Obtaining signatures from committee members on the Post-Defence Committee Approval form

1.Download the Approval form template (new in March 2025):

•  Master's/Doctoral Post-Defence Committee Approval Form - Sole Supervisor version  
•  Master's/Doctoral Post-Defence Committee Approval Form - Co-Supervisors version 

2. Follow the instructions in the template to populate with the name of each member of your Master's or Doctoral Committee.

(Doctoral only) add also your PhD External Examiner who has been assigned for the defence (as per the PhD external examiner process).

3. Proceed with obtaining a signature from each member, as outlined below. 

A signature on the Post-Defence Committee Approval page indicates a committee member's approval of the final post-defence document. Signatures must be obtained after the defence from each member of the student's Master's/ Doctoral Committee, including from a committee member who attended the defence virtually or was absent at the defence. If a committee member was absent and/or is unable to sign the approval page electronically or otherwise, an email in lieu of a signature would also be acceptable, as outlined below.

Suggested options for obtaining a committee member's approval and signature

Committee members may use any method of their choice for signing the Approval form. The recommended method is via digital signatures on the Post-Defence Committee Approval form:

1.The student will give access to committee members to their populated Post-Defence Committee Approval form (view how to share OneDrive files). As an alternative to sharing the form, it may be circulated via email to each committee member in turn. 

2. Each committee member will input their digital signature into the shared Approval form when they are satisfied that any requested post-defence changes/edits have been completed by the student. View step by step instructions for inserting a digital signature to a PDF form. 

Although digital signatures are recommended, Committees may decide on any other preferred method of signing, including printing the Approval form and obtaining handwritten signatures. The following are examples of other options available to Committee members:

• the committee member may create and insert a scanned handwritten signature
• the committee member may take a photograph of their hand-written signature (e.g. using a cell phone / digital camera) to create a picture file, then upload the image to their computer (e.g. as a .jpg file), and insert it into the Approval form.
• if a committee member was absent at the defence and/or is unable to insert a digital or scanned handwritten signature, an email from that committee member confirming their approval will be acceptable. The email must state e.g. "This email is in lieu of my signature on the Post-Defence Committee Approval form for ...(student name) to confirm that I have approved the final thesis/major paper/dissertation and it can be deposited with the Graduate Studies office". The student will forward a copy of the email along with the Approval form when submitting the form.

Submit the fully signed Approval form to your Department (graduate program secretary) and promptly proceed to complete the post-Defence Deposit with graduate studies.