In order to streamline the dissertation clearance process, the following changes have been made, effective April 2025.
1. The Dissertation Cataloging Form is no longer necessary.
2. The Dissertation Clearance Form is now initiated directly by the student, and only through Adobe Sign - Signed PDFs and scanned forms have been replaced by Adobe Sign.
3. Students completing dissertation clearance are no longer required to schedule a meeting with their DCR (Dissertation Clearance Representative). If they have questions about what to do, they are welcome to schedule a DCR appointment, but it is not required.
4. The dissertation clearance form no longer requires committee member signatures. The only signers are the student, the chair, the program director, and the library clearance representative.
If you have questions about these changes or other aspects of the process, contact library@alliant.edu and we will be happy to assist.
The APA Publication Manual is primarily for submitting papers for journal publication, so it lacks guidelines specific to dissertations and doctoral projects. To fill this gap, Alliant has created systemwide guidelines for you to follow. This document provides details on those guidelines. You will need to refer to both manuals to format your dissertation correctly.
The 2020 Alliant manual incorporates elements of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual. When the Alliant manual differs from APA, follow the Alliant manual. If the Alliant manual is silent on an issue, then follow APA. The formatting requirements in the Alliant manual supersede program-specific dissertation manuals, but program manuals’ other content is not affected.
To launch your library dissertation clearance form using Adobe Sign, you will click on the link below:
CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH THE DISSERTATION CLEARANCE FORM
You will first be taken to an Adobe Sign version of the clearance form where you enter your name, information about your program, and basic details about your dissertation.
After completing the above, you will see the window below. This is where you enter information about your chair, your program director, and the library clearance representative. You do not need to enter information for other committee members.
In order to see all of the places you need to enter information, you will need to click “Read More” to expand different sections of the form, as shown in the image below.
NOTE: When entering the library signer information, if you attend the Fresno campus, use adan.ortega@alliant.edu. Otherwise, use szimmer@alliant.edu.
In response to commonly asked questions, the library has provided the following Microsoft Word dissertation template for students to use if they find it helpful. DISCLAIMER: it is not official or required, nor is it fool-proof. All dissertations, regardless of whether they use the provided template or not, must follow the guidelines contained within the Formatting Manual. While library staff are not able to assist with using MS Word or the template, many helpful tutorials can be found at https://support.office.com/en-us/word
EMERYVILLE
Scott Zimmer
858-635-4553
szimmer@alliant.edu
FRESNO
Adan Ortega
559-253-2288
adan.ortega@alliant.edu
IRVINE
Scott Zimmer
858-635-4553
szimmer@alliant.edu
LOS ANGELES
Scott Zimmer
858-635-4553
szimmer@alliant.edu
ONLINE
Scott Zimmer
858-635-4553
szimmer@alliant.edu
SACRAMENTO
Scott Zimmer
858-635-4553
szimmer@alliant.edu
SAN DIEGO
Scott Zimmer
858-635-4553
szimmer@alliant.edu