Steps in the Final-Approval Process

1. After the dissertation committee approves the applied dissertation, the student must send a complete copy of the dissertation by regular mail to the attention of “Format Review” at the Applied Research Center (ARC). The receipt of the document initiates the final-approval process. See the “Notice to Students Concerning the Process for Submission of Applied Dissertation for Final Approval” for details.
2. The ARC staff verifies that committee approval has been officially granted and that a completed and signed Format Checklist is attached to the dissertation. Additionally, the ARC staff verifies that registration and financial records are in order and that a grade recommendation has been received. This process may take several days. After the committee approval and student records are verified, the manuscript is assigned to a format reviewer.
3. The dissertation is reviewed for format in the order in which it is received by the reviewer. Most documents are reviewed within 15 business days of receipt. If revisions are required, the format review will be sent to the student's NSU e-mail account. The format-review phase continues until all format issues have been resolved.
4. Upon the resolution of all format issues (whether by the first submission or by a subsequent revision), the student will receive notification that the format-review phase has been completed. The notification is sent to the student’s NSU e-mail address. After completion of the format review, the document is referred to the academic program’s professor of applied research.
5. The professor’s review may take up to 10 business days. In some cases, the professor may communicate with the student’s committee chair to suggest changes or revisions. The professor’s review process will continue until all specified issues have been resolved.
6. After the professor’s review has been completed, the executive dean for research and evaluation will notify the student (by e-mail and regular mail) of the final approval of the applied dissertation. The notification will include directions to send final copies, a disk, and required paperwork. Upon receipt of the notification, the student should secure the signatures of the committee chair and committee member (if applicable) for the approval page.
7. When all required documents are received by the ARC, notification of the fulfillment of requirements will be sent to the Fischler School of Education and Human Services’ degree conferral office (Academic Progress Oversight). The official completion date of applied research requirements is the date that all completed and required documents are received by the ARC.
8. The university registrar will post a grade for the applied dissertation within approximately 2 weeks of receipt by the ARC of the required documents.