Quick Start Guide

Detailed information is available in the Thesis Process document – this is only a checklist for getting started.

1. Be sure that all requirements for your degree except the thesis are completed. Your grade point average must be at least 3.0.
2. Meet with the Program Director to discuss possible topics and ideas and to develop a list of possible thesis advisors.
3. Contact an advisor in the general area of your topic to see if he/she is interested in working with you. Once a faculty person has agreed, be sure he/she is a member of the Graduate Faculty. If not, make arrangements with the Program Assistant for the advisor’s temporary appointment to the Graduate Faculty.
4. Decide on a final thesis project with your advisor. Write up the Thesis Proposal with input from your advisor. Note that the Thesis Proposal as well as the Thesis Proposal form is due before the beginning of the semester in which you plan to start your thesis work. Be sure to collect all the required signatures before submitting your proposal to the Program Director.
5. Contact the Program Assistant to register for Thesis I – LBS 791. Your advisor must submit a grade of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory for this 3-hour course in order for you to continue with a thesis.
6. You may then contact the Program Assistant to register for Thesis II – LBS 792 – for the following semester. (Under some circumstances, you may be permitted to take Thesis II concurrently with Thesis I if you are fully able to concentrate on your topic and complete your work.)
7. Complete an Application for Candidacy & Statement of Intent to Graduate form prior to the beginning of the semester in which you intend to defend your thesis. Collect all required signatures before submitting the form to the Program Director.
8. Follow the procedures more fully described in The Thesis Process document.