Thesis Policy

What we currently have

As far as I have observed, everything we have about thesis and committee preparation is provided under the Graduate Student Handbook (GSH). It is probably a better idea to provide this information in a related pane under the graduate website itself.

In the GSH, we provide the following information.

• Thesis-based MS degree requires performing independent and novel research.
• A minimum of 6 credit of thesis work are required (there is a grammatical error here in the GSH) for a MS degree, but it is common for students to have an excess of thesis credits.
• Students must be enrolled in at least 1 credit of thesis (what?) in the semester in which they defend their thesis.
• We have a flow chart for MS timeline, where we lay out when to outline and propose the thesis, present proposal, carry out research, and defend thesis.
• There is a supposed link forming a thesis committee, however, the link does not work.
• There is an explanation of candidacy and how it works.

Feedback from students

• Formalize thesis proposal process (Wankun):

  • Currently the proposal process is not formalized.
  • The ECE department has the proposal listed as a 1-credit pass/fail course in which students enroll during the semester they plan to present the proposal.
  • We can require the student to complete the core courses before being able to enroll in this proposal course.

• Time between proposal and defense (Wankun and Nardos): There should be at least one semester between the proposal and defense.

• Semester calendar with deadlines (Nardos and Dan's student): e.g. deadlines to apply for defense or proposal, admission deadlines, deadline to form committee. Define the timeline/roadmap clearly.

Potpourri from other schools

• UT Dallas: https://graduate.utdallas.edu//current_students/dissertation_and_thesis/

  • Has a formatting and submission guide for thesis and dissertations (with update dates).
  • Tips on how to schedule a defense
  • Deadlines, templates (Word and LaTeX), and checklists are provided.
  • Links to workshops and other events are provided.
  • Thesis requires 3 semester credit hours of research, 3 semester credit hours of thesis.
  • Supervisory committee is mentioned but its selection criteria was left vague.

• UIUC: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/mechse/dissertations

  • Provides a link to search for all dissertations and theses for current students.
  • Seminar information
  • Most other information is provided in a GSH like we do.

• University of Florida: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/mae/dissertations

  • Provides a link to search for all dissertations and theses.
  • Similar GSH is provided.
  • The document talks about advisor and supervisory committee.
  • Thesis research credit requirement is mentioned.
  • Final oral examination requirement is mentioned.

• Ohio State University:

  • LaTeX template is provided. Thesis is to be checked by the graduate school.
  • Committee: 2+ faculty members in addition to the chair.
  • Thesis must be approved before the student can defend.
  • Oral presentation (<30 min presentation) is required.

• University of Idaho:

  • Thesis format is included, it is checked by the grad school.
  • Committee: 2+ faculty members in addition to the chair.
  • Thesis is to be sent to the committee at least 2 weeks before the defense.
  • Oral presentation between 30 and 60 minutes.
  • Graduation must be requested at least one semester ahead.

• University of Washington:

  • Thesis format included. It is to be checked by the grad school.
  • Committee: 2+ faculty members in addition to the chair.
  • Thesis proposal is to be submitted after supervisor identification.
  • The contents of the thesis proposal should include: objective, justification, approach, methodology, schedule, and estimated cost. It is to be approved by the department chair.
  • No constraints on the oral presentation.

Suggestions for improvement

• We should formalize the proposal process.

  • We are currently doing oral proposals. Do we want written proposals?
    • Detailed inputs of the proposed idea.
    • Contents: abstract, introduction with main objective, background, and methods.
    • Should be concise and to-the-point.
    • Nardos likes the idea of a written proposal; whereas, Wankun prefers oral.
  • Oral proposal should include: (1) review of literature, (2) research objectives and scope, (3) methods, and (4) timeline of the anticipated research.
  • A timeline for the oral proposal is given in the GSH: in the summer semester before the second year.
  • Defense and proposal should not occur on the same semester. Students should propose at least 1 semester prior to the defense.

• Do we want to require MS students to have a peer-reviewed paper submitted or ready to be submitted by the time of the defense?

  • Could not find information about this from other schools.
  • For most Ph.D. programs, I believe there is an implicit expectation for at least 1 (preferable 2 or more) journal publication.
  • Feedback from Nardos: "Yes, working towards a deadline other than the thesis helps students collect content for their defense. It also makes them compare the quality of their work to the rest of the academic world."
  • Feedback from Wankun: "In my opinion, MS students should have at least one peer- reviewed paper ready for submission by the time of their defense."

• What are the requirements for the written and oral defense? What elements need to be included?

  • Do we want a standard layout for the written defense (e.g., introduction, background, methods, results, and conclusions)?
  • Wankun seems to like the current requirements.

• Move the core information in the GSH to the graduate student website.

• Add LaTeX and Word templates for thesis writing.
• Add a section for campus resources on writing workshops.
• Deadline information may be made more visible.

Suggestions for webpage improvements on thesis prep and policy

• One detailed page on the steps taken from admission to graduation: explain the steps needed from graduate college to departmental admission. Proceed into explaining core classes and when they should be taken, expectations during graduate work, when to form a committee, when to apply for proposal, candidacy and defense,and when to last apply for graduation. It is important that this is all in one place and in the proper order so students know what to look for.

• How to form a committee

• Templates: thesis/defense, comprehensive exams and proposals, posters, commonly used conference or archive paper templates. Also links to good resources on LaTeX.

• Forms: for any applications needed such as scheduling exams, proposals, defense, and applying to graduate school.

• Scholarships/waivers/assistantships

• Conference funding: where to find them, how to apply

• Tips on literature survey: such as where to find papers and how to use BSU's portal to reach them.

• Newsletter: on seminars, conferences and talks

Discussions in the Graduate Meeting

Proposal process

We should have redundancy and flexibility.

• Erin: likes the written proposal.

  • The earlier is the better
  • Oral is fine as well.
  • She prefers to have both.
  • RO3 type of (6-page) proposal.
  • The general methodology of the research should be provided in the written proposal.

• Trevor:

  • Oral is the chance to get good feedback.
  • Thinks is the most important part is the feedback.
  • In the proposal, there should be a timeline.
  • The methods section should be left flexible to individual student.
  • We should provide a template to the students so that they are not overwhelmed with time requirements, etc.
  • Identify what every faculty member wants to have in the written proposals of their students and let the advisor guide the rest.

• Gunes:

  • Oral proposal is good.
  • Written: MS students have 1-2 semester to work on the project fully.
  • The written proposal may be overwhelming for the student (busywork?)
  • The written proposal should be something that they can copy \& paste into their final thesis.
  • Trevor and Erin agreed with Gunes about the written proposal's structure.
  • Format of the written proposal: Template should be cleverly designed to facilitate paper production.
  • Write the proper introduction and not the background section necessarily.

• Mahmood:

  • The content of the written proposal should be left to the advisor?
  • We should have the oral proposal.
  • We should be wary of overwhelming the students with a written proposal.

• Dan:

  • We may be asking too much of the student: oral, written proposal and a paper?
  • Oral or written proposal is fine.
  • Just a short abstract on top of an oral proposal may be enough to count for a written proposal.
  • Perhaps we could provide a group of questions for the students to answer to count for a written proposal.

Future action Item: What does the template actually looks like for the oral and written proposal?

Peer-reviewed paper requirement

• Gunes:

  • Paper requirement should be exist and be rigid.

• Dan:

  • Should the student be the first author or not?
  • Should we count patterns for a design project?
  • For students doing development work paper requirement may be too rigid.

• Mahmood:

  • Thinks we should encourage this but not necessarily make it rigid.
  • Advisor should be the key.
  • Setting the expectation at the beginning of hire for the student is important.

• Trevor:

  • We can make room for exceptions; however, these exceptions must be reviewed by the advisor or the committee.
  • If we do not get a publication out of a 2-year-invested student, we cannot be successful as faculty members.
  • First authorship is important.

• Erin:

  • Call this an academic product.
  • Include this in the oral or written proposal.
  • Leave the requirement to the discretion of the advisor.

Requirements for written and oral defense

• Trevor:

  • Academic product is the heart of the thesis.
  • What are the highlights of research you've done?
  • Include a final chapter for future research / what was important about what you've done?

• Erin:

  • Intro, background
  • A copy \& paste submitted articles/papers (might have to be edited later)
  • Future directions, conclusions, etc.