MA Thesis or Creative Component

The thesis should be a substantial research project on a topic related to technical writing. The thesis director should be a member of the English Department graduate faculty who specializes in technical writing. Rules and regulations affecting graduate enrollment, tenure, examinations, theses, and dissertations are made not only by the English Department but also by the graduate faculty of the university.

Thesis Committee. Unless the student requests a change, the advisory committee serves as the thesis committee.

Committee Changes. Once formed, a thesis committee may not be changed except for serious reasons stated in writing to the graduate coordinator and then approved by the graduate college.

Prospectus. MA candidates writing a thesis should submit a prospectus (approximately 1000 words in length) in the semester they submit their plans of study. The candidate's committee must approve the prospectus. Committee members must be notified in writing if the proposals outlined in the prospectus will be departed from in the finished thesis to a significant degree (if, for example, the topic of the thesis changes or the authors or texts to be treated are altered or the number or character of the chapters changes). Students must provide a copy of the approved prospectus to the English Department graduate coordinator.

Reading Procedure. At the time that the prospectus is approved, an agreement should be reached between the candidate and the committee members as to the reading procedure for the individual chapters. Matters to be discussed in reaching this agreement might include which chapters each member of the committee needs to see as they are completed by the candidate, whether individual committee members want to see the chapters serially or all at once, and how long committee members will need to finish reading a chapter or the entire thesis. Under no circumstances should a completed thesis be submitted to any committee member for reading less than two weeks before the defense.

Deadlines. Students submitting a thesis must adhere to deadlines established by the graduate college and the English Department.

Style. The student must write the thesis according to the current Graduate College Style Manual, available from the graduate college. A graduate college staff member will be available for advice on formatting for binding and microfilming.

Defense Copy (Final Draft). The thesis that is defended should contain all of the chapters in a completed form and full documentation.

Final Copy. If as a result of the defense, revisions to the thesis are required, committee members will not sign the thesis until after those revisions are completed to their satisfaction.

Thesis Defense. Students who choose to write a thesis (instead of a creative component) must take a public, oral examination lasting a minimum of 45 minutes. The thesis defense occurs after the student has submitted a complete draft of the thesis to all committee members.

Intent to Defend. Candidates will file a nonbinding Intent to Defend form with the graduate coordinator within the first two weeks of the semester in which they expect to defend the thesis or dissertation. Each member of the committee will sign this form before it is filed with the graduate coordinator. If students do not defend in a semester when the form is filed, they should resubmit the form when they are prepared to defend. The thesis that is defended should contain all of the chapters in a completed form and full documentation.

Scheduling of Oral Defense. Under no circumstances should a completed thesis be submitted to any committee member for reading less than two weeks before the defense.

The English Graduate Office must be notified one week in advance of the oral defense of the following: the day and time of the defense, and the title of the thesis. All thesis defenses are to be held no later than one month prior to the deadline for submission of the final copy to the graduate college. No thesis defense will be held during the summer.

Creative Component. The creative component consists of a technical document (manual, website, report, proposal, series of brochures) and a rationale which explains how the technical document demonstrates principles and preferred practices in technical communication. The creative component is usually generated as part of an internship.