Update! Jeff Squyres and Sean Borman have emerged from obscurity to work on updating the ndthesis.cls file, so that it works with the theorem environment, etc. I don't know how long it will take to do so (right now - June 9, 2004 - the version I have available here is the most current). However, Jeff has set up an unofficial official ndthesis page, which you may watch for updates. The other news is that the current ndthesis.cls is incorporated into the campus computer system, so if you compile in a computer lab you no longer need a local copy.

The formatting guide (pdf).
Here's a synopsis, at least of the major things ndthesis cannot do automatically: Almost everything is to be double-spaced (including theorems and proofs, which ndthesis needs help with), except footnotes, bibliography, and block quotes (I had a problem with my bibliography being all double-spaced, which turned out to be ndthesis not playing nicely with the natbib package; the removal of natbib solved the problem). Any major division heading (chapter and appendix names, in particular) should be entirely uppercase. Chapter titles are optional but if one has a title, all should have a title. Subheadings (section names) should not be all uppercase. Put table captions in all caps, with no terminal punctuation. Note that for dissertations, the abstract word limit is 350 words, and hyphenated words count as two. The title page date should be the month and year of submission to the grad school, not the month and year of commencement (ndthesis puts the month and year in which you compile the LaTeX file, which should be sufficient).

Please note that the above paragraph is my distillation of a 21-page document and therefore does not cover everything. Especially if you have tables or figures, consult that document to make sure everything is in accordance with the regulations.

Sample files and the readme:
The physics department has available for download a collection of useful files, a sample thesis and the readme for ndthesis.cls. Visit their page for details.

Next, ndthesis.cls:
This version spells "acknowledgments" in the preferred way and writes "Program" on the title page instead of "Programs." The readme file warns you stringently against downloading it in case it is updated, but provided you know what your version does and doesn't do, go ahead and download it and put it into the same directory as your thesis files. To use the official copy you have to put the files you're working with in your AFS space and compile while logged in there.

Sample front pages:
The files, linked below, are designed to work with the version of ndthesis.cls available on this page. Their main purpose is to give you an outline, and to put together a way to double-space within the theorem environment. If you already have a bunch of \begin{theorem} ... \end{theorem} statements, you need not change them. The comments explain what everything is and how to use it (hopefully; let me know if they are utterly confusing).

If you are comfortable with LaTeX or willing to put a little effort into learning more, use this front page. There is also a simpler version if you just don't want to mess with it, or if you don't need any of the extra stuff in the more complicated front page. What's the difference? The simpler front page lacks the ability to reference a later theorem with the later number (e.g., a theorem labeled 4.1.2 in the introduction), and to put attributions or titles into theorems and related environments (that is, to have "Theorem 3.5.2 (Main Theorem)." all in upright text). The most recent update is 6/9/04; I tried to augment the comments and make them clearer.

Note that you may have to force your browser to download the above files, rather than opening them in its window, by (depending on your system) right-clicking or ctrl-clicking.

I hope this is useful. Please do write me with any comments or questions (but also please read the comments in the LaTeX files; I have tried to make them as comprehensive as possible).

Last updated: June 10, 2004 (except my e-mail address, updated March 2, 2006)
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