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It's thesis time!

Publish date: Apr 27, 2023

As we near May, the library wants to remind you of a few things to ensure an easy submission.

We are happy to help and/or guide you through every aspect of submitting. Please do not hesitate to come in or email if you have any questions, we are here to help!

Guide to all things thesis related

Librarians are available all week at the public computers by the WCTS desk to help with formatting and submission.

What we need from you by Wednesday May 10 (feel free to submit early!)

  • Correctly formatted PDF/A of your finished thesis
  • Certificate of approval (extracted from PDF/A) e-signed by your advisor
  • Distribution license e-signed by you and your advisor

For information on everything you need to submit by May 10, read our Honors Guidelines.

You are only required to submit a digital copy of the thesis. The distribution license requires you to pick which level of access you are providing to your work:

  • Open: Worldwide distribution via the Internet, or
  • Limited: Local distribution only to authorized users of Whitman’s network (current faculty, staff, and students), or
  • Opt-out: Not available to anyone (but still deposited). This is intended for cases where the topic or the treatment of the topic are sensitive or should not be shared

If you elect to have open access to your thesis, you can choose to print your thesis to be bound and shelved in the Allen Reading Room, where it can circulated. In the past, theses with limited access and opt-out were printed and bound but kept in the archives, but we are ceasing this unsustainable practice.

Forms: Both the Non-Exclusive Distribution License and the Certificate of Approval (2nd page of thesis template) need to be signed by your advisor electronically (sent by the library). The Submission Agreement needs to be signed by any co-authors, even if they are not getting honors. Don’t forget to initial both the access section and the embargo section.

Printer: The printer you should use in the library is the one marked 2nd_theses, between the front two public access computers near the WCTS desk. It will be available starting May 4th. Your thesis should be printed one-sided.

Paper: We won’t be putting paper in the printer until the 8th to keep people from accidentally printing non-theses related material on it, but until then you can always go to Kathleen’s office right by the printer (213) from 8-4 M-F. If you are printing at night or on the weekends, the circ desk will have paper as well.

PDF/A: Your thesis needs to be saved as a PDF/A, this can be done on the computers next to the Theses printer using Acrobat. Instructions