Students completing the thesis requirement must work under the direct guidance of an English Department graduate faculty member and prepare the document in conformity with the regulations approved by the Graduate Council.
Students will work with a thesis committee consisting of three English department graduate faculty members: a thesis adviser and two faculty readers. The thesis adviser should be a professor working in the area of the thesis topic and will work out a time table for reading, conferences, and manuscript completion and revision with the student. The student should obtain from the School of Graduate Studies, located in Murphy Hall, a "Guide to Thesis Preparation," which contains further instructions and forms.
Students should begin to formulate their thesis topic early on in the program and engage in critical discussions with English department faculty members to refine the topic before submitting the project title and outline to the thesis adviser.
Students must enroll in three credit hours of ENG 699: Master's Thesis in each of the final two semesters of their graduate program. Credit for the course will be awarded upon satisfactory completion of the thesis and passing the thesis defense. The Student must submit the project title and outline to his/her thesis adviser in accordance with the deadlines published in the University calendar (approximately six months prior to the anticipated date of degree completion).
In the final semester of the student’s graduate program, he/she must register for the thesis defense with the associate director of graduate studies and schedule the defense with his/her thesis committee in accordance with the deadlines posted on the University calendar.
At that time, the student should present a clean copy of the thesis to each of the thesis committee members, thereby providing them with ample time to adequately read and assess the manuscript. Finally, students will participate in the thesis defense. (For a description of that requirement, see "Oral Comprehensive Exam/Thesis Defense" on the Comprehensive Examinations page.)