Whiting School conferrals get processed three times each year, in spring, summer, and fall. Guidance on completion deadlines and conferral types can be found here. Guidance on graduation policies and ceremonies can be found here. After you pass your defense and finalize your dissertation edits, your advisor will prepare and provide a Reader’s Letter signed by all committee members to department academic staff, which documents final approval of your dissertation. Once received by the department, you can submit your dissertation to the library. See information about that process here. There is a $60 submission fee associated with this submission that will be covered by the department. Please contact department academic staff when the time comes to arrange funding for this expense. After your dissertation has been approved by the library, you will receive an email entitled “Your ETD submission is approved” from etd-support@jhu.edu. You must forward that email to academic staff for the purposes of conferral processing.

Additional actions on your degree completion to-do list include:

  • Apply to graduate in SIS. Go to your SIS Self-Service drop down menu, choose “Registration” > “Program of Study” > “Apply to Graduate”. Complete all required fields and click “Submit.” Lots of students forget this part. The Registrar sets “apply to graduate” deadlines, which you can review here.
  • Share your last day on payroll with academic staff as soon as possible. Overpayments often occur if this information isn’t provided at least three weeks prior to your last day. Settling up with the university isn’t fun for anyone, so best avoid this if you’re able.
  • Check your transcript for missing grades and work to resolve them, since grades for all courses must be entered for your degree to be conferred. If you have a grade(s) missing, please reach out to the instructor and ask them to follow up. Per the Registrar, faculty must summit late grades directly in SIS. If your instructor asks how, you can direct them to this page for guidance on submitting late grades.
  • If you have questions about health insurance coverage, reach out to SEAM with your inquiry or email JHUStudentBenefits@jhu.edu for more information.
  • If you’re an F-1 visa holder, be in communication with OIS early on to work through the OPT application process. Note that due to F-1 visa regulations, students are not allowed to work in their graduate assistant position past the last day of exams in their last semester of enrollment, so please plan accordingly.

Questions about any of the above should be sent to department academic staff.