Procedural Requirements and Deadlines
During the semester before you will begin your thesis, you should consult with ES faculty who you think are most likely to serve as your thesis supervisor. Within the limits of our need to maintain a balanced faculty workload, we will try to give you your first or second choice of supervisor. You should work with this faculty member to produce a thesis proposal by the end of the semester. This version should describe the thesis question with as much clarity as possible, and should explain how you intend to conduct your inquiry. The proposal must be accompanied by a summary of the academic and personal experience that contributes to your interest in, and ability to address the proposed thesis topic. Some students have found it hel pful to register for ES 196 in their sixth semester, in order to be able to devote more time to background research and planning their thesis.
You should give serious consideration to identifying summer opportunities that will provide experience or data that will enrich and extend your thesis research. For certain kinds of field projects, relevant data are only available in the summer. One possible source of financial support is the University Research Assistantship program which are available both for the summer and for the academic year. Applications generally are due in February. The faculty member with whom you will work may be able to put you in touch with individuals or organizations that can be helpful.
At the beginning of the semester in which you will begin your thesis work, you should review your thesis proposal, confirm that it is an accurate representation of what you intend to do, and, if it is not, submit a revision no later than the end of the second week of the semester. Also by the end of the second week, you should post a hard-copy description (ca. 250 words) on the bulletin board outside the UEL meeting room, and send a digital copy, suitable for posting on our webpage, to the CES webmaster. The purpose of these postings is to allow ES juniors to pick a senior as their thesis buddy, and to let other researchers with web-access know what work is in progress here.
You should meet with your thesis advisor regularly, on the average for half-an-hour each week. These meetings should also be attended by your "thesis buddy". It is your responsibility to take the initiative to arrange these meetings.
Before the end of the seventh semester, you should indicate your interest in being considered for departmental honors. There are three distinctions between the standard and honors thesis that you should consider in reaching this decision. The honors thesis has higher performance expectations than the standard senior thesis for methodological, analytical and writing quality. For example, more attention will be paid to the integrity of data collection techniques and data analysis; therefore, honors candidates relying on quantitative data usually will need to demonstrate or acquire familiarity with basic statistics. Second, a minimum grade point average of 3.3 in your concentration courses generally is required for Honors, but exceptions may be made if there are extenuating circumstances. Finally, a senior honors candidate must have two readers in addition to her/his primary faculty supervisor (who must have a faculty appointment in the Center). One outside reader or advisor is strongly recommended. In contrast, if you choose to write a standard senior thesis, you will typically have one ES faculty or adjunct faculty member as your reader or advisor. When you ask to be considered for departmental honors, you should suggest additional readers, and get the preliminary agreement of these individuals to act in this capacity. These readers/advisors will be asked for their advice on the Center's decision to recommend honors.
Each student enrolled in ES195 must submit written work in a format chosen in consultation with your primary advisor to all readers/advisors for review on or before the last day of ex ams in the 7th semester. This work will form the basis for your grade for ES195.
All ES concentrators are required to give a Soup or Brown Bag Seminar on their thesis topics and to attend a majority of the seminars offered during the year. Each senior should work a Rhetoric Fellow in preparation for the seminar.
Honors candidates are required to submit a review draft of the thesis to all readers/advisors on or before April 1 (or November 15 for students graduating in December). Non-honors candidates must submit a review draft of the thesis on or before April 15 (or November 30 for students graduating in December). The review-draft thesis should be complete and should represent your best effort.
An unbound version of the final, revised thesis, ready for signature, accompanied by a written response to comments should be submitted on or before the first day of exams at the end of the 8th semester. This copy should be accompanied by a signed form (to be provided) authorizing the Center to post your abstract on our Webpage, and to distribute copies of your thesis in response to requests from the outside community.
Upon final review and approval by your advisor(s), you must submit two (2) bound and signed copies of your the sis to your ES advisor, and place a digital copy of your thesis on the CES server. The bound copies should be double-spaced and double-sided. The bound copies and the digital copy must be received before a grade will be reported to the Registrar for your final semester thesis course. Grades will be submitted on the last day of exams, but we strongly advise you not to wait until the last minute to meet this requirement. You should also be prepared to make courtesy copies of your thesis for your outside readers/advisors.
In order to accommodate particular research situations or to distribute work loads, your thesis advisor may require you to meet earlier deadlines than any of those listed in this section.. It is your responsibility to make certain that you know when each work-product is due in your particular case. Here is a summary of the universal deadlines:
- Sem. IV or V.......begin to explore possible topics with one or more ES faculty
- Sem. VI, .......... thesis topic proposal due
- Sem. VII, ..........last day of exams.....written work due
- Sem. VIII
- 15 Nov...................Review draft (Honors, mid-year grads)
- 30 Nov...................Review draft (standard, mid-year grads)
- 1 April ...................Review draft (Honors, May grads)
- 15 April...................Review draft (standard, May grads)
but remember to check each of these with your thesis advisor to see if your deadline will be earlier.