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Preparing for Your Thesis or Dissertation

• Theses and Dissertations Policies Read all the required policies for all theses & dissertations.
• Institutonal Repository Find your published thesis or dissertation at the UH's Institutional Repository.
• Preparation of Thesis or Dissertation Approval proposals/final drafts, electronic submissions, deadlines, early submissions, and previous/future publication materials.
• Thesis & Dissertation Instructions Submitting and formatting instructions.

Theses and Dissertations Outside UH Libraries

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• UH's Senior Honors and Master's Theses and Dissertations The MD Anderson Library houses all of the University of Houston’s senior honors theses as well as Master’s theses and dissertations. They are all located on the 3rd floor of the gold wing.
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Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2010 - Present)

Permanent URI for this community https://hdl.handle.net/10657/1

The University of Houston Libraries collect and make publicly available all electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) produced in UH graduate and PhD programs through the UH institutional repository. ETDs become available after the student submits them to the UH Graduate School, the document is approved by all appropriate parties, and any embargo on the document expires.

Collection Scope

UH Libraries began publishing ETDs from several UH Colleges in 2010. As of Summer 2014, all UH Colleges that require a thesis or dissertation for graduation began submitting these documents in electronic format. Below is a list of UH Colleges that currently participate in the ETD program and their coverage dates in this repository.

Additional Information

• Online access for content outside these coverage dates may be available electronically through ProQuest . Note: As of Fall 2017, all theses and dissertations produced at UH will be submitted to ProQuest. Additionally, some UH Colleges have contributed content to ProQuest at different periods of time in the past.
• For print theses and dissertations found outside these coverage dates, please consult UH Libraries’ catalog .
• Additional information on submitting ETDs can be found at the UH Graduate School .

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions or comments.

Collections in this Community

• Published ETD Collection  

• Theses and Dissertations

Dissertation Archives (before 2012)

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Graduate Academic Policies

Steps to Submit Your Thesis/Dissertation

• Defense & revision: The thesis, dissertation, or senior honors thesis must be successfully defended before the faculty committee, and the student should make any required revisions. You must also pass the formatting of the manuscript by Miranda Vernon-Harrison.
• Approval Form: The student and/or the student’s advisor must collect signatures from the student and all committee members on the Written Thesis / Dissertation Approval Form
• Please e-mail the signed Thesis/Dissertation Approval form to Miranda Vernon-Harrison at mavernon-harrison [at] uh.edu . ATTENTION: You MUST CC: your committee chair and graduate advisor on this e-mail.
• The completed form will be signed by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for the College after document review and submitted to the Graduate School. You have no further responsibility regarding the form once you submit it to the college.
• The College of Engineering requires that a bound copy of each thesis/dissertation/senior honors thesis be presented to the student’s department and committee chair, unless the committee chair emails Miranda Vernon-Harrison stating otherwise. Email Miranda Vernon-Harrison ( mavernon-harrison [at] uh.edu ( mavernon-harrison[at]uh[dot]edu ) ) to schedule an appointment to drop off your printed hardcopies for binding at the Engineering Building 2, E421. The document should be printed prior to dropping off. The student will need to print single-sided on a minimum of 25% white cotton paper. The weight of the paper should be at least 20 lb. ( Details on paper requirements ) The student's myUH account will be charged for binding.*The student can also submit binding for personal copies. Binding will be returned back to Miranda Vernon-Harrison for distribution.
• Electronic submission: Master’s theses and doctoral dissertations must be submitted electronically to the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Submission and Management System (ETD) for official archiving. This step is a required part of the degree completion process; degrees will not be conferred if the thesis/dissertation is not uploaded. Convert your official manuscript to a PDF (Portable Document File). Upload manuscript to the ETD website . *Committee chair must approve the submission.

Submitting a hardcopy and uploading a digital copy of the thesis/dissertation remains a MANDATORY part of the process; your degree will not be released until this is done.

Once approved by the college, PhD students, Master thesis students, and Honors thesis students must (1) schedule an appointment to submit your final, printed copies for binding to Miranda Vernon-Harrison (Engineering Building 2, E421) (2) email the signed Thesis/Dissertation Approval Form to mavernon-harrison [at] uh.edu . Please cc: this e-mail to your committee chair and graduate advisor.

Once approved by the college, PhD and Master thesis students must upload the document as a PDF to the Vireo system https://uh-etd.tdl.org/ . *Committee chair must approve the submission.

For Doctoral candidates , Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates and email a copy of the certificate to Miranda Vernon-Harrison.  https://sed-ncses.org/

If you have any questions about these college procedures, please contact Miranda Vernon-Harrison: mavernon-harrison [at] uh.edu

• Spring 2024 Thesis and Dissertation Presentation  (pdf file)
• Guide : The Dean's Office publishes a document containing guidelines for theses and dissertations. You are advised to obtain a copy of these guidelines in advance of beginning to write a thesis or dissertation.  Download Guide (pdf file) (Some departments have additional requirement, refer to your departmental web site or contact your graduate admissions office for additional requirements and deadlines.)
• Checklist :  Thesis and Dissertation Checklist (pdf file) Special Note - All students must apply for graduation by the deadline date of the semester in which the degree is posted!
• Submission Form :  Thesis/Dissertation Binding Form  (pdf file) Students must be enrolled in the semester in which they graduate.

Updates for Theses and Dissertations

Starting in Fall 2019, graduate students should use the new UHGS Written Thesis/Dissertation Approval Form. The thesis and dissertation committee members will no longer sign a signature page when they approve the thesis or dissertation. Instead, committee members will sign an approval form, stating that they have read and examined the manuscript. The committee members will certify that it is adequate in scope and quality as a thesis/dissertation for a graduate degree and indicate their approval or disapproval of the content prior to being submitted to the college/department for processing and acceptance.

Graduate students should use the new UHGS template for the front matter (Title page, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, etc.) http://www.uh.edu/graduate-school/academics/thesis/

• Front Matter:  Front Matter Template  (word file)
• Written Thesis/Dissertation Approval Form:  Approval Form  (pdf file)

Resources for Preparation of Theses and Dissertations

• MathType Guide:  MathType for Making and Managing Equations  (pdf file)
• Guide for Automatic Reference Numbering:  How to use Word for Automatic Reference Numbering  (pdf file)

Cullen College of Engineering: Thesis & Dissertation Submission and Binding Requirements

Bs honors thesis requirements.

Graduating BS Honors thesis students are required to follow the procedures in the online guide for preparing and writing their theses. The amount of copies submitted is designated by the student’s advisor, typically ranging from 1-2 copies (Honors College no longer requires a copy). BS students will need to turn in their manuscripts and approval form in to the College Graduate Coordinator for review and final approval. These students need to follow the instructions for paper requirements and submission deadlines for Traditional Binding only. Graduating BS Honors Thesis students are not required to do an electronic submission at this time. 

MS Thesis and Dissertation Two Step Submission Process:

Information for all thesis / dissertation students (bs, ms, phd).

Deadline for Submission : To graduate in a given semester, the student must upload their ETD to the Vireo website and notify the coordinator, along with submitting the approved hard copy thesis to the Graduate Associate Dean’s Office (E421) by the appropriate deadline. All documents and payment must be turned in at the time of submission. Any student missing this deadline must enroll and reapply for graduation in the next semester. No extensions will be made.

Fees : The cost of binding starts at $50 per copy for BS, MS, and PhD. Microfilming is no longer required for dissertations. Copyright is free and included in the ETD.

If there are questions or if clarification is needed regarding this two-step process, contact the Director of Graduate Student Affairs: mavernon [at] central.uh.edu (Miranda Vernon-Harrison) , email mavernon-harrison [at] uh.edu (mavernon-harrison[at]uh[dot]edu) .

Early Submission of Thesis or Dissertation (For students who have missed the previous semester’s deadline)

If a student meets all of the requirements for completed submission of thesis or dissertation prior to the last day to add a class in Session 1 (regular academic session) of the academic term, they are eligible to request via petition to have their minimum required enrollment reduced to one credit hour.  Such petitions are approved at the discretion of the Associate Dean for graduate studies of the respective college and filed with the Graduate School.  Such petitions must be submitted to and approved by the Associate Dean for graduate studies no later than the last day to add classes in Session 1 (regular academic session) of the academic term, as published in the graduate Academic Calendar. Students who meet this early submission deadline and do not submit a petition to request a reduced minimum required enrollment by the last day to add a class in Session 1 (regular academic session) for the academic term are required to remain in the required three credit hours of enrollment. 

For international students : If the student is not required to take any additional courses to satisfy the requirements for completion, but continues to be enrolled for administrative purposes, the student is considered to have completed the course of study and must take action to maintain status. A student’s visa will be closed once the thesis or dissertation is submitted. For example, if a student misses the previous semester’s graduation and completes by the first day of the next semester, the student’s completion date will be the date that the thesis or dissertation was submitted. Please contact ISSS for more information at 713-743-5065.

Deadlines to submit the thesis or dissertation to the Engineering Dean’s Office for graduation:

Last updated: March 2024

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Continuous Registration

Students who have achieved candidacy and are working on a thesis or dissertation are expected to comply with the enrollment requirements as set forth in the sections entitled Course Load    and Continuous Enrollment   . Advice or assistance from a member of the faculty in the preparation of the thesis or dissertation should not be expected unless the student is officially enrolled.

Students are required to be continuously enrolled (i.e., each Fall and Spring semester), including the semester in which the thesis or dissertation is submitted to, and accepted by, the university. Failure to enroll in thesis/dissertation courses may delay graduation and may result in the loss of financial assistance and other privileges. A student not enrolled in a Fall or Spring term is not eligible for a teaching or research assistantship during that term. The student should consult the individual college requirements regarding summer registration for thesis or dissertation credit hours.

Students may enroll in absentia for thesis/dissertation courses if arrangements are made through the department of their major at least two weeks before the registration period. Registration for all other students must be completed in the prescribed manner during the announced registration period. The thesis or dissertation course is considered part of a student’s current course load.

Thesis/Dissertation Committee

The thesis/dissertation committee (also called advisory committee) advises the student on research and writing of the thesis /dissertation, conducts the final oral examination (as required by the program) and approves the final version of the thesis/dissertation. A thesis/dissertation committee should include at least three members. The thesis/dissertation committee must have members from the student’s graduate program/academic unit. It may have additional members that are serving as an external committee member. The majority of members must be currently active in the scholarship of the field.

One committee member will serve as the chair of the thesis/dissertation committee. In some cases, two committee members may be appointed as co-chairs and will share the chair responsibilities.

If a student’s thesis/dissertation chair is a faculty member whose primary appointment is not in the graduate program offering the degree, then they must receive approval from the graduate program director/department chair to serve as a co-chair with a faculty member from the program also serving as co-chair. If the academic unit/graduate program has specified departmental or college policies regarding thesis/dissertation committee members, the student will follow the specified procedures of the graduate program/academic unit as long as they do not conflict with the policy outlined here.

The thesis/dissertation chair (or co-chairs) is (are) the student’s mentor(s) and guide(s) through the degree program. Students should consult the departmental policy regarding the appropriate number of thesis/dissertation committee members, the process for the selection of the committee members and the process to request changes in the committee membership. If the chair of a student’s dissertation committee leaves the University and the student is near completion of the degree and wants the chair to continue to serve in this role, the student, in consultation with the graduate program director and committee members, should ask a current member of the University of Houston faculty to serve as the co-chair of the committee.

A prospective committee member who is not a member of the University of Houston faculty may receive approval to serve on a thesis/dissertation committee by the chair of the committee. The chair has the responsibility of confirming that the prospective committee member has the requisite qualifications (typically, a terminal degree, subject matter expertise, and active in the field) to serve on the committee. When the committee chair approves a non-UH committee member to serve on the committee, they should provide a CV/resume from that member as part of the committee composition record.

Changes to the Thesis/Dissertation Committee require the approval of the student, new committee members, and the graduate program director. The graduate director (and department chair) will have the authority to make changes in case of a disagreement over the committee composition. In case a dispute goes beyond the department, the associate dean for graduate studies (and dean) will have this authority to appoint committee members and/or appoint an external thesis/dissertation chair to oversee the proceedings. Exceptions to this process may be granted by petition to the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School.

All thesis/dissertation committee members should be entered into the student information system when the committee is formed to facilitate accurate academic records. Exception: At this time, committee members not employed by the University of Houston cannot be entered into the student information system.

A graduate program may have stricter requirements with respect to the final exam/defense and these requirements should be clearly articulated in the written policies and procedures or catalog entry for the graduate program.

Final Exam/Defense

The thesis/dissertation committee will conduct a final exam/defense as specified in the degree requirements. The final exam/defense should be scheduled such that the thesis/dissertation is available in nearly final form so that the committee has adequate time to review the document prior to the final exam/defense. While the final exam/defense may broadly cover the disciplinary field of the candidate’s training, the primary questioning should be related to the thesis/dissertation. A positive evaluation by the thesis/dissertation committee - with at most one dissension - is required for a student to pass. The dissenting member should indicate their dissent on the approval form. At the discretion of the thesis/dissertation committee and per the graduate program rules, a student may be given one opportunity to repeat a final exam/defense for the master’s/doctoral degree. The repeat exam/defense must be held no later than the end of the next fall/spring semester (summer terms excluded). A graduate program may have stricter requirements with respect to the final exam/defense and these requirements should be clearly articulated in the written policies and procedures or catalog entry for the graduate program.

A student enrolled in a thesis/dissertation course should receive a grade of S/U each semester until the semester in which the thesis/dissertation is defended and finalized. Upon completion of the thesis/dissertation, the student is awarded a letter grade commensurate with performance in that course. A final grade of B or better is required on the completed thesis/dissertation in order for the student to graduate. Colleges will ensure that the thesis or dissertation has been submitted and approved, and a letter grade of B or better assigned to the thesis/dissertation course, prior to certifying the student’s graduation.

This letter grade may be applied to thesis/dissertation course hours up to a maximum of 12 cumulative total letter-graded credit hours of Dissertation coursework for a Doctoral degree and a maximum of 6 cumulative total letter-graded credit hours of Master’s Thesis coursework for a Master’s degree. Once students are enrolled in thesis/dissertation courses, they must continuously enroll in them until a degree is conferred. (Also see section on the 99-Hour Doctoral Cap   .)

Preparation of Document

The University of Houston uses an electronic thesis/dissertation submission process for submission of the final, official version of the document to the university. Please check with your specific department or college for details regarding the steps for submitting a thesis or dissertation to your college and the university.

Approval of Document Proposal

Students must receive approval of their thesis or dissertation proposal from their thesis or dissertation committee. In some departments, students may not begin research prior to admission to candidacy without the approval of an advisor. The committee is approved by the dean of the college upon the advice of the appropriate department chair or in accordance with college policies. Students must check with their departments or programs for deadlines regarding the submission of the thesis or dissertation proposal.

The thesis or dissertation must present evidence of a mastery of the literature in an area of study, a significant contribution to knowledge, and the ability to conduct independent research.

Every thesis, dissertation or other research project involving the use of Human subjects must be approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects before research is started. Students should consult their faculty advisors for information. For additional information or an application form, contact the Office of Research Policies, Compliance and Committees , 316 Ezekiel W. Cullen Building, (713) 743-9104.

Suggested Form

As a general rule, the format and style of presentation should conform to the most acceptable standards of scientific and scholarly writing in the discipline. For instances in which this general rule is an inadequate guide, reference should be made to a style manual approved by the college or department.

Before preparing the thesis or dissertation, the student should obtain a copy of the guide for the preparation and submission of theses and dissertations from the appropriate college office.

Approval of the Final Draft

The final draft of the thesis or dissertation must be completed and submitted to the advisory committee as early as stipulated by the committee, but no later than the deadlines specified by the college. After students have received approval of the final draft from their advisory committee, they must submit it to the college for approval no later than the deadline specified by the college.

Electronic Submission

Once they have received approval from the college, students must submit the college-approved thesis or dissertation electronically for archiving by the University. Students will submit the work and faculty will approve it using Vireo, following the instructions found at the following link: http://www.uh.edu/graduate-school/thesis/ . Students must submit their documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) per the guidelines on the web site, following all program, department, and/or college-specific requirements. Students may have hard copies of their theses or dissertations bound for personal use, and they should check whether their specific program, department, college, or library requires a bound copy as well.

After your thesis/dissertation has been approved by your advisor and college in Vireo, your document’s content is considered finalized and you are not allowed to make any changes.

Deadline for Completed Submission

All student, department, and college approval processes for submission of thesis or dissertation-including college approval of defended thesis or dissertation, assignment of final grade(s) for thesis or dissertation courses by the faculty advisor, and all components of electronic submission to the university for archiving-must be completed no later than the final grading deadline for faculty for session 1 (regular academic session) of the academic term, as published in the graduate  Academic Calendar   .

Early Submission

If a student meets all of the requirements described above for completed submission of thesis or dissertation prior to the last day to add a class in session 1 (regular academic session) of the academic term, they are eligible to request via petition to have their minimum required enrollment reduced to one credit hour. Such petitions are approved at the discretion of the Associate Dean for graduate studies of the respective college and filed with the Graduate School. Such petitions must be submitted to and approved by the Associate Dean for graduate studies no later than the last day to add classes in session 1 (regular academic session) of the academic term, as published in the graduate Academic Calendar   . Students who meet this early submission deadline and do not submit a petition to request a reduced minimum required enrollment by the last day to add a class in session 1 (regular academic session) for the academic term are required to remain in the required three credit hours of enrollment. 

Previous Publication of Materials

Students who have previously published portions of their electronic thesis or dissertation in professional journals or in books must demonstrate who ultimately retains the copyright to the published works before material can be made publicly available in UH Libraries’ Vireo repository. It is the student’s responsibility to determine copyright ownership; he/she should consult the contracts signed between the corresponding author and the publisher to determine the copyright holder.

Future Publication of Materials

It is recommended that any future publication (article or book) include a note indicating that the material is, or is based upon, a thesis or dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designated degree at the University of Houston.

Take Down Policy

The University of Houston Institutional Repository (UH IR) is intended to be a permanent archive of, and provide persistent access to, deposited theses and dissertations, among other materials. When authors submit their thesis or dissertation to the Vireo system, it will be deposited in the UH IR pending any embargo, and will only be removed under special circumstances, including copyright violations, plagiarism, or falsification of data . When authors leave the University, their material will remain in the repository. Authors who wish to request the removal of items that they, or others, have submitted to UH IR should contact the Library by emailing [email protected] . The requesters should provide a full statement of the rationale for removing the item, which will be reviewed by UH Libraries and the Graduate School. In cases where material is removed, the citation/metadata information will remain displayed.

Dissertation Format and Submission

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• Dissertation Submission
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Required Training

The tutorial below must be completed prior to scheduling a format check.

Quick Links

• Academic Affairs Administration Calendar Includes all deadlines for Spring, Summer, and Fall, including Dean submission deadlines
• Graduation Information (Registrar's Office) Instructions for how to apply and pay for graduation
• Vireo Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Submission System Submit and check the status of your dissertation
• HawkWorks Read past UHCL dissertations in the Institutional Repository
• EDLS Doctoral Guide Includes current information on the EDLS Doctoral program
• EDCI Dissertation Guide Policies & procedures relating to the EDCI Dissertation
• PsyD Dissertation Guide Policies & procedures relating to the PsyD Dissertation

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