Beginning this fall, all NAU grad students will submit their thesis or dissertation online. A final copy of the finished document should be submitted online following defense.

There will be two more fall ETD workshops for faculty or for students who expect to graduate this semester: November 16 at 10:30 am or at 1:30 pm in Ashurst, Bldg. #11, Room A109. Spring workshops will be announced next semester.

See the ETD article in this newsletter for additional information and the Top 10 reasons to be happy about the new process!

There will be a separate commencement ceremony on Friday, December 16, 2011 at 5 pm for all NAU master's and doctoral students, guests, faculty, and advisers in the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome. Graduating students and their families are invited to a reception immediately following the ceremony in the duBois Center Ballroom and lasting until 7:45 pm.

See the graduation website for further details.

Three new graduate degrees are in the approval process to begin fall 2012 at NAU.

• PhD in Nursing Practice—Clinical Practice (DNP Clinical Practice)
• Master's in Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS)
• PhD in Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability: subplans include Climate and Landscape Change, Earth and Planetary Systems, and Engineering Sustainable Systems

Watch for information on the Graduate College website in the next few months.

The Graduate College is working to build its scholarship and travel funding so that we have more to offer you. When called by NAU student fundraisers last spring, 43 percent of the graduate students reached made a financial pledge to contribute to graduate student scholarships, travel funds, or to their own department. That is very impressive!

Thank you to all who gave in support of graduate student opportunities!

If this is your first year as a graduate student, be sure to read "Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me at the Start" by Evie Garcia, associate dean of the Graduate College, for excellent advice on making the most of your graduate career.