The University of New Mexico requires an original signature from each committee member on the required documents.  A member of the committee who participates via video/teleconference, but is not physically present, may request that the Office of Graduate Studies allow another member of the committee to sign the required form in his/her absence.

The mechanism to be used is the Proxy Signature Request form.  The form is completed by the committee member who will not be physically present, and is submitted to the student’s graduate unit/department for approval a minimum of two weeks prior to the examination/defense.  Generally the Proxy Signature Request form is submitted together with the Announcement of Examination form.

Once the graduate unit/department approves the form it is submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies for final approval.

The form may be submitted to the graduate unit/department as a fax or PDF document, however the department chair’s signature must be original.