School of Graduate Studies

Completion and Submission Directions

Preparation for Submission

Dissertations, theses, field studies, creative works and starred papers are submitted electronically for format review and publication in our Institutional Repository. Contact the School of Graduate Studies with questions regarding this requirement.

Get started

  • Select a style guide with your advisor. Common style guides include: 
    • Chicago Manual of Style. - University of Chicago Press 
    • Form and Style: Research Papers, Reports, Theses. - By Carol Slade 
    • A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. - By Kate Turabian 
    • MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. - By Joseph Gibaldi 
    • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual). - American Psychological Association 
All matters of style should be consistent throughout the document, and conform to accepted practices in the discipline. It is the responsibility of the student and the advisor to ensure the document is formatted correctly. 
Copyright permissions: Obtain permission letters for copyrighted materials used in the culminating project beyond Fair Use guidelines.

    • Because the culminating project is submitted in satisfaction of a part of the requirement for an advanced degree, the student grants to the University a nonexclusive right (license) to archive, reproduce, and distribute the document, as well as the right to migrate or convert the submission, without alteration of the content, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation and/or continued distribution.

    • The copyrights of the culminating projects remain with the author; subsequent uses of the culminating projects by the authors or subsequent copyright holders are not restricted by this license.

  • Additional information on style guides is available from Melanie Guentzel, director of graduate student services, or the format reviewer.

Regardless of the disciplinary style guidelines selected for a culminating project, certain specifications and guidelines must be adhered to.

These specifications will ensure the culminating project complies with the School of Graduate Studies requirements. Detailed guidance is below. Use the Condensed Formatting Checklist (.pdf) to review your paper prior to submission. 

Document formatting

For most culminating projects, the online submission process will automatically convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF.  However, if the culminating project uses special characters, such as foreign language fonts, Greek fonts used in mathematics, or the International Phonetic Alphabet, use a current version of Adobe Acrobat Pro to convert the file to a PDF prior to submission.

For further information, see “Embedding Fonts” below.

Adobe Acrobat software, required to create a .pdf document, is available as part of the Adobe Creative Suite in general-access computer labs across campus.

File

  • Size: No size limit for culminating projects submitted to the Institutional Repository (IR).
  • Names: Use only Roman letters, underscore lines for blank spaces, and Arabic numbers for file name (e.g., ksmith_androgyny_patriarchy_rev2).
  • Formats
    • Text
      You must use one of the following formats to assure the best chance for future migration as formats evolve:
      • MS Word (.doc or .docx)
      • PDF (.pdf)
    • Multimedia
      Submitted as supplemental files during submission:
      • TIFF (.tif)
      • JPEG (.jpg)
      • GIF (.gif)
      • MPEG (.mpg)
      • MPEG 3 (.mp3)
      • WAV (.wav)
      • Multimedia video or audio files that are part of a culminating project should be submitted as supplemental files during the submission process.
      • Security restrictions: Do not incorporate restrictions (e.g., password protection, copy/paste prohibition, or compression prohibition) into the document.  They are not allowed for several reasons:
    • Security restrictions inhibit future document management and migration.
    • Security restrictions reduce the functionality of the document for users.
    • Security restrictions prohibit adding archival information to the document file.

Bookmarking (Optional)

Bookmarks allow readers to jump between sections of the culminating project, improving the usability and navigation of the project.

  • Bookmark the:
    • Title Page.
    • Abstract.
    • Table of Contents (TOC).
    • Introduction.
    • Each Chapter.
    • Each Sub-section within a Chapter.
    • Each Appendix.
    • References or Bibliography.
  • Set the document to open with bookmarks visible.
  • In Word:
    • Highlight the text (e.g., chapter title, sub-section title, or bibliography) where a bookmark is to be inserted.
      On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Bookmark.
    • On the pop-up screen, enter the name of the bookmark, usually the highlighted heading as it reads.
    • Click the Add
    • To display where there are bookmarks, click on the File tab, then scroll and select Options.
    • Click on Advanced. Scroll to the section Show Document Content and select on Show Bookmarks.
    • Bookmarks will display in [brackets].
  • In Adobe Acrobat Pro
    • Click on the File tab, and then select Document Properties.
    • Select Initial View from the left in the Dialog Box.
    • Select Bookmarks Panel and Page from the Show

Fonts/Typefaces

Use the font type and size recommended by the selected disciplinary style guide (MLA, APA, etc.) or these guidelines:

  • General
    • Consistency of font use and text size within the culminating project is important to enhance readability and use.
    • Use one font type or style.
      • Select a sans-serif font (Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Tahoma, or Verdana).
    • Use the same font (as used in text) for headings and labels.
    • Use the same size consistently (11-pt or 12-pt)
  • Title
    • This should be bold.
    • Headline Capitalization style.
      • Only capitalize exceptions when they are the first word of the title or subtitle following a colon.
      • Example: The Androgyne Patriarchy in Thailand: Contemporary Issues in Gender.
  • Body
    • Select an easy-to-read sans-serif font such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Tahoma, or Verdana. 
    • Use the same font throughout the body.
    • Do not bold, underline, or italicize text in the body unless required.
    • Use italics for titles of journals, books, newspapers, films, television shows, long poems, plays of three or more acts, operas, musical albums, or works of art (e.g.,American Historical Review, Moby Dick, Rubber Soul, or Mona Lisa).
    • Use italics for names of individual trains, planes, or ships (e.g.,Spirit of St. Louis,Sunset Limited,USS Eisenhower).
    • Use italics for Latin names for genus and species (e.g.,Cypripedium reginae).

Headings and Sub-heads

St. Cloud State accepts five levels of headings

  • Use heading guidelines from specific style guide (APA, MLA, etc.)
  • Culminating projects must contain chapter headings and a minimum of one sub-heading.
  • Use the same font as the text body.
  • Use bold for all headings.
  • St. Cloud State accepts five levels of headings. If selected style guide allows for more than five, please use the top five levels as recommended by the style guide, or follow the following guidelines:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Centered Heading (optional)

Side Heading

Paragraph heading. Continue on with paragraph

Paragraph 3rd level heading. Continue on with paragraph.

Page Formatting

  • Line spacing
    • Use double-spacing for the body of the text, including headings.
    • Footnotes, bibliographic citations, and long quoted passages should be spaced according to style guide.
  • Margins
    • One-inch on all sides—top, bottom, and sides.
    • Larger margins are acceptable when approved by the culminating project committee.
  • Justification/Alignment
    • Left justification/alignment should be used in the body of the culminating project.
    • “Orphans” (headings or sub-headings not followed by text at the bottom of a page) and “widows” (short lines ending a paragraph at the top of a page) should be avoided.
  • Page Numbering
    • Page numbering begins with the title page.
    • There is no page number on the title page. Page numbers appear starting on page 2 (using Arabic numerals) and continue throughout the remainder of the paper.
    • Placement.
      • Format as recommended by the selected disciplinary style guide or use the following guidelines:
      • Page numbers may be placed on the top right corner within the side margins, 1-inch from the top of the page (set header to 1-inch; hit return after typing page number—this assures the 1-inch margin is maintained); OR
      • Page numbers may be centered within the side margins, 1-inch from the bottom of the page (set footer to 1-inch; hit return after typing page number—this assures the 1-inch margin is maintained).
  • Font
    • Use the same font style and size as the body of the text.
    • Be consistent.
  • Format
    • Use only the plain Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.).
    • Do not use leads (e.g., ………1……..) or dashes (e.g., -1-) or bold (e.g., 1)

Page Order

  1. Title page
    • Bold font may be used for the title only. Find examples on the Culminating Project Support D2L page.
    • Do not us “Dr.” or “Professor” titles before committee members’ names.
  2. Copyright page
  3. Abstract (not required for creative works or starred paper)
    • Heading should be centered and bold.
    • The body of the abstract must be single-spaced and should not include graphs, charts, tables, or other illustrations.
    • List any multimedia supplements included with the culminating project submission.
  4. Preface and/or acknowledgment (optional)
    • Heading should be centered and bold.
  5. Quoted statement or short poem significant to the culminating project 
    • Do not use bold font on this page.
  6. Table of contents
    • Heading should be centered and bold.
  7. List of tables (required when tables are used in the body of the paper)
  8. List of figures (required when figures are used in the body of the paper)
  9. List of files (required only when supplementary files are submitted in addition to the culminating project).
  10. Body of text
    • This section must be divided into appropriate chapters or sections appropriate to the culminating project.
  11. Bibliography and/or references
    • Title and format page according to a specific style guide (APA, MLA, etc.)
  12. Appendix/Appendices, as necessary
    • If IRB approval was sought, include the approved IRB application and supporting documents.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should be formatted as recommended by the selected disciplinary style guide or these guidelines.

Placement

  • Include throughout the project; do not group at the end.
  • Double-space before and after tables.
  • For a small table or figure, place as close as possible to where it is mentioned. Do not wrap the body of text around the table or figure.  Provide sufficient room for a heading and caption on the same page.
  • For a large table or figure, place on the page following the page where it is mentioned. Provide sufficient room for heading and caption on the same page.
  • For very large data sets that would require an oversize sheet to display, submit the data set as a supplemental file and reference by file name and title in the body of the project.

Numbering

  • Each table or figure should be numbered sequentially according to the chapter in which it appears
  • Number tables and figures separately.
  • For example, Table 1.1 (chapter 1, table 1), Table 1.2, and Figure 1.1 (chapter 1, figure 1) could be in the same chapter.

Headings

  • Table headings must be placed above each table using the same font size as used in the body of the text.
  • Font face should match the font used in the body of the text.
  • Table headings should be centered or justified/aligned with left edge of table. Consult with specific style guide to determine.
  • Figure or Image headings may be placed either above or below, depending on style guide.
  • Figure or image headings should be justified with left edge of table, or centered depending on style guide.
  • For large tables or figures using landscape page preference, headings must be oriented to the table, either above or below.

New ADA Law and the Repository

New federal accessibility requirements go into effect on April 24, 2026. Web content, including PDF documents, like the culminating projects in The Repository, must comply with WCAG 2.1, Level AA standard of accessible web content.

For Summer 2026 submissions, you will need to use the accessibility checker found under the review tab in Microsoft Word prior to submission and that you upload your paper for format review as a Word document. 

Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word

Microsoft 365 Support Guide on Accessibility

All St. Cloud State University students can download Microsoft 365 for personal use. It is also installed on all campus computers. If you have written your paper in Google Docs or another tool, you will want to bring it into Microsoft Word and run the accessibility checker which is found under the review tab.

Accessibility Resources

The SCSU Knowledge Base contains resources for creating accessible documents. You may need to login with your StarID and password.

The Accessibility Guy on YouTube has video tutorials on making PDF's, Word documents and PowerPoint presentations accessible. 

All projects submitted to The Repository for summer 2026 and beyond will be required to meet the accessibility requirements at the point of submission. 

Purpose

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide clarity on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the completion of a culminating project. Culminating projects include dissertations, theses, starred papers, portfolios, comprehensive examinations, and capstone projects.

Individual graduate programs may be more restrictive in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) but may not be more permissive without consultation with the School of Graduate Studies.

These guidelines are based on the premise that the culminating project documents your disciplinary learning and growth as a graduate student. It reflects your ability to think critically, conduct research, evaluate evidence, and communicate findings in your own scholarly voice.

Academic integrity standards require you to understand and adhere to standards for responsible conduct of research, data privacy, disciplinary expectations regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI), attribution of sources, and fair use guidelines.

AI may be used to support your learning and research; however, it cannot replace individual initiative, critical thinking, original analysis, or independent writing.

Expectations of the School of Graduate Studies

The School of Graduate Studies expects that all culminating projects will reflect the student’s original thinking, analysis, and written work. When AI is used as a tool or partner in the research or writing process, its use must be:

  • Discussed with the advisor, culminating project committee, or instructor, and
  • Consistent with university policy, disciplinary guidelines, and funding or publication requirements, and
  • Transparent in documentation and submission materials.

Students are solely responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of all content submitted.

Appropriate Use of AI

AI tools such as chatbots (Microsoft Copilot, Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.), writing assistants (Grammerly, Quillbot, etc.), applications (Research Rabbit, Course Hero, etc.) and voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, etc.)  may be used in limited, ethical, and transparent ways that support a student’s own scholarly work. Students should consult with their advisor or committee regarding acceptable uses within their discipline and adhere to program policies and committee/advisor decisions.

Examples of appropriate AI as approved use may include:

  • Brainstorming, generating, or refining research ideas.
  • Using AI-powered search tools to identify and filter relevant literature.
  • Generating images from your research or to illustrate your thinking.
  • Checking spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Software development support.
  • Reviewing adherence to disciplinary formatting requirements.
  • Verifying alignment of in-text citations and reference lists.
  • Ensuring accessibility compliance with federal, state, and institutional requirements.
  • Other uses as discussed with and approved by the advisor, committee, or instructor.

As AI capabilities evolve, students and faculty may identify additional ethical and discipline-appropriate uses.

Transparency and Documentation Requirements

Discussion and Planning

During the planning stage and throughout, students and advisors/committees will discuss:

  • Whether AI will be used,
  • For what purposes, and
  • What documentation will be required.
  • If AI is to be used, students and advisors/committees must ensure data privacy is maintained.

Documentation

Students must maintain records of:

  • Prompts used,
  • AI-generated output, and
  • How that output informed or influenced the project.

This documentation is part of a student’s research record and must be available to the committee upon request. Students should not cite or include in the references, any texts (books, articles, blogs, websites, etc.) that they have not read themselves.

AI Use Statements for Culminating Project Submission

For culminating projects submitted to the University Repository (including dissertations, theses, and starred papers), students must include an AI Use Statement.

Option 1: Limited AI Use Statement

“I did not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the research or writing of my culminating project beyond implicit assistance, such as AI embedded tools available in standard software (e.g., Microsoft Word, Google Docs). I have reviewed and edited all content, included appropriate citations and references, and am fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of my culminating project.”

Option 2: AI Use Statement

“I affirm that the content of my culminating project is my own, except as specified below.

AI Tools and Uses
I used the following AI tools (list tool name, publisher, and version, e.g., “Microsoft Copilot, 2025 version”):

AI was used in the following ways (check or list all that apply):

  • As a search engine
  • To generate or refine research ideas
  • To analyze or draw conclusions from research
  • To assist in reviewing literature
  • Software development support
  • To generate visuals
  • Other (specify)

The artificial intelligence (AI) used in this project complies with the guidelines established by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the policies of St. Cloud State University. I have reviewed and edited all content, included appropriate citations and references, and am fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of my culminating project.”

Resources

Microsoft Copilot was consulted in the development of these guidelines. The document was reviewed for clarity, organization and formality of language.

Carefully review the culminating project submission directions for Summer 2026. This is an interim process in place for summer as we are transitioning to a new digital repository. Summer submissions must still meet the listed deadlines for a summer graduation.

If you are completing a dissertation, thesis, starred paper or creative work that requires submission to the Repository, follow the directions below to initiate final format review or to submit corrections. Papers are reviewed in the order in which they were submitted.

Initial Submission

Save your paper as {document type}-{first name}-{last name}-summer26

                For Example: dissertation-sue-smith-summer26

Open the Microsoft Form for Submission

Upload an accessible Microsoft Word version of your paper or an accessible PDF version of your paper to the form.

Be prepared to enter the following information.

  • Title - The title of your culminating project.
  • Author - Enter your full name as listed on the title page.
  • Date of award - Date of graduation ceremony.
  • Type - Choices are “thesis,” “dissertation," "starred paper," "creative work" or "portfolio"
  • Degree name – Select Ed.D, Master of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Engineering Management, Master of Social Work
  • Graduate Program - The graduate program you are completing 
  • Advisors
    • First Advisor. This is your culminating project chairperson/supervisor.
    • Second, Third, Fourth Advisors. These are members of your culminating project committee other than your culminating project chairperson/supervisor.
  • Creative Commons license - This helps you retain copyright control while allowing others to copy, distribute or make some use of your work so long as they credit you. The most restrictive license, commonly used for culminating projects, is Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works, and is the default.
  • Keywords - You may enter up to six keywords (individual words or phrases), separated by commas. This improves indexing and retrieval of your culminating project.
  • Abstract - Copy and paste the full text of the abstract as it appears in your thesis or dissertation. If you are submitting a starred paper or creative work, you will need to provide an appropriate description of the culminating project in lieu of an abstract.
  • Comment or acknowledgement
    • A typical comment is to an article or conference presentation based in whole or in part on the research represented in the culminating project.
    • A typical acknowledgement recognizes the mentoring or contribution of a professor or colleague.
  • Embargo - An embargo period that denies public access to your deposit. This may be appropriate for selected culminating projects. This field should only be changed with prior approval from Graduate Studies. 
    • The Graduate School has adopted an embargo policy that permits students to request a 1-year embargo with the option for a second 1-year embargo on any culminating project at the recommendation of the faculty advisor/chair and with the approval of the graduate program director. 
    • A student whose culminating project contains proprietary or third party data may request a 5-year or a permanent embargo at the recommendation of the faculty advisor/chair and with the approval of the graduate program director. 
    • The embargo reqeuest process begins with completing and submitting the embargo request form. 

Resubmission/Corrections

  • Save your paper as {document type}-{first name}-{last name}-summer26-{version#}
  • Example: dissertation-sue-smith-summer26-version2 or dissertation-sue-smith-summer26-final
  • Email the corrected document to the formatter at gagrad6@stcloudstate.edu 

Be sure to clearly label each resubmission with the version to ensure your corrected paper is reviewed.

Formatting

Editing

  • Graduate-Level Writing: Self-enroll in our D2L course.
  • Review citations and ensure work is in your own words, quoted and correctly cited.

Theses, dissertations, creative works, and starred papers require submission to the Repository. Plan C papers are considered on a case-by-case basis. Contact the School of Graduate Studies.

Graduation deadlines

The School of Graduate Studies will process graduations three times per year. Students wishing to graduate with a specific graduation date must meet posted deadlines for that graduation date or apply for the next available date.

Students are required to be enrolled in at least 1 credit in the term that they graduate.

Student responsibilities

  • Attend a thesis/dissertation workshop addressing formatting guidelines and Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) submission, view the associated PowerPoint presentation online (in Process), or meet with the format reviewer.
  • Submit fully-formatted draft of culminating project to faculty committee two weeks in advance of final defense (final committee meeting).
  • Students should submit the fully-formatted, accessible, and approved final project to the Institutional Repository through ETD intake to request formatting review. (Student enters name, program, school or college, document title, abstract (thesis and dissertation), keywords, and chair/committee members’ names and emails). 
    • Submitted document must be formatted according to the approved disciplinary style and the guidelines outlined in the Preparation of Culminating Projects for Electronic Submission.
    • Formatted document must include title page, abstract (not required for creative works or starred papers), table of contents, list of tables or images (if tables or images are included in the paper) and correct in-text citations, references and appendices.
    • Citations and included references must be congruent. Accurate citations and references are critical to academic integrity. 
    • Papers found to contain plagiarism, at any time, can result in denial of award or revocation of the degree. 
    • A works consulted list may be included in an appendix for research reviewed but not cited in the body of the project.
    • The document submitted to the Repository should be your best effort. The document should fulfill program requirements, contain all needed and congruent citations and references, and fulfill all formatting requirements. 
    • Student receives feedback from format reviewer in 10-15 business days (2 - 3 weeks). 
    • Response is dependent on the time of year and your position in the queue. One month or more is normal if submitted on the deadline for Spring, Summer or Fall completion and will delay your graduation. 
  • Student makes formatting corrections and revisions required by the committee.
  • Advisor reviews revisions and sends signed committee approval form to School of Graduate Studies.
  • Student uploads final, approved and formatted culminating project revisions to the Institutional Repository through ETD intake.

THEN

  • Following advisor approval, the School of Graduate Studies reviews the final submission for formatting -- adherence to disciplinary style guide and Graduate Studies requirements for title page, table of contents, lists of tables or images as required, abstract as required, and appropriate appearance (page numbers, margins, headings, font etc.)
  • An approved paper is placed in the queue for publishing to the Repository.
  • Graduate Studies notifies Office of Records and Registration that the culminating project is complete.
  • Student, advisor and college dean receive notifications that the culminating project has been accepted and published to the Repository.

 OR

  • If additional formatting corrections are needed, or the chair does not approve submitted document, the student receives notification that additional changes are needed.
  • The student makes changes as required prior to final deadline and uploads corrected document through ETD intake using the existing account.
  • Format reviewer does final check and accepts the re-submitted document. The committee chair is notified that the final copy is again available for review and approval.
  • Following advisor approval, the School of Graduate Studies reviews the final submission and places the document in the queue for publishing to the Repository.
  • Graduate Studies notifies the Graduate Records Specialist that the culminating project is complete.
  • Student, advisor, and college dean receive notifications that the culminating project has been accepted and published to the Institutional Repository.

 Faculty responsibilities

  • Direct student as to which disciplinary style guide should be used for formatting, or direct student to the St. Cloud State University formatting guides for electronic submission.
  • Direct student to submit the formatted culminating project to the School of Graduate Studies and the culminating project committee two weeks in advance of the final oral defense. Notify Graduate Studies if you want a preliminary review.
  • Provide student with feedback on content, disciplinary style (if used), in-text citations and references (citations/references should be in the disciplinary style and accurate).
  • Complete the Culminating Project Committee Results form following the final defense. 
  • Advisors may:
    • Immediately submit passing or failing results for review by the graduate director and submission to Graduate Studies; OR
    • Hold form until student has completed any corrections required by the committee, approve and submit to Graduate Studies.
  • Review the notification of final formatting approval and immediately communicate any concerns to the School of Graduate Studies. 

School of Graduate Studies responsibilities

  • Provide formatting and submission workshops in a variety of formats, as to be accessible to all students and disciplines.
  • Preliminary review of formatting and citation/referencing for culminating projects in the Electronic Theses and Dissertation intake.
  • Provide feedback to student on formatting, style, referencing, citations, etc. within 10-15 business days of submission. Response is dependent on the time of year and your position in the queue. One month or more is normal if submitted on the deadline for Spring, Summer or Fall completion and will delay your graduation. 
  • Perform the final review of formatting and citation/referencing for culminating projects in the Electronic Theses and Dissertation intake.
  • Notify the faculty chair that the final document is ready for review and approval.
  • Receive final approval and publish the Electronic Theses and Dissertation to the Repository.

Learning Resources Responsibilities

  • Maintain the Institutional Repository.
  • Support electronic submission of theses and dissertations, and other culminating projects.
  • Metadata.
  • Archive.

Binding specifications of the School of Graduate Studies

  • Hard cover
  • Black buckram (color)
  • Gold lettering
  • Adhesive
  • White, acid-free paper or 100 percent cotton blend
  • Appropriate number of required copies (1 minimum)
  • Front-cover wording (optional/extra charge)
    • Thesis/Dissertation/Starred Paper
    • Title
    • Name
    • Month and year
  • Spine wording (required)
    • Last Name
    • Title
    • Month and Year

Procedure

  • The student contacts the company and completes a form that asks name, title, number of copies, etc.
  • The student uploads their project, completes shipping information and submits payment.
  • Costs and delivery times are estimates based on “average” metrics (e.g., single-sided, 114 pages, 10 pages in color, 4 copies, hard cover, acid-free white paper).

Companies accept culminating projects electronically

University of Minnesota

  • Estimated cost including printing, binding, shipping
    • $236 for 4 copies
    • $179 for 3 copies
    • $121 for 2 copies
    • $ 64 for 1 copy
  • Delivery: 10 business days

FedEx Office (local drop-off and pick-up)

  • Estimated cost including printing, binding, shipping
    • $218 for 4 copies
  • Time to pick-up: 5-7 business days

PHD Book Binding

  • Estimated cost not including shipping
    • $37 for each copy
  • Delivery: Orders ship on the fifth business day of each week

Additional option for binding a personal copy or gift copy

Soft Cover Bind

Need in-person assistance with formatting?

Email the format reviewer GA at gagrad6@stcloudstate.edu to set up an individual appointment through Zoom.