Thesis
Several graduate degree programs at UT Tyler require a thesis. A student seeking a degree should consult the appropriate section of this catalog to determine if a particular degree requires a thesis.
Guidelines and Procedures
Students considering enrollment in a thesis course should access the Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Guidelines (and Sample Pages) at the following address: uttyler.edu/graduate/thesis-dissertation/thesis-students.php. These guidelines describe procedures for typing, formatting, and submitting the thesis.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval
Federal regulations and University policy require that all investigations using animals or human beings as subjects of research be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board before such investigations may begin.
Data cannot be collected for any dissertation based on the use of animals or human beings as subjects without prior review and approval in accordance with university procedures. More information can be found online at: uttyler.edu/research/compliance/.
Even if a student believes that his/her research may be "exempt", the proposed research must still be reviewed prior to initiating collection of data.
Thesis Committees
Committee Composition
A student who has been advanced to the thesis stage is responsible for forming a thesis committee. Members of the committee must review and approve the student’s research proposal. The student and the committee work in union on the scope, plan, and progress of the thesis research and manuscript. Note the following policies regarding committee composition:
Committee Size & Potential Members
Thesis committees must be comprised of at least three members (a chair and two supporting faculty members). The majority of the committee members should be faculty from the student’s graduate program. Appropriately qualified faculty may serve on a committee at the request of the student and the graduate program. Categories of graduate faculty membership are described online at uttyler.edu/graduate/gradfaculty/credential.
Thesis chairs must complete and submit the Appointment of Thesis Committee form to gradforms@uttyler.edu for Graduate School approval before the student is eligible to enroll in thesis hours. The form is available online at uttyler.edu/graduate/thesis-dissertation.
Committee Chair
The Committee Chair is the student's primary mentor. She or he is responsible for directing and guiding the student’s research and writing activities. He or she should possess expertise in the student’s chosen research topic. It is the responsibility of the student to select an appropriate topic and to ensure that a faculty member with expertise in the topic is available and willing to serve as chair. The Committee Chair must be appropriately qualified for his/her role on the committee. It is possible to have co-chairs on a committee.
Oral Defense of Thesis
An oral defense of a thesis is scheduled in consultation with the committee chairperson/advisor. The oral defense should be held only after all members of the committee have had adequate opportunity to review a draft of the master’s thesis. The advisor is responsible for determining that the draft is in an appropriate form for committee evaluation. If substantial revisions are necessary, they should be completed before the final oral defense is scheduled. The committee may, at the time of the final oral but no later, require alterations and corrections, but these should constitute relatively minor changes agreed to by a majority of the committee members. The advisor is responsible for verifying that the changes required by the committee have been made.
An invitation created by the student may be sent to gradforms@uttyler.edu and will be forwarded on behalf of The Graduate School to all full-time faculty members. All committee members are expected to be present at the defense. The final oral may be open to the public. A thesis is accepted only after the approval of a majority of the examining committee members. If there are co-chairs of the committee, both must indicate approval of the thesis defense.
After the oral defense is passed and the thesis is deemed ready for publication, all members of the committee sign the Thesis Signature page. When the student submits the final copy to the academic department for signatures, they must also email gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu and copy their advisor, thus notifying The Graduate School that the manuscript has been delivered to the academic department for signatures. The student sends the completed manuscript including the signed signature page to gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu for final formatting approval. Detailed instructions are available here: uttyler.edu/graduate/thesis-dissertation/
Failure of Examinations
A master’s degree candidate who fails the oral defense may not take the examination a second time until at least three months after the first attempt. A student who fails an examination for the second time becomes ineligible for further graduate work. Upon request from the student’s advisor and chairperson of the department, the Dean of The Graduate School may grant a student a third and final opportunity to take the oral defense.
Thesis Submission Deadlines
The final PDF copy of the thesis, prepared under standards as defined in the Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Guidelines must be submitted via email to gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu for a technical review no later than two weeks before the last day of final exams of the semester of intended graduation. The PDF version must include a scanned copy of the signature page with all signatures present. After making any required changes, a PDF of the entire thesis/dissertation (including scanned copies of any signature pages) should be submitted via email to gradmanuscripts@uttyler.edu. After final formatting approval, students will receive a signed Thesis Approval Form and Electronic Thesis Submission Form, as well as information on author rights and instructions for submitting the thesis/dissertation in electronic format to the Robert R. Muntz Library's digital repository, Scholar Works.
No late manuscripts are accepted. Failure to meet the deadline will delay graduation by one semester.
Theses are regarded as publications and will be made available to the public once they are approved and submitted to The Graduate School.
Grading Policy
A student registered for a thesis who does not submit the approved thesis document to the dean or graduate coordinator of the appropriate college before the thesis deadline for that semester will receive an incomplete “IP” grade. Once the thesis has been accepted, previous “IP” grades for thesis work will be changed to credit “CR”. A maximum of six semester hours of thesis credit may be applied to the master's degree.
Approval
The completed thesis must be approved by the thesis advisor, the college dean, and the thesis reviewer before the student will receive final certification for the degree.