Fall 2019 Graduate Calendar

MASTER'S THESIS OR MAJOR PAPER

A thesis incorporating the results of an investigation in the field of the major subject may be required of candidates for the Master's degree.

Candidates for some Master's programs may choose, instead of the course of study including a thesis, a program requiring additional course work and/or the submission of a major paper or project on which there will be a final evaluation.

The Major Paper/Project is a scholarly essay/research project that shows evidence of critical analysis and understanding on a topic approved by the student's supervisor and acknowledged by the program area.

The Major Paper/Project committee will include a supervisor, who is a member of graduate faculty, and one other program faculty member. Additional members may be added with the approval of the program area.

Upon completion of the Major Paper/Project each student will deliver a public oral presentation and defense which shall be announced publicly (with a copy sent to the Faculty of Graduate Studies) at least eight days in advance.

The Major Paper/Project is deposited in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at least two weeks prior to Convocation.

The regulations of individual programs should also be consulted for details of their thesis or major paper/project requirements. Numerical grades or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory may be assigned for theses and major papers/projects, depending on program policy.

Although in some cases it may be acceptable for more than one candidate to make use of a common set of data or research findings, each candidate is responsible for a single-authored thesis/major paper.

The regulations of individual programs should be consulted for details of their procedures. The general format is prescribed in Guidelines for Major Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, which may be obtained from the Faculty of Graduate Studies or from www.uwindsor.ca/graduate. Within the thesis or major paper/project, the student should use formats approved for scholarly publication in the field of specialization and approved by the program. Final checking of the general format of the thesis or major paper/project is the responsibility of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, but the student should consult the Master's committee for instructions as to the internal form of the document.

Copies of the Master's thesis must be provided to all members of the Master's committee and one copy to the chair of the defense, at least two weeks before the expected date of defense. Students are advised to ascertain from the academic unit any prior deadline established by the unit. No changes may be made to the thesis or the Master's committee between these deadline dates and the defense except under the most extraordinary circumstances and with the approval of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The oral presentation should be completed at least three weeks prior to the Convocation at which the candidate expects to receive the degree.

No later than eight days before a proposed defense a Master's committee shall notify the Office of Graduate Studies that a notice of defense is to be posted. The chair of a Master's defense will be a member of graduate faculty who has not served on the candidate's Master's committee, and who is appointed by the Department Head at the time the defense is publicly announced. The chair is non-voting. The general audience may remain until the defense is completed and the committee begins its deliberations on the outcome. These deliberations are held in camera.

The minimum basis for acceptance of a Master's thesis is positive unanimity by the examining committee less one vote. Unless an examining committee is unanimously negative, a candidate may resubmit the thesis once, after a minimum period of three months and before a maximum period of twelve months. The second decision shall be final.

The thesis must be deposited in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at least two weeks prior to Convocation.

Arrangements for the deposit, including online electronic submission, binding the dissertation and payment of binding fees, where applicable, should be made with Graduate Studies. The University will add the dissertation to the “Scholarship at UWindsor” online institutional repository and transmit a copy of the dissertation to Library and Archives Canada, under the authority of a "Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License", supplied by the Office of Graduate Studies and validated by the candidate. The license, authorizes Library and Archives Canada and Leddy Library to publish, reproduce, and transform the dissertation in any format, print or online.

The deposited thesis becomes the property of the University.

Occasionally, it is necessary to withhold the thesis or major paper/project from public circulation, especially where the student's interests (e.g., patent rights) would be jeopardized by publication. In such cases, a thesis or major paper/project may be held from the public domain, i.e., the online repository, the Leddy Library and Library and Archives Canada, where applicable. Such delay in circulation may be requested for six months without cause being given, and an additional period of six months with good cause. Forms for withholding a thesis or major paper/project are available from the Faculty of Graduate Studies.