GSO Announcements to Graduate Students

  

Current Students

This page contains emails, announcements, and other correspondence for Graduate Students from the Graduate Studies Office. 

Message to PhD candidates planning to defend their dissertation  

  • Assuming that you have defended the dissertation proposal and have completed the first review of a dissertation draft with Ms. Gonzalez-Lenahan (Associate Director, Graduate Studies), schedule your dissertation’s 2nd review with Dr. Sotirios Ziavras (Vice Provost, Graduate Studies). This review will be for the dissertation document you have forwarded to the dissertation committee for the final defense and must include all revisions suggested by your dissertation advisor. When you are ready for your 2nd review, click here to request a virtual/online appointment. You will be emailed back a date and time, with a request to confirm your availability.  

    Prior to your virtual appointment, you will be asked to do the following:

           ​• Submit the Embargo Form if you have not done so already.

    ​       • Confirm that you have incorporated all of your dissertation advisor's comments and changes in your dissertation draft.

  • Email the aforesaid PDF draft of your entire dissertation document at least three work days before your confirmed virtual appointment with Dr. Ziavras. Dr. Ziavras will email you his comments and may also ask for a WebEX session during your confirmed appointment time.

  • Upon completion of the 2nd review, submit your defense announcement here. For work that will not be sequestered, include the details on how interested members of the NJIT community could attend your defense event online (e.g., WebEx session details)*.

  • A copy of the approval page should be emailed to gso@njit.edu so it can be sent out for signature by the dissertation committee.

  • The Final Defense Report should be initiated after the student has successfully defended their dissertation.

You’re reminded that “The dissertation proposal must be defended successfully either by the end of the third year in the Ph.D. program or four semesters after registering for the first time in the 792 pre-doctoral research course, whichever occurs earlier.” (from /content/new-phd-credit-requirements/; this policy may not apply for joint programs with Rutgers).

Students must submit their MS thesis or PhD dissertation document, that includes their advisor's final changes, to the thesis/dissertation committee members about three weeks before your defense. The committee members must be given at least two weeks to review the document before the defense. Also, the public defense announcement must be submitted to GSO after GSO's second review of the document which must occur at least two weeks before the defense date. The second review of the thesis or dissertation with GSO cannot be scheduled if the embargo form hasn't been submitted to GSO.

Message to MS students planning to defend their MS Thesis

  • Assuming that you have submitted your MS Thesis Committee Appointment Report and have completed the first review of a thesis draft with Mr. David Tress (Administrative Assistant, Graduate Studies), schedule your thesis 2nd review with Ms. Angela Retino (Office Manager, Graduate Studies). This review will be for the thesis document you have forwarded to the thesis committee for the final defense and must include all revisions suggested by your thesis advisor. When you are ready for your 2nd review, click here to request a virtual/online appointment. You will be emailed back a date and time, with a request to confirm your availability.

    Prior to your virtual appointment, you will be asked to do the following

         • Submit the Embargo Form if you have not done so already

         • Confirm that you have incorporated all of your thesis advisor's comments and changes in your thesis draft.

  • Email the aforesaid PDF draft of your entire thesis document the day before (not earlier) your confirmed virtual appointment with Ms. Angela. Ms. Angela will email you her comments and may also ask for a WebEX session during your confirmed appointment time.

  • Upon completion of the 2nd review, submit your defense announcement here. For work that will not be sequestered, include the details on how interested members of the NJIT community could attend your defense event online (e.g., WebEx session details).*

  • A copy of the approval page should be emailed to gso@njit.edu so it can be sent out for signature by the thesis committee.

  • The Final Defense Report should be initiated after the student has successfully defended their thesis.

  • Schedule your thesis 3rd review with Mr. Tress. As before, email the draft of your thesis 24 hours prior to your review.

  • Upon completion of the 3rd review, email a PDF copy of your thesis to gso@njit.edu. David will review it one final time and inform you of any changes or revisions you need to make. Once your document has been finalized, GSO will submit the final PDF copy to the Van Houten Library.

Appeal for Students Subject to Academic Dismissal

Only for students who receive communication from the Office of the Registrar

Dismissal Appeal Application

Completion Letter Information

Confirmation letters are available by request for doctoral candidates upon completion of all requirements.  If you need a letter, please send the request by e-mail to gso@njit.edu.  Be sure to include your NJIT ID# and program (e.g., 21212123; Chemistry). 

Commencement Letter

For more information regarding the May commencement, please visit https://commencement.njit.edu/ after Spring Break. 

Domestic Graduate Student Orientation

The Domestic Graduate Student Orientation is typically held in late August or early September prior to the start of the Fall semester and late January prior to the Spring semester. This orientation aims to help incoming domestic graduate students get acclimated to graduate education at NJIT. There will be speeches from representatives of various departments at NJIT, both academic and administrative, with opportunities for Q&A.  You may  view the Graduate Student guidebook here.

Thesis and Dissertation Workshops

These workshops provide valuable information regarding the format of your Thesis and Dissertation document and the process of submitting final documents.  Workshops are mandatory for all Master's Thesis and PhD students and are held once a semester. Students must attend at least one workshop prior to graduation but may attend more than one. Date, time and location will be posted and announced prior to the event.