Question: What does "TAD" stand for in TAD Services, and what is an "ETD"?
Answer: TAD=Thesis and dissertation; ETD=Electronic thesis or dissertation.

Question: Where can I find required forms for filing a thesis or dissertation?
Answer: All forms are online at our Web site www.ohio.edu/etd under Step 2.

Question: How do I get more information about how to file my thesis or dissertation?
Answer: Visit www.ohio.edu/etd and carefully follow the steps provided. Free TAD Graduation Workshops and Word/PDF trainings are offered each quarter but are not mandatory. Workshop dates, times, and how to register are all found on the TAD Services Web site under Steps 1 and 2.

Question: Where do I send my document for review?
Answer: Email your document in Microsoft Word to etd@ohio.edu. The secure Web site www.yousendit.com is recommended for large files.

Question: Where do I obtain a formatted thesis/dissertation template?
Answer: All templates are posted at www.ohio.edu/etd under Step 1.

Question: Where is the TAD Services office located?
Answer: TAD Services is physically located in Research and Technology Center 114. We are a branch of the Graduate College but do not have the staff to collect all incoming paperwork. Thus, all TAD Services paperwork can be dropped off at the front desk of McKee House, 44 University Terrace (we pick up our mail there on a regular basis)

Question: I'm planning to use a friend's paper to compare formatting. Is this OK?
Answer: We strongly discourage students from using a past document as a formatting template.
Updated, campus-wide formatting guidelines have recently been put online. By using our Web site and its templates, you guarantee that the formatting and guidelines are the most current. If you want to look at accepted ETDs in your field, we recommend finding the most current documents from OU on OhioLINK.

Question: Many publishers will not consider previously published work. If I submit my document electronically, will I have trouble publishing it elsewhere? Is uploading my document to OhioLINK also considered "publishing" it?
Answer:  Overall, ETDs have been a positive and natural choice for OU students, helping them find jobs, get into higher education programs, gain access to important research, and serving as an alternative to paper submissions (which can be expensive, time-consuming, and are accessed far less then ETDs).

However, students who plan to publish exact material from their ETD—whether in part or in whole—should be especially cautious. TAD Services recommends that students carefully research future publication options with their advisors and with publishers themselves. Generally, a publication in a journal, book, etc., looks very different in layout, format, and content from an ETD, so publishers do not consider an ETD previously published. In fact, publishers are sometimes even more interested in publishing material based on ETDs that have been popular online (ProQuest/UMI).

Still concerned? Explore the publication delay option described below.

Question: What is a publication delay, and should I consider obtaining one?
Answer:  Publication delays can be requested if a student is concerned with future publishing of an article, collected poetry or short stories, a book, or a pending patent. TAD Services strongly suggests that a student request a publication delay if he or she plans to publish text from their manuscript that is in a similar or exact format.

If you decide you want a publication delay, the form is posted online at www.ohio.edu/etd under Step 2. Complete, print, sign, and drop off the form (and the required hard paper copy for the OU Library) to TAD Services by the deadline for the quarter.

Q: How long does it take for my document to appear on OhioLINK?
Answer: Generally, your document will appear on OhioLINK by the end of the quarter following your graduation. The degree must be posted to the student transcript before the final accuracy check and release of the document to OhioLINK occurs. Dissertation documents are released first to increase the processing time through ProQuest/UMI (Dissertation Abstracts).

Question:  Can I send my document to TAD Services in several parts?
Answer: TAD Services encourages students to submit their final documents as one Microsoft Word file, but some documents are more difficult to combine than others. If issues arise, TAD Services will accept individual Word files. If filing electronically, the final Word files can be converted to PDF format and combined before filing in the OhioLINK database.

Question:  How large can a thesis or dissertation document be?
Answer: TAD Services can receive documents smaller than 17 MB via email for review and approval. Large documents can take up to an hour to be received by TAD Services at etd@ohio.edu. For documents larger than 17 MB, the student may send the document through an online document transport system, such as www.yousendit.com or by burning the document onto a CD and dropping it off to the Graduate College, McKee House, 44 University Terrace.

Question: Why do I receive emails from different individuals at TAD Services?
Answer: TAD Services has a team of manuscript specialists who check for different formatting details throughout the submission process, from your preliminary review to your final advisor-approved document review. Therefore, separate manuscript specialists may uncover additional suggestions or changes, and we encourage more than one set of eyes to review each document. Most students go through an average of three reviews before the document format is accepted by TAD Services. Instructions are then sent to the student for uploading to OhioLINK or printing to paper.

Question: If I submit my document electronically, will my department still need a printed hard copy?
Answer: Some departments still require a printed copy, while others do not. Please check with your adviser regarding departmental expectations of printed copies and where to deliver them if they are required.

Question: What items must TAD Services receive by the quarter deadline?
Answer: TAD Services must receive the final post-oral defense document at etd@ohio.edu (with a note stating this is the final document approved by the advisor) by 3:00 p.m. on the deadline date for the quarter. (This means the student has applied for graduation by the quarterly deadline, defended, has made all required changes, and has received the approval on the final document from the advisor. At this point, no other changes can be made to the content of the document.)

All required submission forms should also be received by TAD Services for:

Master students: TAD Submission form

Doctoral students: TAD Submission form, Online SED, and ProQuest/UMI Submission Form within a day or two of the deadline (if not already complete).

To ensure a timely graduation, students are highly encouraged to avoid filing their final document on or near the deadline for the quarter.

Question: What if I miss the deadline for the quarter?
Answer: If the final post-oral defense document is not received by TAD Services by 3:00 p.m. on the deadline date for the quarter, the file is automatically moved to the following quarter. The deadline for the quarter is a fixed date that cannot be moved and ensures that all campus offices can complete the necessary graduation paperwork before grades are due.

Does the student have another option? Yes, the student may complete all six steps of the thesis or dissertation process before the first day of the following quarter and (in most cases) avoid paying tuition in the following quarter, as long as the student has 1) received permission from the department to be a "early filer" 2) has reapplied to graduate for the following quarter, and 3) has no Visa restrictions requiring that they be registered. (This still means the students will graduate in the following quarter.) Contact the International Student Services office at (740) 593-9330 if you are an international student to find out if your Visa may allow this option.

Information from the ISS Office: "International students would not generally be eligible for the non-registration part of the policy. In some cases, however, students may file their applications for optional practical training (OPT) with a start date during their last quarter of study, and that may exempt the student from needing to enroll.  The student would need to meet with an ISFS advisor to discuss that. Another factor is that if a student's I-20 visa document expires and the student does not graduate, he/she may be out of status because a "program extension" was not filed before the expiration date.  Again, the student would need to meet with an ISFS advisor for more information."

For Early Filers: the final post-oral defense document must be received by TAD Services at etd@ohio.edu by 10:00 a.m. the Wednesday before the first day of the quarter (this day may change due to holidays). TAD Services must have all required submission forms, conduct and approve the final format of the document, and send the final TAD Process Complete email before the first day of the quarter in order for the process to be considered complete and for the student to avoid paying tuition. The student must re-apply for graduation (a $5 reapplication fee) and should remember he or she will still be considered a graduate for the following quarter.  *To avoid unneccessary emails from our office, please let TAD Services know if you intend to be an early filer.