination, if there is more than one negative vote and / or abstention, the examination is adjourned. |
Adjournment
The exam is adjourned and will be reconvened within one year. You will receive a written report explaining the reasons for the adjournment and the committee’s requirements for the reconvened exam. The reconvened exam follows the same procedures, but no further adjournment is permitted. When you are ready to schedule your reconvened examination, please reach out to your graduate administrator. If the reconvened exam is unsuccessful, you will be ineligible for further doctoral candidacy at the University of Toronto.
Submitting your final thesis after your defense
Submitting to ProQuest
You will submit your final, approved thesis to ProQuest as the final step to complete the thesis requirement for your degree.
If your result is Accepted “As It Stands”, you can submit your thesis directly. If your result is accepted requiring up to 1 month of revisions or accepted requiring up to 3 months of revisions, you must first complete the required changes, and your supervisor or sub-committee Convenor must confirm to SGS that the thesis is ready. They can send a confirmation email to your graduate administrator and copy the SGS Doctoral Office on that email.
See the Thesis Formatting & Submission guidelines for information about formatting and submitting your thesis to ProQuest. Your program is not officially complete, and you cannot graduate, until your thesis has been accepted by SGS through ProQuest.
Program Completion Office review
After you submit your thesis to ProQuest, the Program Completion Office will review your submission for formatting issues. If changes are needed, you will be notified. You must respond to any revision requests within 2 weeks so that your thesis can be accepted in time for convocation and fee adjustments.
Thesis embargo
Students may request to delay the release of their thesis in exceptional cases. Please review the Thesis Embargo page for detailed information.
Convocation
How graduation works for doctoral students
Once your final thesis has been accepted in ProQuest, SGS will recommend you for your degree. This sets in motion everything related to your convocation, degree conferral, and transcript updates. You do not need to apply to graduate separately.
Getting invited
Once your thesis is approved in ProQuest, the Program Completion Office will enter a degree recommendation in the student information system for the next scheduled convocation session. The Office of Convocation will contact you at your U of T email address approximately three weeks before the ceremony with instructions on RSVP-ing, regalia rental, and other logistics. Monitor your email account so you do not miss deadlines.
For more information, please visit the Graduation and Convocation page.