UCSB Dissertation Template

This document describes all of the files for a doctoral dissertation as required by UCSB. The template can also be used when writing a master's thesis. ucsbthesis.cls is based on the standard LaTeX book class book.cls. Because of this, most if not all options available in the book class are available in ucsbthesis.cls. This class allowed the class author to graduate in June 2019 (using Mid 2009 Macbook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)).

Others should be able to use this package as well; however, one other student (fellow math PhD student) had issues with the margins, even though we used the exact same class file. We were never able to figure out what was causing the difference, although he was running a GNU/Linux system, not Mac OS X. Because of this, it may be necessary to change some of the margins manually, but that will (hopefully) be the only necessary change. To do this, look at the geometry package.

General Comments

Some familiarity with LaTeX is assumed when using this template. Additionally, the class author encourages users to use version control (such as git) and to host backups on GitHub or GitLab. Both GitHub and GitLab have private repositories for users to host their dissertation draft. The use of version control is invaluable within the software industry and it is superior to other methods such as periodically emailing copies of the dissertation draft to oneself.

Commands with Examples

Here are some of the specific commands that are required along with examples. Most of the definitions are defined in preamble.tex, which then loads commands and packages.

• Author:

  \author{Christopher Henry Gorman}

  The candidate writing the dissertation or thesis. Full legal name (first, middle, last) is acceptable as well as first name, middle initial, last name.

• Title:

  \title{Applications of the Minimum Sobolev Norm and Associated Fast Algorithms}

  The title of the candidate's dissertation or thesis.

• Graduation Data:

  \graduationdate{June}{2019}

  The month and year the degree will be awarded: June for Spring Quarter; September for Summer Quarter; December for Fall Quarter; March for Winter Quarter.

• Signature Date:

  \committeesignsdate{May}{2019}

  The month and year the committee signs the signature page. This could be different from \graduationdate{}{} if, for instance, one defends in May and graduates in June.

  From the 2018-19 Guide to Formatting and Filing Theses, Dissertations, and DMA Supporting Documents, Page 5, under Signature Page:

  The signature page must include the month and year that the committee signs, indicating their approval and acceptance of the entire document.

• Degree Objective

  \degreeobjective{Doctor of Philosophy}{Dissertation}{Mathematics}

  \degreeobjective{Master of Arts}{Thesis}{Mathematics}

  For PhD students, one should use the above example while changing the major (Mathematics) as needed. For masters students, use ''Master of Arts'' or ''Master of Science'' depending on your degree. ''Dissertation'' applies to PhD students while ''Thesis'' applies to masters students.

• Advisor/Co-Advisors:

  \advisor{Shivkumar Chandrasekaran}{Professor}

  Advisor of candidate. ``Professor'' is included for all professors, regardless of rank.

  \advisorA{Shivkumar Chandrasekaran}{Professor}

  \advisorB{Xu Yang}{Professor}

  In order to have co-advisors, you must include advisors as an class option. Note the command differences: \advisor versus \advisorA and \advisorB.

• Committee Members:

  \committeeA{Hector Ceniceros}{Professor}

  \committeeB{Xiaoye Sherry Li}{Dr.}

  Regular committee members. In this example, ''Dr.'' is included for title because Sherry Li is not a professor at UCSB although she has earned a doctorate. See regulations for the non-academic case.

• Additional Committee members (optional):

  \committeeC{John Gilbert}{Professor}

  \committeeD{Mihai Putinar}{Professor}

  \committeeE{Hrushikesh Mhaskar}{Professor}

  Additional committee members (more than usual). Must use the option members3 for \committeeC command; members4 for the \committeeC and \committeeD commands; and members5 for the \committeeC, \committeeD, and \committeeE commands.

• Dedication/Acknowledgements/Abstract/CV (optional):

  \dedication{\input{tex/dedication.tex}}

  \acknowledgements{\input{tex/acknowledgements.tex}}

  \abstract{\input{tex/abstract.tex}}

  \cv{\input{tex/cv.tex}}

  Include text (or a text file) for the dedication, acknowledgements, abstract, and cv. Only the text of the abstract is needed, as the formatting is taken care of by the appropriate command (see below). It is possible to take a CV from a PDF and include it into the dissertation/thesis; look at the pdfpages package and the \includepdf{} command. A CV is required for doctoral candidates.

• Make Title and other pages:

  \maketitle

  \makesignature

  \makecopyright

  \makededication

  \makeacknowledgements

  \makecv

  \makeabstract

  These commands make exactly what they describe: title page, signature page, copyright page, dedication page, acknowledgements page, cv, and abstract. The order of these commands do not necessarily need to be in this order but the title page must be first followed by the signature page.

• Table of Contents and related

  \tableofcontents

  \listoffigures

  \listoftables

  These commands (standard book.cls commands) create a table of contents, a list of figures, and a list of tables. It is possible to create other lists as needed.

Class Options

We describe the main options of this class. This class first loads book.cls and passes the letterpaper and 12pt options. This means that we assume letter paper, 12pt font, and all of the options standard with the book class. Most importantly, this means that proper must be passed for the double spacing and correct formatting (correct formatting for the 2018--2019 academic year).

• 10pt, 11pt, 12pt

  Font options for dissertation or thesis. Note that 12pt is required and is automatically loaded.

• letterpaper, a4paper

  Size of document. Note that letterpaper is required and automatically loaded.

• proper

  Causes output to have the correct margins (1.25in left margins, all other 1in), double spacing, and one-sided printing (no even/odd-ness like books). This was required for the 2018--2019 academic year. Note that proper and pretty are mutually exclusive options.

• pretty

  Causes output to be 1in all around and single spacing (looks much better). This was deemed easier-on-the-eyes or ``pretty'' by the class author. Note that proper and `pretty` are mutually exclusive options.

• prettymath

  This causes all equation, align, and gather environments (as well as their * versions) to be printed single spaced instead of double spaced (very important for matrices). As the name implies, it makes the math pretty; that is, the math appears like it would in a standard single spaced LaTeX document, as well as allows display math the break over pages (important in some situations).

  Note: the class author has not checked to see if the above changes also work for \[ \], \( \), or other math environments.

• advisors

  This option allows for for co-advisors. Instead of the \advisor command, use instead the \advisorA and \advisorB commands.

• members3, members4, members5

  Allow for either 3, 4, or 5 non-advisor committee members. Naturally, members3 requires \committeeC; members4 requires \committeeC and \committeeD; and members5 requires \committeeC, \committeeD, and \committeeE.

Bibliography

As currently written, this document uses the biblatex package for its bibliography. Other packages can be used, but you will need to change the appropriate lines of dissertation.tex to do so.

Note on advisors and committee members:

Co-advisors and up to 5 non-advisor committee members seemed like the most common and would appear to cover almost everyone. If for some reason this does not apply to your doctoral committee, please feel free to make the necessary changes to the class yourself.

Good luck.