More than 40 percent of graduate students come to iTAC for individual help in formatting their electronic theses, dissertations, and reports (ETDRs). Many of these students visit us when they’ve completed their writing, and say their major professor told them they most now put their completed paper into the ETDR template. If you want to help your students focus on their research and the content of their paper, steer them toward using the ETDR template from the very beginning.
The process of moving a lengthy Word document into the ETDR template is long and tedious, and usually comes at a stressful time when the student is preparing for their oral exam. This stress can easily be avoided if students do all their writing, even their proposal, within the template.
The template contains all the components required by the Graduate School (title page, abstract, table of contents, page numbering, etc.). The template uses “styles” to automate tasks, such as creating a table of contents and making custom formatting quick and easy. It works with all versions of Word and is available for download on the ETDR website.
Free consulting on using the ETDR template is available to students and faculty on request. Contact the IT Help Desk, 785-532-7722, helpdesk@k-state.edu.
