Graduate Theses

ETDs (Electronic Theses and Dissertations)

Submissions

The Graduate School at UNCW requires Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). All graduate students producing master’s theses or doctoral dissertations are required to follow the UNCW Graduate School Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Manual. Randall Library catalogs UNCW theses and dissertations in the Randall Library catalog and in Seahawk DOCKS, providing full-text Web access according to the conditions selected in the UNCW Graduate School Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Form.

Access

Some UNCW electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) are restricted to local use only. Local use is defined as reading/viewing a thesis from an on-campus computer OR from off-campus, using VPN (Virtual Private Network). Theses with this restriction have the following note in the online catalog record: Access to electronic thesis is limited to University of North Carolina Wilmington campus users.

UNCW faculty and staff may download a VPN client to view EDTs from off campus. The instructions and client are located on the ITSD website: http://uncw.edu/ITSD/help/VPN.html. If unable to use VPN, the off campus patron needs to come to UNCW to view the ETD on a campus computer.

Hard-Copy Theses, Dissertations and Final Projects

Graduate School Theses and Dissertations

After the Graduate School accepts a thesis/dissertation, Randall Library produces one printed copy, has it bound, and places it in University Archives. The costs for these services are assumed by the library.

Graduate Liberal Studies Program Final Projects

The Graduate Liberal Studies Program (GLS) (http://www.uncw.edu/gls/curriculum-gls598.html) requires that each student submit three (3) copies of his/her final project for binding to the GLS Program Director. See the guidelines at http://www.uncw.edu/gls/curriculum-gls598.html#VII. The GLS Program Director will deliver the copies to be bound to June Spencer-Francis (spencerj_at_uncw.edu; 962-4286) in the Technical Services Department of Randall Library. Please include copies of supplementary materials, i.e. slides, photographs, CD's, discs, videos, etc. All copies must be in correct page order. Library and bindery staff members do NOT check page order. After binding, one copy will be cataloged for the University Archives and another copy will be cataloged for the library's circulating General Collection. The third copy will be returned to the GLS office. The Library will pay binding costs for the two library copies and invoice Graduate Liberal Studies for their copy.

Departmental copy of Theses, Dissertations and Final Projects

Academic departments may want hard copies of theses, dissertations or final projects for their own departmental collections. If so, students may follow the Guidelines for Printed Theses and Dissertations, which is linked from the Graduate School website, or the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) Final Project Instructions, which is linked on the GLS website.

Each department should appoint someone from the office (such as department chair, graduate coordinator, or departmental administrative assistant) to gather hard copies from students. Students should bring their hard copies to this departmental contact person before graduation. Then, the departmental contact person should call or email spencerj [at] uncw [dot] edu (June Spencer-Francis) 962-4286) in the Library Technical Services Department to set up a delivery time and to ensure someone will be available to receive the material. Or, they may be delivered to Jennifer Corder in the Library Administrative Office, 1010 Randall Library, but they must be labeled as for the bindery and include the department's contact information.

The Library will bind the departmental copies at the expense of each department. The Library will deliver the bound theses, dissertations or final projects to the department when returned from the bindery.

Personal copy/copies

Students and faculty may want additional copies bound for personal use. If so, students and faculty should contact a professional bindery to arrange for binding personal copies.

The HF Group is used by UNCW as it is on state contract, and you may contact it regarding personal copies. The HF Group cannot offer state contract rates for personal copies.

The HF Group
6204 Corporate Park Drive
Browns Summit, NC 27214-9745
800-444-7534
http://www.thehfgroup.com/
http://www.thesisondemand.com/

The following bindery is also on state contract and offers binding on demand services.

Bridgeport National Bindery
PO Box 289
Agawam, MA 01001-0289
800-223-5083
http://www.bnbindery.com/

Other thesis and dissertation bindery websites can be found on the web by searching "thesis (bindery or binding)."

For more information, please contact spencerj [at] uncw [dot] edu (June Spencer-Francis).
Last Update: October 28, 2009