This fall changes are coming to the way UNT’s graduate degree candidates submit their completed theses and dissertations. The Toulouse Graduate School (TGS) and the UNT Libraries are pleased to announce the implementation of Vireo, an online thesis/dissertation submission tool which will enable graduate students to turn in all required materials online—from anywhere—doing away with the need for hard copy delivery.

According to Daniel Alemneh, UNT Libraries Digital Curation Coordinator, Vireo will make the ETD submission process fully electronic by providing a simple and intuitive online interface. That means the workflow involved in ETDs lifecycle management—ranging from submission by students to approval by the respective departments and graduate office to publication in UNT’s digital repository and ProQuest—will be more efficient. What’s more, “all stakeholders will be able to see the status of a particular thesis or dissertation simultaneously. It’s really seamless.”

Vireo implementation is scheduled to occur in two phases, coinciding with fall 2015 and spring 2016 graduation. Students from the following colleges who are planning to graduate fall 2015 will use Vireo for their submissions, beginning October 1, 2015:

• College of Business
• College of Information
• College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism
• College of Public Affairs and Community Service
• College of Visual Arts and Design
• Mayborn School of Journalism
• Toulouse Graduate School (for interdisciplinary masters students)

The submission deadline for fall graduation is October 23, 2015; Vireo will remain available after this date to students in these colleges who are eligible for the rollover deadline of December 3 (May 2016 graduation).

Beginning March 1, 2016, students from all colleges (CAS, COE, CoEng, and CoM, plus the initial 7) planning to graduate in May 2016 will use Vireo to submit materials. [NOTE: Students who already submitted by rollover deadline are excluded; Vireo prevents students from submitting twice.]

Vireo is an open-source software application created by Texas A&M University and the Texas Digital Library (TDL), and is specifically designed to be very user-friendly. Guidance documents are available on the Toulouse Graduate School’s website; in addition, the Texas Digital Library will handle any technical issues students or faculty may experience. You can find TDL’s student help videos at http://vireoetd.org/vireo/support/vireo-3-0-help-videos/. After submission, the review/approval process will continue to be handled by the graduate school. Final copies will be placed in the Libraries’ online repository where they can be readily accessed by scholars from around the world.

Special thanks to Jill Kleister, Graduate Reader, UNT Toulouse Graduate School, and Dr. Daniel Alemneh, Digital Curation Coordinator, UNT Libraries