Overview
Doctoral checklist: http://graduate.auburn.edu/current-students/doctoral-completion-checklist/
Both the general oral examination and final defense must be scheduled through the Graduate School.
General oral examination
May be referred to as preliminary examination or proposal defense and is scheduled using the general oral examination application form: general oral examination application form
According to the Auburn Bulletin, “At least one complete semester (preferably more than one) must intervene between the general oral and final examinations.”
The final year
The semester prior to graduation, students should register for graduation by logging in to AU Access and then clicking on the "Grad Application" icon.
The first deadline to submit the first draft of the dissertation (dissertation first submission approval form). Note that the advisory committee must approve the draft before it is sent to the university reader (i.e. committee needs time to read the thesis before signing the approval form.) After submission of the approval form, the university reader should be allowed two weeks to review the draft dissertation before the final defense.
“Form X” is sent by the Graduate School for scheduling the final defense.
“Form Z” is sent by the Graduate School to the student and major professor after the final defense has been scheduled.
Approval of the final version of the dissertation is documented with the electronic thesis/dissertation final approval form: electronic thesis/dissertation final approval form