Sample Approval Sheets
One of the most important pages in your thesis/dissertation is the Approval Sheet. This is the document that shows your committee has approved the content of your thesis or dissertation, and a copy of it will remain in your official records. Please follow the sample exactly. If you're exhausted before your defense and you can only be sure of getting one thing right — make it this page!
Approval Sheet Guidelines
- Format: Margins are the same as the thesis/dissertation (minimum one inch). There is no page number. Please use the sample as a guide.
- Wording: Use the wording in the samples, but substitute your name (precisely as you are registered at the University), your title and your major. Do NOT include your concentration: If you have any questions about how your major is listed, please contact the Graduation Specialists. NOTE: All theses and dissertations are now submitted in electronic form, so the letter portion of the Approval sheet should state "electronic copy", (never paper!) Please proofread this page carefully before obtaining signatures; we strongly recommend that you have it reviewed by the Thesis/Dissertation consultant prior to the defense!
- Signature lines: The Approval Sheet should have precisely as many lines as you have committee members. Your major professor is listed first and separately; the other committee members are listed lower and on the left, following the layout and wording in the sample. You must include their typed names below their signature lines. Include the names only; Omit titles like "Dr." and "Ph.D.". Still lower, on the right, is the signature line for the Dean of the Graduate School (older samples may have an outdated name and title here, so be sure you are using an up-to-date version). The current Dean is Dr. Carolyn R. Hodges, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. Please double-check this name and title carefully! The Dean's name and signature line should line up with the name and signature line of the major professor. There should not be a comma after the Dean's name (her title goes on the line below her name). Remember, do not include the title "Dr.". Please do not right-justify or offset these names, but line them up with a margin or tab set to the center of your page. See the sample.
- Proofread: It is very important that you proofread and edit your approval sheet very carefully, as this is an official University document. For instance, the period goes inside the quotation marks of your title. Be certain to have the Thesis/Dissertation Consultant review your Approval Sheet at least once before you defend.
- Copies: It is recommended that you get at least three copies signed by your committee (original signatures). You will turn in one copy with your thesis or dissertation; you should retain one for your own records, and you may need a copy for your department, for funding agencies, future employers, etc. Many students choose to get extra copies signed in order to use them in bound copies of the thesis or dissertation. (Note: No bound copies are to be turned in to the Graduate School or to the library. Any bound copies are for personal copies, gifts, etc.)
- Paper: Print out your copies on plain white paper. No special paper is required.
- Submission: Bring all signed copies to the Thesis/Dissertation Consultant when you submit your thesis or dissertation. When your thesis or dissertation is accepted, you will receive the Dean's signature. The Thesis/Dissertation Consultant will keep one of the fully signed Approval Sheets and return your extras to you.
ETD Approval Sheets:
In addition to the paper copy, signed Approval Sheets, you will have an electronic copy of the Approval Sheet. This will be the first page of your ETD, although not assigned a page number. This ETD approval sheet is exactly the same as the signed copy, with one exception: The statement, centered at the bottom of the letter, which notes that the original signatures are on file with student records (See sample); and in the ETD version, committee members' names, as well as the Dean's name, are typed on or in place of the signature lines. This ETD Approval sheet should not be a scan of your signed approval sheet.
Approval Sheet Samples:
Contact The Consultant
Kris Bronstad
111 Student Services Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996
Phone: (865) 974-1337
Email (preferred): thesis@utk.edu