The Master’s Thesis Review Committee

The Master’s Thesis Review Committee is composed of at least 3 members. The student’s thesis advisor will chair the committee. Other members of the Committee should include faculty knowledgeable in the field of the thesis research. One member should have an appointment outside the thesis advisor’s Department and the other member may be from the thesis advisor’s Department. These three members, as well as any additional members the student and his/her/their thesis advisor may want to add, will be appointed by the Program Director. At its discretion alone, the Graduate School may choose to have a representative present for the defense. This representative would be in addition to the three appointed committee members, but would not vote on the outcome of the defense.

• The Master’s Thesis should be submitted to each member of the Committee at least ten days before the scheduled oral presentation.

• The Committee should evaluate the student’s ability to:

  • evaluate and synthesize relevant literature defend the methods used

  • articulate and elaborate on the experiments described

  • discuss the significance of the work and potential future research directions

  • justify conclusions

Revisions recommended by the Committee must be completed in a timely fashion. The student’s thesis advisor should approve the revised thesis before it is deposited. The student should make note of the deadlines described below for final deposit of the thesis and dates that the MS degree will be awarded. The thesis must be deposited by the end of the semester in which the thesis defense takes place. The student will maintain student status until the thesis is deposited.