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Doctoral Actions Workflow

Graduate students can utilize the Doctoral Actions form to request to appoint or modify their Ph.D. committee, schedule or modify their qualifying exam, schedule or modify their dissertation defense, request to extend the deadline to enter candidacy, request to extend candidacy, submit the results of the qualifying exam, and/or submit the results of the dissertation defense. Students should refer to the Graduate School catalog for academic regulations. Students should check program regulations as individual programs may have additional requirements.

Please note the following deadlines:

  • Appoint/modify Ph.D. committee: Two weeks prior to the exam or defense date
  • Schedule/modify qualifying exam: Two weeks prior to the exam date
  • Schedule/modify dissertation defense: Two weeks prior to the defense date
  • Exam and dissertation results should be submitted immediately.

To view a pdf version of this user guide, including screenshots of YES, click here: Doctoral Actions User Guide.

Navigating to the Doctoral Actions Workflow

  1. Open the Doctoral Actions workflow at
    https://vanderbilt.kualibuild.com/app/builder/app/64108a7cf4e2d81965298e12/run.
  2. The Doctoral Actions workflow form will open. Student EMPLID, VUnetID, First Name, Last Name, and Email Address will pre-populate.

Completing the Form

  1. Select your academic program from the drop-down menu. This will be used for routing the form to the appropriate approvers.
  2. Select the applicable action(s) for your request.
  3. Click Next.

Appoint or Modify the Ph.D. Committee

Select the appropriate action.

Create a New Committee

Any and all existing committee members will be replaced.

  • Add information for each committee member.
  • Select Add Another Row as necessary.
  • Upload necessary files for requests to appoint a non-Graduate Faculty or someone from outside the university.
Modify Existing committee

Add or remove individual members from an existing committee.

  • Add, Delete, or Change role for one or multiple members of the committee. 
  • Select Add Another Row as necessary.
  • Upload necessary files for requests to appoint a non-Graduate Faculty or someone from outside the university.
Submit or Move to the Next Action

Click Back (to edit the first page of the form), Next (to move to the next action for multiple actions), or Submit (to submit the completed form). 

Schedule or Modify the Qualifying Exam

  1. Select the appropriate action. For either action, the Graduate School must be notified at least two weeks in advance.
  2. Enter Date, Time, and Location for the Qualifying Exam. Note: Students are responsible for room reservations.
  3. Click Back (to edit previous page[s] of the form), Next (to move to the next action for multiple actions), or Submit (to submit the completed form).

Schedule or Modify the Dissertation Defense

  1. Select the appropriate action. 
  2. Enter your Expected Graduation Term.
  3. Enter Date, Time, and Location for your Dissertation Defense. Note: Students are responsible for room reservations.
  4. Enter Dissertation Title in title case format. Note: If you have trouble seeing certain text when you paste it in, try copying/pasting the text as “Plain Text” instead. Often, when you paste text from another editor, the styles can come with it, including colors that can render the text unreadable.
  5. Click Back (to edit previous page[s] of the form), Next (to move to the next action for multiple actions), or Submit (to submit the completed form).

Extend Deadline to Enter Candidacy

  1. Enter the month, day, and year for the deadline extension to complete the qualifying exam by selecting the date from the calendar pop-up.
  2. Provide a rationale for the extension request.
  3. Click Back (to edit previous page[s] of the form), Next (to move to the next action for multiple actions), or Submit (to submit the completed form).

Extend Candidacy

  1. Enter the month, day, and year for the extension of the deadline to complete the dissertation defense requirements for Ph.D. degree conferral by selecting the date from the calendar pop-up.
  2. Provide a rationale for the extension request.
  3. Click Back (to edit previous page[s] of the form), Next (to move to the next action for multiple actions), or Submit (to submit the completed form).

Submit Qualifying Exam Results

This form should be initiated by the student immediately after the examination, including final outcome and dates. This form will be automatically routed to the program office and the Director of Graduate Studies before being routed to the Graduate School.

  1. Use the calendar widget to select the date of the qualifying exam.
  2. Use the calendar widget to select the date of the final outcome.
  3. Indicate the exam result.
  4. Click Back (to edit previous page[s] of the form), Next (to move to the next action for multiple actions), or Submit (to submit the completed form).

Submit Dissertation Defense Results

This form should be initiated by the student immediately following the oral defense. This form will be routed to the department or program office and reviewed by the program administrator and the Director of Graduate Studies, and finally routed to the Graduate School.

  1. Use the calendar widget to select the date of the dissertation defense.
  2. Indicate the results of the defense.
  3. Click Back (to edit previous page[s] of the form) or Submit (to submit the completed form).

Submission

Upon submission, you will receive an email indicating receipt of your form. Please allow 7-10 business days for departmental and school reviews. You will receive additional notifications upon approval. Please note that you will not be able to submit the form unless all required fields are completed. If an extra row(s) was inadvertently added to the committee tables, use the trash can icon to delete.

Approval Process

Requests for Doctoral Actions route to the following people/offices:

  • The program administrator of the department you select in step 1.
  • The Director of Graduate Studies for the department you select in step 1.
  • The Graduate School will determine that all necessary policy requirements have been met. Under certain circumstances, associate dean approval may also be required.
  • Upon final approval, the Office of the University Registrar will enter doctoral actions into the student information system.

Requests Sent Back

At any point in the process, an approver may send the form back to you for updates. If a request is sent back to you, you will receive an automated email message from the workflow system. Click View Item to access the form and make any necessary changes.

Notifications

Notifications about the Doctoral Workflow process will be sent as follows:

  • You will receive an email notification when you submit the request. The program administrator for your department will receive a carbon copy of this notification.
  • You will receive an email notification if your request is denied for any reason.
  • You will receive an email notification if your request is sent back to you for any reason.
  • You and the program administrator will receive an email notification if your request is approved, once the action has been processed. Official notification will go out to the committee within 1-2 business days.

Questions

Please contact the YES Help Line at yes@vanderbilt.edu or 615-343-4306 if you have questions about this application. Please contact the Graduate School or your program if you have questions about policies related to doctoral actions.