For Faculty

What you need to do after your student files for graduation:

Submit a Major Check Form to the Graduate Coordinator.

Once your student informs you that he/she has filed for graduation, submit a Major Check form to the Graduate Coordinator. Hand deliver or submit via email. Students are not allowed to hand-carry completed forms. Click here for instructions on how to access your student's unofficial transcript through MyCSUEB. Once you have access to your student's record, open the student's "Course History". From here, you can copy and paste the list of courses directly into Excel. From Excel you can delete unnecessary courses. Finally you can use the course list in Excel as a template to copy and paste into the Major Check form.

Special Instructions:

• If your advisee completed an excess of 30 semester units, only list the minimum number of units required for graduation choosing required courses and the electives with the best grades (GPA calculations are based on the major check).  Major Check forms that list all units taken will not be accepted by the graduate evaluators.
• If courses listed on the grad check will be older than 5 years by the intended semester of graduation ask your student submit a “5-Year Rule Waiver Petition – 6th year extension” OR “5-Year Rule Waiver Petition – 7th and final year extension” to the graduate coordinator.

Schedule an Oral Defense and Post an Announcement in the Biology Office

In collaboration with your student and the student's graduate committee, choose the best day and time for the Oral Defense. You are required to schedule your oral defense before the format review deadline. Once the Oral Defense has been scheduled, email the Biology Office to reserve a room and post an announcement in the Biology office. Download and print the "Oral Defense Announcement" form or get a hard copy in the Biology Office. You can also email the Biology faculty a copy of the Announcement.

Complete an Oral Defense Assessment Form

Just before the oral defense is set to begin, send the link for the Oral Defense Assessment Google form to each committee member in attendance. Each committee member (including the research advisor) must complete the oral defense assessment Google form during or immediately following the oral defense. A completion memo will not be sent to the graduate evaluator until all the forms have been submitted.

Submit Change of Grade Form(s) for BIOL 691 Units

Once your student has passed his/her oral defense and submitted the final draft of the University thesis, submit a Change of Grade form for BIOL 691 (University Thesis Units) for each semester that BIOL 691 was taken. The grades need to be changed from RP to CR. DO NOT change these grades prior to completion of the thesis and oral defense. If this is done too early then you will have to change the grades from CR back to RP before changing them from RP to CR. This form can now be completed online. Sign in for access and then click on the "Change of Grade Form" link. 

• Do not let your student take more than 5 units of University Thesis (BIOL 691), 4 units of Independent Study (BIOL 690) or 6 units of graduate seminar (BIOL 68X). The extra units do NOT count towards the MS degree, they are expensive and your students risks losing financial aid (if applicable).
• If your student has completed all his/her coursework (30 units for semesters) AND no longer requires access to University resources (including access to a research lab), your student does NOT need to enroll in ANYTHING. They will NOT be dropped from the graduate program.
• That said, if your student has completed all his/her coursework but wants continued access to the research lab or other University resources OR plans to TA, they should enroll in BIOL 890 (Graduate Study Completion) through the Division of Continuing and International Education. This is a 1-unit course with a fee of $78 (fee subject to change). Forms are available in the Biology Office.
• On the flip side, if your student has NOT completed all his/her coursework, he/she should not take an enrollment break longer than two consecutive semesters (not including summer) or they WILL be dropped from the graduate degree program and will have to reapply to continue.
• Remember to give your student an RP grade for University Thesis units. You should not change the grade to CR until after the University Thesis has been submitted AND the oral defense has been passed. If you accidentally gave a CR grade for University Thesis units before your student defended and/or submitted the final draft of the University Thesis, you will have to submit a change of grade form to change the grades from CR to RP as soon as the problem is discovered. Then once your students passes the oral defense and submits the final draft of the thesis, you will have to submit change of grade forms AGAIN (to change the grades from CR to RP).