Once you’ve completed your coursework and passed your exam, submit your nomination to candidacy form. This form must be approved by the University Graduate School at least eight months before graduation and before the nomination of research committee form can be approved.

Submit the paperwork for candidacy as early as possible, as completing the bureaucratic process takes time. If you apply for a fellowship, you want to be sure you are eligible as soon as possible after completing your coursework and passing the qualifying exam.

Once your candidacy has been approved by the University Graduate School, you will have seven years to complete your degree, starting with the day you passed your qualifying exam.

Submit your nomination for candidacy

If your program has tracks/concentrations/subplans, make sure to note on the eDocs which track/concentration/subplan is being pursued. Because subplans are most commonly referred to as tracks or concentrations, that is the terminology used on the eDocs. (The term subplan is the term used in SIS, the Student Information System). This is important as the degree requirements may vary based on subplan. If the subplans are not ‘formal’ (showing in SIS), then the University Graduate

School (UGS) is unable to add these to the SIS record.

• When attaching an item to the eDocs or adding a note in the notes field, the attachment/entry must be saved before the eDocs is approved or the attachment/entry will be lost.
• If the qualifying exams take place over two or more dates, it is the date of the last/final exam upon which the candidacy expiration date is based. Candidacy expires seven years from the date of the (last) qualifying exam. The eDocs has two fields for exams dates. If you have three or more exam dates, place the last two dates in the eDocs and list the first date(s) in Notes field at the bottom. (At this time, there is only one department with than two qualifying exam dates.)
• A list of courses used to fulfill the major and minor requirements should be attached to

the eDocs. Note the bulletin year to use for the candidacy review in the field titled “Graduate Bulletin year used to determine course requirements for candidacy review.” This is a required field to complete to ensure the correct bulletin is being used for the review. Use a bulletin edition that is newer than the admit term but not a bulletin older than the admit term. Review the actual bulletin entry when creating the course list.

Due to a number of minors being formally approved and added to the bulletin, it is possible to pursue a minor that is not in the admit term bulletin but is in a more recent bulletin. If the minor is not listed in the bulletin being used for the review, check the most recent bulletin to see if the minor is in it before submitting an individualized minor request. A more recent bulletin is permitted to use for the minor portion of the review.