The majority of SHESC graduate programs are PhD programs.  Students without an MA/MS degree accepted into PhD programs begin in Phase I.  Phase I culminates with a Master’s degree (known as a "Master’s-in-passing" or simply MIP) that is posted to the transcript.  Pending approval of the culminating experience and receipt of the MIP, such students continue into Phase II of the PhD program. Students with MA/MS degrees accepted into PhD programs begin in Phase II. All graduate students at ASU are subject to Graduate College policies.

PhD Phase I Procedures & Paperwork (pre-MA) 

• Identify faculty advisor during fall of year 1.
• Faculty committee must be approved before filing iPOS
• File PhD iPOS during spring of year 1 (see below for information on how to file your iPOS).
• Notify graduate specialist via email of your intention to earn the MIP at the beginning of your third semester in which you intend to earn the degree (include your ID number in the email).
• Identify remainder of master's committee and submit the SHESC Committee formation document to the graduate specialist along with a memo from your chair explaining committee membership and a one-page statement from you regarding your research interests.
• Your MIP committee should have 3 members total.
• To facilitate the process, co-chairs, external members, and 4-person committees are not recommended for the MIP.
• Thus, your MIP committee may be somewhat different from your eventual PhD committee.

The graduate specialist submits an MIP request form to the Graduate College, at which point the MIP iPOS is generated and appears in MyASU.

• • Graduate College will not generate an MIP iPOS unless the PhD iPOS has been approved.
• Complete the MIP iPOS as soon as possible after it has been generated.
  • You cannot apply to graduate with the MIP until your MIP iPOS has been approved.
• Apply to graduate (via MyASU).
  • Be sure you apply to graduate with the Master's degree, not the PhD.
  • The deadline to apply to graduate is posted online with other graduation deadlines, but occurs in early October in fall and early February in spring.
  • There is an application fee, but if you do not graduate in the semester you pay the fee it will roll forward; you only have to pay the fee once per degree.
• Complete research paper/portfolio and present at MA Symposium.
• Turn in the signed MA/MS culminating experience paperwork electronically upon successful completion of requirements.

PhD Phase II Procedures & Paperwork (post-MA)

• Identify faculty advisor during fall of year 1.
• File PhD iPOS during spring of year 1 (see below for information on how to file your iPOS).
• Identify remainder of doctoral committee and submit the SHESC Committee formation document to the graduate specialist along with a memo from your chair explaining committee membership.
  • The committee must have at least three members, at least half of whom are regular or research faculty within the School. Except in unusual circumstances, committees with more than four members are not recommended.
  • The chair or co-chair must be a regular or research faculty within the School.  Emeritus faculty normally may serve as sole chair for no more than one year after the date of their retirement.
  • At least one other member must be a regular or research faculty within the School.
  • The third (and possible fourth) members may be from within or outside the School. For external members, fill out Graduate College's Committee Approval Request form and turn it in to the SHESC Main Office (SHESC 233) along with the member's most recent CV.
  • Your committee members' names should be typed or printed and they sign in the "signature" column. You do not have to fill out section II of the form, but once section I is completed turn it in to the graduate specialist, along with the memo and statement, for circulation among the appropriate graduate committee members. Note that for anthropology, all approach conveners sign the form before it goes to the head of the grad committee and the director of SHESC. For non-anthropology degrees, the degree director signs the form before it goes to the head of the grad committee and the director of SHESC.
• Update the iPOS to reflect the entire committee membership.
  • If changes in committee membership later become necessary (after the iPOS has been filed and approved) the iPOS must be updated to reflect the new committee.
  • If the chair or 2 or more members of the committee change, the SHESC paperwork must be resubmitted.
• Per degree requirements for your program, complete comprehensive examinations.
  • Have your committee sign the Comprehensive Exam form and turn it in to the graduate specialist. 
  • Put the date your committee notified you of your exam results in the field labeled "DATE WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION TAKEN."
  • The graduate specialist will get the head of academic unit signature for you.
  • Once the results are entered, you will see your results in the "my programs and degree progress" box in MyASU under the iPOS tab.
• Per the requirements of your degree program, defend dissertation proposal (sometimes also called prospectus).
  • Proposal defenses have a public component and may also have a private component. Generally you want to reserve a room for 2 hours (maybe 3 so there is half an hour on either end for set up/break down). The front office staff can help you reserve a room and any equipment you might need.
  • Once you know the time/date/location of your defense, email that information to the graduate specialist with a list of your committee members, a title, and a one-paragraph abstract. Send this information two weeks before the defense so that an announcement can run in the weekly Graduate Digest.
  • After the proposal defense, have your committee sign the Dissertation Proposal form and turn it in to the graduate specialist.
  • The graduate specialist will get the head of academic unit signature for you.
  • Once the results are entered, you will see your results in the "my programs and degree progress" box in MyASU under the iPOS tab. You will also be able to download your candidacy letter. If you don't download the letter and the option to do so disappears, contact the graduate specialist, who can get you another copy.
• Conduct research for dissertation and write up disseration.
  • "Readers". There is no offical process to have a "reader" for your dissertation. A reader will be ancillary and will not have any authority over whether you pass or not and therefore will be an informal member. Your Chair, however, should approve of the reader and you should keep an electronic paper trail.
  • 3-Paper Dissertation Option. ASU policies. SHESC policies.
• Apply to graduate (via MyASU) by the deadline in the semester in which you anticipate defending.
  • The deadline to apply to graduate is posted online with other graduation deadlines, but occurs in early October in fall and early February in spring.
  • There is an application fee, but if you do not graduate in the semester you pay the fee it will roll forward; you only have to pay the fee once per degree.
• Schedule defense (at least 10 working days in advance).
  • Please refer to the Graduate College's defense page, which contains information on:
    • Overall defense procedures
    • Deadlines 
    • Formatting 
    • Submitting to ProQuest
  • You must communicate with your committee members to determine a date and time for the defense of your dissertation
  • Dissertation defenses are public and must be held during business hours on days that the university is open for business.
    • There are some blackout days when no defenses can be held, so use the defense scheduling link in the "my programs and degree progress" box in MyASU under the defense tab to make sure the day you want is available.
    • You must reserve a room for at least 2 hours (maybe 3 so there is half an hour on either end for set up/break down).
    • Once you know the time/date/location of your defense, use the defense scheduling link in the iPOS to schedule your defense with Graduate College.
    • Email your one-paragraph defense abstract and information to the graduate specialist, communications manager and assistant to director with a list of your committee members, title, date, time, and location. Send this information two weeks before the defense so that an announcement can run in the weekly Graduate Digest. 
    • A DocuSign form will be sent to your committee members 7 days prior to the date of your scheduled dissertation defense; this form is used to indicate whether you pass or fail.
    • Hold your defense (Good Luck!)
    • Once the form has been received and entered by the Graduate College, you will see your results in the "my programs and degree progress" box in MyASU under the defense tab. Following your defense, a "next steps" link will appear with instructions for the Survey of Earned Doctorates and ETD/ProQuest.
  • Please review the Absent Committee Member Procedures  (50% of your committee and the Chair (or one co-chair) must be physically present.) If a member of your committee cannot be present for your dissertation at least 10 days before your scheduled defense, then:
    • A proxy is then used. He/she must be approved to serve on a committee for the program and the Chair and Graduate Director must approve the appointment and forward (or CC) approvals to the graduate specialist who will submit the request to Graduate College for the proxy. The absent committee member and the proxy must be notated as well as the email address for the proxy so they can receive the DocuSign form.
• Send an email to the graduate specialist asking that any outstanding "Z" grades on your transcript be changed to "Y."

Terminal Master's Procedures & Paperwork

Students in Museum Studies and Global Health are accepted into their respective terminal MA programs.  Upon completion of the Master’s, such students have completed their graduate work at SHESC (i.e., they do not automatically continue on into a PhD).  These students may apply to a PhD program in SHESC according to the normal process and deadlines; if accepted, they would enter in Phase II.

• Complete the iPOS by the time you have earned 50% of the credits required for the degree.
• Apply to graduate (via MyASU) by the posted deadline for the semester in which you intend to graduate.
  • The deadline to apply to graduate is posted online with other graduation deadlines, but occurs in early October in fall and early February in spring.
  • There is an application fee, but if you do not graduate in the semester you pay the fee it will roll forward; you only have to pay the fee once per degree.
• Complete the relevant culminating experience.
  • For museum studies, a research portfolio and presentation. Turn in the MA/MS culminating experience paperwork electronically once complete.
  • Global health students take applied project credit so a culminating experience form is not required; however, make sure that your chair contacts the graduate specialist for any grade changes to applied project credit from prior semesters.

Paperwork for Special Circumstances 

• Student Committee Approval. If one or more of your committee members is outside SHESC or ASU and you are unable to add them to your iPOS, please fill out the Student Committee Approval form and turn it in to the graduate specialist along with that individual's most recent CV.
  • Per SHESC policy, at least 50% of your committee must be regular SHESC faculty. So if you have 2 external members you need a 4-person committee.
  • Your PhD Supervisory Committee formation documents must be correct and on file with the graduate specialist to add an external member.
• Student Committee Change. If you decide to change your committee chair or members, you must fill out the Committee Change Form. Once you have collected all appropriate signatures, please submit the form to the graduate student academic success specialist.
• Annual Mentoring Plan. You must fill out a mentoring plan form during your annual committee meeting. Please fill out sections 1-3 of the mentoring plan before you meet with your committee and bring the document to the meeting, where the remaining sections will be filled out in consultation with you committee.
• Request to maintain continuous enrollment (a.k.a. "leave of absence"). There are separate versions of the form for doctoral students and master's/certificate students.
  • Graduate students planning to discontinue registration for a semester or more must request approval to maintain continuous enrollment. This request must be submitted and approved before the anticipated semester of non-registration.
  • Students may request to maintain continuous enrollment without course registration for a maximum of two semesters during their entire program.
  • By requesting to maintain continuous enrollment without course registration, you affirm that you will not be making use of any University resources for the time period indicated. These resources include University Libraries, laboratories, recreation facilities or faculty time.
  • A leave of absence does not stop your time to degree "clock." For a doctoral degree, you have 10 years total or 5 years after your written comprehensive exam, whichever is less. For a master's degree, you have 6 years total. For a certificate, you have 3 years total.
  • Generally approved reasons for a leave of absence include illness of yourself or a close family member.
• Request for an extension. Fill out a petition to the Graduate College, have it signed by your committee, and turn it in to the graduate specialist. The specialist will get the head of academic unit signature and submit it to Grad Education. The petition should include:
  • The reason you have been unable to complete the degree by your deadline.
  • A timeline of the work remaining until degree completion, including specific dates.
  • A statement acknowledging that you understand only one extension of time to degree may be granted. If you don't complete the remaining work and graduate according your timeline, no further extensions will be granted and you will be terminated from the degree program.
  • Generally speaking, you must be advanced to candidacy in order for a petition for an extension to be considered.
  • The maximum extension granted is typically one year.
• Enrollment and Degree Verification for Outside Agencies and Third Parties. Arizona State University has contracted with the National Student Clearinghouse to process all enrollment and degree verification requests for employers, employment agencies, background search firms, and various other businesses that offer products or services based on the individual's status as an enrolled student. 
  • If you need assistance, contact National Student Clearinghouse directly at 703-742-4200
  • If the National Student Clearinghouse can confirm the degree or enrollment, the response is immediate and requestors will be able to print or obtain a PDF version of the verification.
  • Enrollment verifications for each term will be available starting the first week of classes for that term.
  • A fee will be charged for this service.
  • To request an Enrollment Verification:
    • Go to your MyASU and navigate to your My Classes box
    • Select Grades & Transcripts
    • Select Transcripts & Test Scores
    • Select Enrollment Verification 
  • If you need special information on your enrollment verification, or if you need a specialty verification form completed such as the Canadian or Alaskan form, submit an Enrollment Verification Request Form (see instructions on form) to any registration location (photo ID required for in person visits.)
• Verification of Full-Time/Half-Time Status. If you have advanced to candidacy, will be registered for fewer than 6 credit hours in a given semester, and have student loans you would like to keep "in school," please fill out this form and put it in the graduate specialist's (shesc.grad@asu.edu) mailbox so that they may get the signatures and submit to the Registrar. This form does not permit new borrowing.

Resources for iPOS 

The iPOS is a list of all coursework and credits taken that will be counted toward the degree. It must be filed by the time 50% of the credits for the degree have been earned. If it is not filed by that point, your registration will be cut off until your iPOS is complete. Your iPOS must be complete, updated, and approved at the time of all milestones including the MIP, comprehensive exams, dissertation proposal, and dissertation defense. For more information, see Graduate College's iPOS page. For a walk-through of the iPOS process that includes screen shots, see the iPOS Training Manual.

• Access your iPOS.  You can access it via myASU → My Programs and Degree Progress box → iPOS tab → Graduate Interactive Plan of Study
  • Select the appropriate degree. For the PhD, the next screen should state that your requirements are 84 hours, a Written Comprehensive Exam, and a Dissertation.
  • Reminder: You need to allow pop-ups on your internet browser when filing your iPOS.
• Apply previous Master’s degree from another institution.  If you were awarded a Master’s degree from a previous university, you can elect to apply a blanket 30 credit hours from the degree to your doctoral POS.
  • Select “yes” when asked whether you want to apply a previously awarded Master’s.
  • Select the appropriate Master’s degree to apply.  It should list the university and the year awarded.
  • If you do not see a link at the top of the page saying Previous Degree, please contact the graduate specialist.
  • Please remember that if you apply the blanket 30 hours from the Master’s degree, you do not want to explicitly list any courses that were counted toward the Master’s program of study/degree (i.e., you cannot count credits twice).
• Master’s in Passing (MiP) from ASU.  If you were awarded a Master’s in Passing from ASU as part of your movement through the PhD program, do not apply the blanket 30 credit hours from the degree to your doctoral POS.
  • Select “no” when asked whether you want to apply a previously awarded Master’s.
  • Import all the courses that you want to count toward your PhD off of your transcript (see "select your courses" below).
• Select your courses.  The easiest way to do this is to pull directly from your transcript, then delete any excess courses.
  • Reminder: You need to list a minimum of 54 hours of credit if you have applied a previously awarded Master’s. If you are not applying a previous Master's, you must list 84 credits. If you list an extra hour or two because of a 4 credit hour class, that is fine. However, you cannot submit with less and should not submit with more.
  • Acceptable courses to list on the iPOS include anything 500 –level or above (except 595 Continuing Registration). You can, with the permission of your chair, have up to 6 relevant 400-level credits on your iPOS.
  • You should not list more than 12 hours of 792 Research; however, you can list less.  You can list 592 Research hours in addition to 792 Research.
  • You are required to list 12 hours exactly of 799 Dissertation work (no more, no less). Please be aware of this when registering, and always register in increments that will add up to exactly 12.
  • You can list courses that are in progress and don’t have a grade yet.  If you are adding courses from the current semester after the semester has begun, they will appear on your transcript (not as future courses).
  • To add courses that will occur in the future (not including the current semester), select “Future Courses” button then fill in the anticipated course and semester/year you will take it.
• Select any transfer courses. 
  • Most of you won’t need this option as your coursework will have been completed here at ASU or will have been applied via the previously awarded Master’s.
  • You cannot list more than 9 hours of transfer work from another institution.
• Select an advisor.  You have the option to list your entire committee or just your advisor/chair.  SHESC prefers that you list your committee in its entirety.  If you have co-chairs, the system will not allow you to submit unless you list your committee in its entirety.
  • Your committee must match the committee that is listed on your PhD Committee Approval form, which should be on file with the graduate specialist.
  • If you do not have a PhD Committee Approval signature form yet on file, you will need to complete one and submit it to the graduate specialist before your iPOS can be approved.
  • If one of your committee members is from outside SHESC or the ASU and comes up as “not found” during the search, please fill out the Student Committee Approval form and turn it in to the graduate specialist along with the individual's most recent CV. External members cannot be the sole chair, but can co-chair.
• Submit your iPOS. Once submitted, it should say "pending in the academic unit."
• Print off the summary pages.  You will want to print off both the “Courses” page and the “Approval” page links found on the right side of the page.
  • After you have printed off both pages you will need to have them signed by your advisor/chair.
  • If you have co-chairs you only need the signature of one person, though you will want to let your other co-chair/members look at your iPOS pages to confirm that they also approve.
• Hand in the papers to the graduate specialist. 
  • Once you have obtained your advisor’s signature on both pages, you will want to submit them to the graduate specialist, who will obtain the head of the academic unit’s signature for you and electronically approve your iPOS.
• Update your iPOS as necessary. Projections don't always match reality. If you don't register for courses you projected during the semester you said you would, or if the prefix/number/title or number of credits don't match, a "course not found" error will be generated.
  • Periodically (before degree milestones) you should check your iPOS to be sure that your committee and all coursework are correct.
  • If there are errors or out of date information, you can submit a committee or course change to correct them.
  • Once you have corrected the information, submit the changes so they are "pending in the academic unit" and email the graduate specialist for review and approval.