Masters Thesis Submission and Graduation

Thesis Reading Committee

The thesis reading committee should consist of three members, the majority of which are Senate Faculty.

A student's Master's Thesis Reading Committee is nominated at the same time that they apply to graduate, before the 2nd week of the quarter the degree should be awarded. At this time, two forms should be submitted:

Thesis Review

The thesis review will happen in two portions - internal review with the faculty advisor and reading committee, and external review by the Division of Graduate Studies. The internal review checks for academic merit and coherence, while the Graduate Division review checks for format, technical, and logistical guidelines.

Reading Committee Review

This process is done mostly on your own accord - communicate with your faculty advisor about this process and inquire when it should begin, and how long it might take. Time should be budgeted in the case that the reading committee has comments that will need to be addressed before they accept the thesis and sign off on it.

Division of Graduate Studies Review

This process is done to confirm validity, format, and standard. They will confirm that the thesis follows the guidelines according to the resources found on the Division of Graduate Studies' website under the heading Thesis & Dissertation Submission.

Filing Deadlines

Please see the Academic and Administrative Calendar for the current academic year. There, you will find a few key dates under the Announcing Candidacy for Degree/Apply to Graduate heading:

"Deadline to announce for Masters or Ph.D." This is the deadline that the Application to Graduate must be submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies.
"Deadline to complete all requirements for degree" is the date that all requirements must be completed or submitted. The thesis must have been reviewed by the reading committee and have their signatures, submitted to the Graduate Division via ProQuest. All course requirements that will count towards the degree must have additionally have a passing grade.

Upon submission of the Application to Graduate, the Division of Graduate Studies will send an informational email to you informing you on next steps and submission guidelines. In particular, they will invite you to upload your thesis to ProQuest.

Filing 'Between Quarters'

There is some flexibility when graduating 'between quarters'. A student can apply to graduate for a given quarter, but can submit all requirements for graduation before that quarter's start date. This enables the student to graduate without needing to enroll, and can be helpful when the thesis is not done before the "Deadline to complete all requirements for degree" for the previous quarter.

Post-Graduation

Once a student's application to graduate has been accepted, they are no longer eligible to enroll. A student must be an active student to hold academic student employment positions, such as TA and GSI. A student that applies to graduate in Spring will be ineligible for TA or GSI positions the following Summer.

You are also advised to complete the following:

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