Instructions for post-defence document submission (Deposit) with Graduate Studies

Before proceeding with the Deposit, your document must have been approved by Graduate Studies for compliance with the format requirements - as outlined in the instructions to submit for pre-defence Format Checking.

• Follow the guidelines for obtaining committee signatures on the "Post-Defence Committee Approval" form.
• Submit the fully signed form to your Department (graduate program secretary).
• Promptly proceed with the next step: Deposit step #1 of 2 to upload a PDF copy of your document to the online repository portal, as outlined below.

Follow the instructions to upload to the online repository a soft copy (PDF) of your final committee-approved and format-approved document.

After uploading, proceed promptly to email your forms to graduate studies as outlined on the next step: "Deposit step #2 of 2 - email required forms". 

Submit the following forms via email as a PDF file attachment to thesis@uwindsor.ca:

1. the "Post-Defence Comittee Approval" form - fully signed as per the guidelines for obtaining committee signatures.
2. the "Thesis/dissertation non-exclusive license", completed and signed by the student - the license form is required for theses, dissertations, and creative writing projects but not for major papers and internship projects.
3. if requesting an initial embargo: the completed "Request for withholding" form must also be submitted at the time of the deposit - refer to the instructions for submitting a request for withholding under "Additional Information" in the next section on this page.

The graduate studies office will review the full Deposit submission under Steps 1 and 2 (uploaded thesis and forms) and will send a follow-up email (with a cc to the graduate program secretary) to confirm the Deposit requirement with graduate studies is complete. All deposit related correspondence will be sent to the student's UWindsor email.

Upon reviewing the full Deposit submission under Steps 1 and 2 (uploaded thesis and forms), the graduate studies office will send a follow-up email (with a cc to the graduate program secretary) to confirm the Deposit requirement with graduate studies is complete. 

Note that at peak times it may take 2-3 days to receive the follow-up confirmation email from the graduate studies office - regardless, the completion date for your Deposit requirement will be considered the date when both Deposit steps 1 and 2 have been completed in full, and not the date of the graduate studies follow-up confirmation email. 

Students who complete the Deposit after the posted Phase I grace period of the term must be registered for that term, as outlined in the Phase I policy. 

For information regarding graduation or obtaining an official letter to confirm degree completion, the Registrar's office have posted a number of graduation related instructions which can be found in the askUWindsor.ca graduation articles.

For additional questions regarding the deposit students may review the post-deposit FAQs.

No printed/hard copies are required to be submitted to graduate studies for the deposit. Students wishing to have thesis copies printed and bound for personal use may refer to 'Thesis binding options' under "Additional Information" in the next section on this page.

It is the student's responsibility to submit their "Requests for withholding" form to the graduate studies office at the time they complete deposit step #2 of 2. Refer to the instructions below:

After a processing period (6-8 weeks), a digital copy of the deposited document will be available as open access in the University of Windsor Scholarship@UWindsor digital institutional repository as well as in ProQuest (theses and dissertations only). If a thesis, major paper, or dissertation contains material which needs to be withheld temporarily from the public or the community of scholars for a variety of valid reasons (e.g. publication pending, patent pending, etc.), the candidate and their research supervisor(s) may request a period of withholding from circulation as follows:

• six months without cause being given;
• up to 1 year with good cause, as determined by the Faculty of Graduate Studies; 
• more than 1 year: requires explicit pre-approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies. The standard initial withholding period is up to 1 year, with the option of requesting an extension of the original embargo close to expiry, as specified on the "Request for withholding" form. If students believe they have reasons to request a longer initial withholding period that exceeds 1 year, they are to discuss with their thesis supervisor(s) who can submit a request to the Dean of Graduate Studies on their behalf outlining the extenuating circumstances for the request.

How to submit a request for withholding:

The request for withholding must be submitted by the student at the time of completing the deposit with Graduate Studies as follows:

1. The student downloads a "Request for Withholding a Major Paper/Thesis/Dissertation" form, completes the form, and obtains signatures from their research advisor(s). Note if there are 2 co-advisors both must sign the form.
2. When uploading the final PDF copy (as described above in Step 1 of the deposit), the student must select delayed release under access options for the same embargo period that is specified on the "Request for Withholding" form (6 months or 1 year). For theses and dissertations the delayed release option is under "Publishing option" of the online submission system; for major papers and internship papers - under "Embargo period". 
3. The student submits to Graduate Studies the completed and signed "Request for Withholding a Major Paper/Thesis/Dissertation" form along with the rest of the required deposit forms, as described above in Step 2 of the deposit.

Note that during the embargo period the full-text of your major paper, thesis or dissertation will not be publicly available, however, a brief record will be posted on the web including the abstract.

Hard-cover binding of dissertation/thesis/majorpaper/internship copies is not available through the Graduate Studies office. For the post-defence Deposit with the Graduate Studies office, submission of physical/hard copies is not required. The following are some options available to students wishing to order bound copies for personal use:

• The University Print Shop is offering document printing, along with being the liaison for hard-cover binding of major papers, theses, and dissertations through Wallaceburg Bookbinding. Please email printshop@uwindsor.ca for assistance or review the information posted on the PrintShop website.
• Hard-cover binding via ProQuest (only available for theses and dissertations): students completing the online PDF submission of their thesis or dissertation (Step 2 of the deposit) will be offered during the submission steps to purchase (optionally) bound copies for personal use of their thesis/dissertation from ProQuest, as specified under "Instructions for uploading a thesis or dissertation" on the online submission webpage. Students who have already graduated wishing to order bound copies for personal use of their previously submitted thesis or dissertation may refer to ProQuest's options and pricing for ordering bound copies which includes discount pricing listed under "Author Prices". For questions or to place an order students should contact ProQuest directly via phone at 1-800-521-0600 or email disspub@proquest.com to request a purchase link for the discounted author pricing.

Students must be registered in the current term if completing the defense or deposit after the Phase I period, as outlined in the Phase I policy and registration for students who are defending and/or depositing.