Master's Thesis First and Final Drafts

Master’s Thesis First Draft

A first draft of your master’s thesis should be read and approved by your mentor, and subsequently uploaded using the online Master’s Thesis First Draft Approval form. Your mentor will be able to access the form and approve or not approve your first draft. If approved, the first draft will be forwarded to a CLR Program Director, who will provide a grade of “approved without revisions,” “approved with minor revisions,” or “approved with major revisions.” The Program Director will upload a copy of your first draft along with written feedback and requests for revisions, which the student should integrate into their final draft.

Your first draft should not be an outline of your project; it should be a full first draft. Failure to submit a complete first draft will result in a potential delay of your graduation. The first draft should be submitted as a Word document to allow for tracked changes and feedback provided by the program leadership, and should include all of the sections required in a manuscript including:

• Statement of purpose

• Background

• Hypothesis

• Specific aims

• Research design

• Methods

• Results

• Conclusion

Annual Best MSCR Thesis Prize

Each year, prior to graduation, the best MSCR thesis (or theses) will be selected by the program leadership and awarded a prize for the best thesis, to be presented at the annual graduation achievement awards ceremony. The awardees are selected based upon the first draft of their thesis.

Master’s Thesis Final Draft

When submitting your final draft, be sure to address all questions, concerns, and requested revisions provided to you by the program in your first draft. Your final draft should be read and approved by your mentor and then uploaded as a Word document using the online Master’s Thesis Final Draft Approval form. Your mentor will be able to access the form and approve or not approve the final draft. If approved, the final draft will be forwarded to a CLR Program Director, who will provide a grade of “approved without revisions,” “approved with minor revisions,” or “approved with major revisions.” The Program Director will upload a copy of your final draft along with written feedback and/or requests for revisions. Students who are approved with major or minor revisions must make the requested revisions and submit a new Master’s Thesis Final Draft Approval form along with the revised final draft. Once the final draft has been “approved without revisions,” students may begin the process of depositing the thesis to ProQuest.