Do I have to pay a penalty if my thesis defence is at the very end of the semester?
These are normally a concern in the spring and summer semesters, because of the timing of Convocation. A student who defends a thesis successfully and submits the final copy of the thesis to the Library by the deadline published in the Calendar is guaranteed to be included in Convocation. A student who does not submit the thesis to the Library by the deadline cannot be guaranteed a place at Convocation, although staff will make every effort to get as many students to Convocation as possible. There is a penalty fee for late submission. The Dean may waive the penalty fee for late submission of the thesis if the Chair of the Graduate Program Committee (not the senior supervisor) makes such a request in writing, and shows that the delay in either the defence or the submission of the thesis was due to circumstances beyond the student’s control.
