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Submitting your Thesis or Project to the Library

This guide contains all of the information that you will need to submit your thesis, project, or dissertation to the library.

Step 1: Prepare your thesis or project

This process is not difficult, but there are several steps and details. Please use the checklist above to make sure you aren't missing anything. The instructions listed on this page are for graduate students at CSUSM. If you are in the Joint Doctoral Program with UCSD, please use the instructions on the tab marked "Joint Doctoral Program with UCSD."

  • You must have your completed thesis or project saved as an ADA accessible Word document and should follow the style guidelines set forth by your academic program. If you are not sure what the style guidelines are, please consult with your faculty adviser. Please keep at least one back-up copy of this file in another location that is NOT on your computer. 
  • Your accessible Word file should have the unsigned departmental signature page as the first page of the document.  For your convenience, the library will insert a signature page into your document at the ADA formatting stage. If you want to insert it yourself, templates are available on the Signature Page Templates tab of this guide.  Signed signature pages are for department use only.

 

Step 2: ADA Compliance Formatting

ADA formatting is a complex process that requires a specific skill set. To save you time and stress, the library will make your Word document ADA compliant for you. Follow the instructions on the ADA formatting tab of this guide to take advantage of this service.

If you decide that you want to handle the ADA formatting yourself, you still need to send your thesis or project to the library for verification of ADA compliance. Send it in using the form on the ADA formatting tab. The validation may take a couple of days, so do NOT wait until the day of the final deadline! Once the library has confirmed that your file is ADA compliant, you may upload it to the library.

Step 3: Pay the $25 fee

Paying Online: Each student must pay the $25 thesis and project fee. To pay online, you may use an electronic check or credit card. If you use a credit card, a convenience fee of 2.675% will apply. MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Visa are all accepted. You will receive a receipt by email for your online payment.  

When you pay the fee online, a copy of your receipt is sent to Carmen Mitchell. If you cannot pay online, please email Carmen to discuss paying on campus at the cashier’s office.  

Step 4: Upload your ADA-formatted file

Once you have completed your defense or presentation and your committee has approved the final version of your thesis or project, you can upload your final, ADA-formatted Word file using the library’s web form. This last upload is ONLY for your final file as approved by your committee. You will NOT be able to make any more edits or changes after this point. If you have any issues uploading your file, please email Carmen Mitchell.

Step 5: Confirmation of Acceptance

Carmen and Amy will process the submissions in the order that they are received. If you have paid the fee and submitted your file by December 5th, you have met the submission deadline. Make sure that during this time, you are still checking your CSUSM email as they will email you if they have any questions about your thesis or project. Keep in mind that it can take up to one week for all files to be processed. If they don’t have any questions, they will process your file and then send you a confirmation of acceptance. This email will include a link to your finished thesis or project. This may take a couple of days, so plan accordingly!   

Group Submissions

Group projects should only be uploaded once and must include all the group member names on the signature page. It may be easiest to designate someone to submit the project on behalf of the entire group. Each student is still responsible for paying the fee! 

Multimedia/Website Submissions

If your project or thesis has multimedia files (audio or video) or a website component, please let Carmen Mitchell know as soon as possible. For websites, it will take two business days for us to prepare a copy of your website. For captioning video files, it may take up to a week. Please plan accordingly!