The School of Biological Sciences
Graduate Studies
Graduate Deadlines
PhD Deadlines
Program of Study*
- Should be submitted by 3rd semester
- Spring deadline March 1st
- Fall deadline October 1st
- Must be turned in by deadline semester before Prelim is attempted
- Please keep a copy of this document
Preliminary Examination*
- Form must be submitted to grad school 10 business days before exam date
- Form should be turned into the grad coordinator with student and committee signatures at least 12 business days before the exam date
- Last Dates to Take Exam:
- Spring 2024: 4/26/2024
- Summer 2024: 7/26/2024
- Fall 2024: 12/96/2024
- Spring 2025: 4/25/2025
- Summer 2025: 7/25/2025
- Please note: taking your prelim starts a clock at the grad school. Once prelim is passed, you have 3 years to complete your program. For this reason we do not recommend taking prelims early
Proposal Defense
- No specific deadline for defense, but student must be enrolled in Bio 501 at start of semester that defense will take place
- There is no formal form to schedule defense
- After defense takes place advisor needs to email graduate coordinator and graduate director stating whether student passed and student needs to send a copy of proposal to graduate coordinator (this can be slides or a document)
- Proposal Defense and Preliminary Examination should not be completed in the same semester
Final Examination*
- Form must be submitted to grad school 10 business days before exam date
- Form should be turned into the grad coordinator with student and committee signatures at least 12 business days before the exam date
- At this same time (10 business days before exam date), doctoral students must submit an electronic copy of the final draft dissertation to ProQuest. For submission guidelines and formatting requirements, see Dissertation and Thesis Submission Guidelines
- Last Date to Defend:
- Spring 2024: 4/19/2024
- Summer 2024: 7/26/2024
- Fall 2024: 11/22/2024
- Spring 2025: 4/18/2025
- Summer 2025: 7/25/2025
- Ballots and Signature Page
- Due with all signatures to the grad school within 5 business days of exam completion
*Forms must be officially processed and approved by the graduate school. Forms must be sent to the graduate coordinator to initiate processing.
Masters Deadlines
Program of Study*
- Should be submitted by 2nd semester
- Spring deadline March 1st
- Fall deadline October 1st
- Must be turned in by deadline semester before Thesis Defense
- Please keep a copy of this document
Proposal Defense
- No specific deadline for defense, but student must be enrolled in Bio 501 at start of semester that defense will take place
- There is no formal form to schedule defense
- After defense takes place advisor needs to email graduate coordinator and graduate director stating whether student passed and student needs to send a copy of proposal to graduate coordinator (this can be slides or a document)
- Proposal Defense and Final Examination should not be completed in the same semester
Final Examination*
- Form must be submitted to grad school 10 business days before exam date
- This means it should be turned into the grad coordinator with student and committee signatures at least 12 business days before the exam date
- At this same time (10 business days before exam date), doctoral students must submit an electronic copy of the final draft dissertation to ProQuest. For submission guidelines and formatting requirements, see Dissertation and Thesis Submission Guidelines
- Last Dates to Take Exam:
- Spring 2022: 4/22/2022
- Summer 2022: 7/29/2022
- Fall 2022: 11/18/2022
- Spring 2023: 4/21/2023
- Summer 2023: 7/28/2023
- Fall 2023: 11/17/2023
- Ballots and Signature Page
- Due with all signatures to the grad school within 5 business days of exam completion
*Forms must be officially processed and approved by the graduate school. Forms must be sent to the graduate coordinator to initiate processing.
Graduate Coordinators
Pullman and Tri-Cities Students: Grad Coordinator – Leah Mickelson (leah.mickelson@wsu.edu)
Vancouver Students: Grad Coordinator – Diego Murillo (diego.murillo@wsu.edu)