Graduate Student Services
- Admitting new and matriculating graduate students
- Facilitating written and oral exams, including prelims and dissertation/thesis defenses
- Communicating academic regulations, processes, and deadlines to students and faculty
- Processing graduate petitions, degree certifications, dissertation/thesis deposits, and fellowships
- Serving as primary graduate liaison with the Graduate College and the Office of the Registrar
- Primary responsibility for maintenance and archival of graduate student records
Directors of graduate study
Classics
Brian Walters
Comparative & World Literature
Brett Kaplan
East Asian Languages & Cultures
Shao Dan
Foreign Language Teacher Education (FLTE)
Pamela Greene
French & Italian
François Proulx
German
Mara Wade
Linguistics
Tania Ionin
TESL
Randall W Sadler
Religion
Bruce Rosenstock
Second-Language Acquisition & Teacher Education (SLATE)
Kiel Christianson
Slavic
Richard Tempest
Spanish & Portuguese
Javier Irigoyen-García
Center for Translation Studies
Joyce Tolliver
Schedule an exam
Please click here to see a brief overview of Student Services' exam process (updated May 2020).
If you are filling out a request for a dissertation defense or for an MA thesis, please see the Thesis & Dissertation section below for important information about format review and depositing.
Independent Study
Advisor form
Department Forms
EALC
MATESL
Spanish & Portuguese
Fellowship Opportunities
Please note: the maximum length of nomination letters for Grad College fellowships is 6,600 characters, including spaces
Illinois Distinguished Fellowship
The Graduate College's Illinois Distinguished Fellowship program is intended to help the University of Illinois recruit exceptional applicants into its doctoral programs.
Admission decision must be submitted as soon as -- or before -- fellowship nomination is made.
- Round 1 - SLCL deadline Jan. 10; Grad College deadline Jan. 15
- Round 2 - SLCL deadline Feb. 14; Grad College deadline Feb. 19
Graduate College Fellowships (PhD only)
The Graduate College Fellowship program at the University of Illinois aims to strengthen the institution and its doctoral programs by increasing the enrollment of outstanding students from populations that have been historically underrepresented in graduate study.
Admission decision must be submitted as soon as -- or before -- fellowship nomination is made.
- Round 1 - SLCL deadline Jan. 10; Grad College deadline Jan. 15
- Round 2 - SLCL deadline Feb 14; Grad College deadline Feb. 19
Graduate College Master's Fellowship (Master's only)
The Graduate College Master's Fellowship program is a counterpart to the Graduate College Fellowship program.
Admission decision must be submitted as soon as -- or before -- fellowship nomination is made.
- Round 1 - SLCL deadline Jan. 10; Grad College deadline Jan. 15
- Round 2 - SLCL deadline Feb 14; Grad College deadline Feb. 19
Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in the Humanities and Arts (DGF-HA)
DGF-HAs are intended as campus recruitment fellowships for first-time students being offered admission into a PhD program. Only those students who are seeking first-time graduate-level admission to UIUC are eligible.
Admission decision must be submitted as soon as -- or before -- fellowship nomination is made.
- Round 1: SLCL deadline Jan. 10; Grad College deadline Jan. 15
- Round 2: SLCL deadline Feb. 14; Grad College deadline Feb. 19
SLCL Dissertation Completion Fellowship
With the support from the estates of Donald and Barbara Smalley and Edward McBroom, the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics Dissertation Completion Fellowship aims to support students in SLCL doctoral programs to complete their dissertation. Eligible candidates must be nominated by their SLCL department, and the fellowship provides one year of support.
The School’s Executive Committee is charged with selecting the dissertation completion awards. The fellowship is meant to facilitate timely completion of the PhD, therefore, nominees must be in a position to complete their dissertations within the period of their fellowship tenure, and no later than the last day of August of the year after being awarded the fellowship. This fellowship may not be held concurrently with any other fellowships, employment or grant. Criteria and eligibility can be found here:
https://slcl.illinois.edu/system/files/2020-08/SLCL%20Diss%20completion%208-20.pdf
- Student deadline per department - turn in all application materials to DGS by deadline indicated by department.
- Department deadline March 1, 2021 - send completed student application and departmental nomination to slclgradservices@illinois.edu
Graduate College Dissertation Completion Fellowship
The Graduate College's Dissertation Completion Fellowships help outstanding UIUC graduate students complete the doctoral degree.
- SLCL deadline March 26, 2021; Grad College deadline April 2
Conference Travel Award
The Graduate College provides awards for students to travel to professional conferences to present papers, posters, or creative work. Awards may be offered as reimbursement for recently-completed travel or for upcoming travel.
**Check with your department for internal deadlines**
Fall competition
- Open for submission: TBA
- Grad College deadline: TBA
Spring competition
- Open for submission: TBA
- Grad College deadline: TBA
- Funds become available: TBA
Graduate College Dissertation and Master's Project Travel Grants
Travel Grants provide reimbursement to students for travel-related costs incurred during off-campus travel related to their master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. Details vary between PhD- and master's-level grants, so please see the appropriate page at the link above.
Fall competition
- SLCL deadline October 14, 2020; Grad College deadline October 20
Spring competition
- SLCL deadline March 8, 2021; Grad College deadline March 12
Search for other Graduate College fellowship opportunities
Deadlines & Important Dates
- Academic Deadlines (Office of the Registrar)
Petitions
Registration
Guide to Graduate Student Registration
Leave of Absence/Absent without Leave Form
A “leave of absence” simply means you are taking time away from your studies and are not going to register for classes. This is different from “registering in absentia.” To request a leave of absence, you will need to print the request form and meet with your advisor and the Director of Graduate Study (DGS) of your program. If you are an international student, you will also need to speak to the International Students & Scholars office.
Thesis and Dissertation
The Thesis Office, part of the Graduate College, has an extensive list of resources for students writing a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. Please take time to look at them. For an overview of what to expect during this last stage of your thesis or dissertation, please see our detailed explanation of the steps involved in completing your deposit (link below). Be sure to speak to your graduate advisor and to SLCL Student Services if you have questions about any part of the process.
Dissertation and thesis deposit information
Graduation
- Graduation information (Office of the Registrar)
Questions? Email us. Or, contact one of the following staff members:
Nicolette Elam, (217) 300-5826
Robb Larson, (217) 244-5783
Lynn Stanke, (217) 333-6269
Report web page problems or broken links to: slclgradservices