Thesis Option

MAIS students have the option of writing a master's thesis for six hours of credit in IST 797 as an alternative to the three-hour capstone course IST 793.

A master's thesis represents the culmination of work in the MAIS program, demonstrating a student's ability to complete graduate level work in the area defined within Integrative Studies.

Students who contemplate pursuing further graduate work, or who want to pursue advanced professional careers that involve in depth research, may want to consider writing a thesis to demonstrate their knowledge of the field and their capacity to plan, execute, and document in writing a significant research project pertaining to an important and original idea.

A written master's level thesis generally consists of a scholarly manuscript of between 60-75 pages. Format requirements for a thesis are available from the Office of Graduate Education and must be followed precisely. All theses will be published through University Microfilms International (UMI).

A thesis must demonstrate the student’s original thought on a specific research question, and is expected to reflect the student’s grasp of theoretical, technical, and cultural issues surrounding that question. A successful thesis in the Integrative Studies program makes an original, significant contribution to interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary knowledge.

A thesis must consist of a polished, original work written in consultation with NKU faculty during the student’s program and not previously published in any form.

The Master’s thesis is not complete until a successful oral defense and final, approved submission of the project to University Microfilms International (UMI). Consequently, completing the thesis is not equivalent to completing IST 797, though work performed in IST 797 contributes to completion of the thesis. Until the thesis or project is complete, satisfactory progress will be indicated in IST 797 with a grade of “X.”

When planning a Master’s thesis, students should bear in mind that the final product will be published through UMI no later than one year after submission. Consequently, students should seek legal advice before writing theses that make use of proprietary material, copyrighted material, or material intended for future publication elsewhere.

During the first 15 hours of graduate coursework, students should begin the process of identifying a faculty member and at least two additional committee members who may be willing to direct and serve as readers of the thesis. A thesis director must have full graduate faculty status and specific academic expertise in the area you select. With rare exceptions, the thesis director should have a terminal degree in the field. A student's thesis director must be willing to advise the student in writing a prospectus and to help the student locate at least two other faculty members who are willing to serve on the thesis committee. Often the thesis director is someone with whom the student has taken a class or undertaken a research project. Because the work in MAIS is interdisciplinary, the membership of the FAC should represent at least two disciplines or area relevant to the thesis project. The MAIS program director will work with the student to identify and consider the appropriately qualified individuals.

After completing 15 hours of graduate study in the program, students who wish to pursue the thesis option are expected to submit a proposal to the program director in the form of a prospectus of 10-15 pages that delineates the research topic and the problems, issues, and questions the thesis will address; current scholarly thought in the relevant areas pertaining to the topic; the student's unique approach; a preliminary working bibliography of resources; and the names of three faculty members who have tentatively agreed to serve on the committee. The prospectus should clearly demonstrate that the thesis is sufficiently rigorous to warrant assignment of 6 semester hours of advanced graduate work and fulfillment of a capstone requirement (IST 797). Guidelines for completing a prospectus are provided in the Appendix.

Students may include one faculty member on the thesis committee who is a faculty member from another university, or an otherwise appropriate expert in the field of study. The program director must approve the final selection of all committee members. The committee as a whole is called the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC). The FAC chair and at least one other committee member must be faculty members at NKU and have graduate faculty status.

Formal acceptance of the prospectus requires the student’s signature and the signatures of the thesis director, committee members, and the program director (the capstone transmittal form is available in the Appendix). Please note that the committee and the program director have the authority to require that the student revise the prospectus. Consequently, students should start on this process as soon as they begin to focus in on the particular area of areas of interest.

Once the prospectus is signed by the student, committee members, and program director, the student’s FAC is considered to be formed, and the student is permitted to enroll in thesis hours.

If the thesis involves human subjects, the proposal also must be reviewed by the Institutional Review board (IRB), also known as the Human subjects Committee (HSC). IRB guidelines and forms are available from the NKU Office of Research, Grants, and Contracts [(859) 572-5168]. The report of this review must be filed with the department’s Graduate Office. No research may be undertaken, nor may a student enroll for thesis hours, until such approval has been received and recorded with the graduate program director.

The defense is usually scheduled approximately three weeks prior to the final due date for the completed thesis, but only upon the recommendation of both the FAC chairperson and the MAIS program director. Once the FAC has indicated that the thesis is ready for a defense, the student is responsible for negotiating a defense date and time with the members of the FAC and notifying the graduate program director of the date and time of the defense no later than two weeks before the defense.

Copies of the thesis must be distributed to the FAC members no later than two weeks prior to the scheduled defense. The completed thesis is due, in final, approved form, to the Graduate Programs by April 1 for spring graduation and November 1 for fall graduation. Consequently, students should consider these constraints carefully when negotiating schedules with their committees.

The defense is a public presentation open to the student’s guests, the FAC, and the public at large. The chairperson of the FAC will chair the defense. The student is expected to defend the thesis against questions and challenges from the FAC members. The FAC can then approve, with a majority vote, the thesis as is, approve the thesis with required changes, or not approve the thesis/project.

Sample Schedule for Fall Graduation

Copies distributed to FAC: Early October

Defense: Mid October

Completed thesis to program director: November 1

Sample Schedule for Spring Graduation

Copies distributed to FAC: Early March

Defense: Mid March

Completed thesis to program director: April 1

The student must make all corrections, changes, additions, and deletions mandated by the FAC before submitting the final document to the graduate director and the Director of Graduate Programs. The FAC director will assign a final grade, recorded for IST 797 Applied Research: Capstone Thesis, only after the thesis has been uploaded to UMI and approved by the Office of Graduate Education.

The appropriate style manual will be determined in consultation with the FAC director. Consistency of style and form, following the most current style manual and the guidelines published by the Office of Graduate Education must be observed. This guide also specifies any procedures and fees required so that the thesis can be submitted successfully.

The guide also addresses some questions related to the submission of nonstandard or innovative materials and media as part of the thesis. The Office of Graduate Education, along with the project committee, must be consulted well in advance to ensure that materials or media not covered by the guidelines can be accepted.

In the course of research, students may wish to examine theses created by other students; however, students should not use other projects as models since exceptions, which may not be approved again, have sometimes been made. Instead, students should follow the most recent version of the appropriate Manual and Style Guide and the advice of the thesis committee. Any discrepancies in the advice received by students should be brought to the attention of the graduate director for clarification.

These forms are to be submitted by Graduate Program Directors the Graduate Education Director.

• Thesis/Dissertation/Project/Exam Committee Selection

• DNP Scholarly Project Proposal Approval

• Thesis/Dissertation/Project/Exam Defense

• Thesis/Dissertation/Project/Exam Defense Results - MUST be printed as requires original signatures.

• Example IRB Approval Form