Updated June 2022
All thesis and dissertation committee chairs are required to submit a request for the electronic Report of Examining Committee (REC) form. A request for the REC must be made at least 10 business days before the scheduled final oral defense. Please use this form to submit a REC request: go.umd.edu/gs-rrd. A REC request is needed for all defenses regardless if the defense is fully remote, fully in person or hybrid. As of fall 2021, the old hardcopy of the REC will no longer be accepted. REC’s must be signed/approved and processed using Adobe Sign.
Once the Graduate School receives a complete request for the electronic REC, we will initiate the process to generate the REC form in Adobe Sign. All committee members (even those external to UMD) will be able to access the form using the email provided on the Nomination of Committee form and on the REC request. The REC will be sent 3-5 business days before the scheduled oral defense.
Below is more information about the process to request the REC and approve (sign) the form in Adobe Sign. You can also view this brief video for an overview of the process.
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After the student’s committee is approved by the Office of the Registrar, the committee chair (or designee) will submit a request for the electronic Report of Examining Committee (REC) by going here go.umd.edu/gs-rrd.
In order to complete the form, the committee chair must have a copy of the approved Nomination of Committee form, the student’s information including full name and UID, as well as all committee members’ names and emails. The email address provided for each committee member will serve as authentication when accessing the electronic Report of Examining Committee via Adobe Sign. Please be sure that the email addresses are accurrate on the REC request.
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All committee members will receive a link via email from Adobe Sign with a link to the student's electronic Report of Examining Committee.
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Once the student has successfully defended their thesis or dissertation, all committee members should access the REC form sent via email from Adobe Sign and submit their approval for the student’s defense.
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When all committee members have submitted their approval, the form will automatically route to the Program Director for final approval.
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Once the Program Director submits their approval, the form automatically routes to the Office of the Registrar. No other action is needed from the graduate program at that time. All members of the committee will be notified by Adobe Sign that the form is complete. Please retain a copy for your records.
Remote Defense Request
Current Graduate School policy allows for a committee member to request permission to participate in a thesis or dissertation defense remotely, and only in exceptional cases would remote participation be permitted for the student, a committee chair, and/or Dean’s Representative (for dissertation defenses). All requests must be submitted within 10 business days of the oral defense date. Please note that all defenses, regardless if they are remote or in person must request the Report of Examining Committee (REC). For more information about remote defenses, please go here.
Resources on How to Access Adobe Sign to Submit REC Approval
A guide to help users access the RECs in Adobe Sign: go.umd.edu/recguide
For step by step instructions, please watch this video: go.umd.edu/recresourcevideo
For helpful tips and resources, please go here: go.umd.edu/asresources
Important Deadlines
Please be sure to review all important deadlines by going here: registrar.umd.edu/calendar.html.