Preliminary Technical Review
Each graduate student is required to undergo a preliminary technical review at least 14 days prior to their defense. Reviews are conducted by the Dissertation and Thesis Office housed within the Graduate School.
Schedule your Review
Students should schedule a preliminary review on our Microsoft Bookings calendar. Students will receive a Teams Meeting link in their scheduling confirmation email.
Prior to your Meeting
Review the Dissertation and Thesis Formatting Guidelines. Consider copy-pasting your work into the Dissertation/Thesis template provided. You must do your best to apply all formatting guidelines including spacing, margins, fonts, etc. to your work prior to meeting.
If our guidelines have clearly not been applied to your document, your review will be cancelled and you will need to reschedule for a later date.
Submitting your Document
By the morning of your review, please log in to our submission system at https://baylor-etd.tdl.org. You MUST use the "Shibboleth Login." Click Shibboleth Login before entering your credentials. Do not try to log in by creating an account with your email; doing so will create login issues down the road.
Complete the initial information in steps 1-3. Be sure to select "Graduate School" for your school, NOT "Baylor."
In Step 4, “Upload Your Files,” scroll down and read all sticky notes along the right side before you begin. Upload documents per the instructions and complete the process. You are required to submit the following (all forms can be found on our forms page):
- A PDF of your entire document as your "primary" document.
- A filled (but unsigned) signature page (PDF) as an "administrative" document. Do not attempt to insert the signature page into Word or the PDF of your dissertation/thesis at this stage. You must have this at your preliminary review so that we can confirm it is formatted correctly before you seek out signatures at your defense.
- Doctoral students should also complete the Doctoral Investment Form.
The Review
The graduate assistants in the Dissertation and Thesis Office will review your submission and prepare feedback. They will screen-share and walk through this feedback with you during the 30-minute review, which is conducted via Teams through the link sent to you upon scheduling.
Post-Review
After meeting with one of our graduate assistants, the GA will upload the version of your dissertation or thesis that contains their comments to the submission portal. They will also upload your approved signature page for use at your defense.
Within 10 days after your defense date, upload your new document with all of your formatting changes and any content revisions required by your committee along with your signed signature page. Our team will then conduct a post-defense review and inform you of any additional changes required before approval by the Dissertation and Thesis Program Director. (No additional meeting required.)
You will also complete the online Copyright and Final Approval form. (Link and instructions also found on our forms page.)