Remote Defense Procedures FAQ

In compliance with Boise State’s directive that all academic activity be moved online, we have made some adjustments to our procedures for a master’s thesis or doctoral defense.  Rest assured, students will have no interruption in their ability to complete this vital step in their academic process.  For the time being, all thesis/dissertation defenses will be competed online through Zoom.

Students will still be required to submit a defense notification at least two weeks prior to their defense date.  When the notification is received by the Graduate Student Success Center, an email will be go out to the student’s committee chair and program coordinator with a Zoom link, instructions on how to access that link, and instructions on how to navigate in Zoom to maintain the traditional structure of the defense.

Students will not be expected to set up any of these processes; it will be handled directly by the GSSC in conjunction with appropriate faculty.

The Graduate College is taking the necessary precautions to protect student defenses from uninvited participants. While taking these precautions, we are also keeping in mind that defenses are still open to the public. For more information on how to protect your meetings from Zoombomding, here is the OIT article on the subject.

The Graduate Student Success Center is here to help you with questions regarding the finishing paperwork and how to acquire the necessary signatures from your faculty.  We recognize the challenge that is presented in our remote environment and we want to provide as many avenues as we can to help facilitate your success.

To that end, digital signatures and signatures by proxy will be accepted on all forms required for graduation and all forms can be submitted to the GSSC electronically. One resource you could use for this is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, a free software that allows you to view PDFs and digitally sign them. If students are having difficulty with acquiring signatures, contact the GSSC at success@boisestate.edu and we can help.

The process for submitting your thesis/dissertation to the Graduate College has not changed and will continue to be processed through ScholarWorks.  The instructions for uploading can be found on our thesis/dissertation Submission Information page.