Satisfying The Technical Writing Requirement: Thesis Option

A written thesis is based either on research or on the solution and documentation of a substantial problem in application or system programming. The subject is chosen jointly by the student and the thesis adviser. The student selects a guidance committee of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty. The student must submit a brief written thesis proposal to the committee members during the early stages of thesis work.

The thesis must meet normal standards of scholarly writing and prescribed standards of form (see the Graduate School Handbook and the Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Guide). Further important information is presented in the Departmental document Preparation of Theses and Dissertations.

The student must register for at least three hours, but not more than six hours, of COMP 993: Masters Thesis (Syllabus). Registration for COMP 993 can reduce to 24 the number of hours of non-research courses that the student must take.

A student who elects to write a thesis must make an oral presentation of the thesis to the guidance committee. Before this presentation can take place, the adviser and at least one other member of the student's committee must agree that the thesis is in substantially finished form. The student may elect that the presentation be public. In that event, the student gives a 50-minute presentation of the thesis, followed by questions from the committee and from the audience. If the committee wishes, it may continue to question the student in private. If the student elects a private presentation, it will be of such form and duration as are prescribed by the committee. Public presentations are encouraged as a means of keeping faculty and students informed of current research and development activities, and to give the student experience in public speaking.

The thesis presentation is technically a Final Oral examination. The student may elect to combine it with the M.S. Oral Comprehensive examination on course work into a single examination, provided that the scheduling requirements for both have been met. This election is independent of whether to present the thesis publicly.

The student must be registered during the semester(s) in which the M.S. thesis presentation is held and when the M.S. Thesis is presented to and accepted by the Graduate School.