THESIS OR MAJOR PAPER
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH
MASTER'S

1.6.3 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 coordinator.

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 coordinator.

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 Office of Graduate Studies and Research) at least 1 week in advance. Major Paper/Projects are graded by the committee with letter grades or as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

The Major Paper/Project is not subject to thesis regulations concerning full library binding, copyright application, and microfilming for the National Library, but is deposited in the Library and in the AAU office of the program.

The regulations of individual programs should also be consulted for details of their thesis or major paper requirements. Letter grades or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory may be assigned for theses and major papers, 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.

Not later than one month after registration in the student's final year, the candidate undertaking a thesis will be required to validate a document supplied by the academic unit, a Copyright License, authorizing the University to make a single copy of the prospective thesis, or substantial parts of it, at any given time at the request of a library user at this University or a library user at another university for actual cost of reproduction only.

The regulations of individual programs should be consulted for details of their procedures. The general format is prescribed in Procedures to Follow in Preparing a Thesis or Dissertation, which may be obtained from the Assistant to the Dean. Within the thesis, the student should use forms approved for scholarly publication in the field of specialization and approved by the program coordinator. Final checking of the general format of the thesis is the responsibility of the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, but the student should consult the Master's committee for instructions as to the internal form of the thesis.

Copies of the Master's thesis must be provided to all members of the Master's committee and one copy to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, for the use of 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 Master's committee between these deadline dates and the defense except under the most extraordinary circumstances and with the approval of the Executive Committee of Graduate Studies and Research. 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 and Research 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 Dean of Graduate Studies and Research upon the recommendation of the program coordinator 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.

Three copies of the corrected thesis must be deposited in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research for transmission to the Leddy Library at least two weeks prior to Convocation.

The candidate must also submit at this time three copies of an abstract of no more than 150 words and three copies of a vita, which will be bound with the thesis. The abstract will be published in Masters Abstracts International. The title page of the thesis, or a separate page immediately following the title page, must bear the Universal Copyright Convention symbol ©, the full name of the author, and the year the Master's degree was granted. Arrangements for binding the thesis and payment of fees connected with binding and microfilming should be made with the Assistant to the Dean. At such time as the program coordinator gives approval, the Office of Graduate Studies and Research will transmit the original copy of the thesis to the National Library, accompanied by Form NL/BN91, supplied by the Office and validated by the candidate, which authorizes the National Library to produce single microform copies for a nominal sum to cover costs, in response to a written request from an individual, a research institute, or a library.

If approved, the physical thesis becomes the property of the University. Two copies, the original (after return from the National Library) and one other, will be filed in the Leddy Library, and a third (or two copies) in the academic unit.

Occasionally, it is necessary to withhold the dissertation from public circulation, especially where the student's interests (e.g., patent rights) would be jeopardized by publication. In such cases, a thesis may be held from the public domain, i.e., the Leddy Library and the National Library of Canada. 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 are available from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

Thesis/Major Paper Requirements
Synopsis

1) Thesis or Major Paper format must be as prescribed by Procedures to Follow in Preparing a Thesis or Dissertation.

2) Copies of the thesis for Master's degree must be provided to all committee members, and one copy to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research at least three weeks before the oral presentation prior to the Convocation at which the candidate has applied to receive the degree.

3) Copies of the abstract (no more than 150 words) and of the vita are to be filed, one to be bound with each copy of the Thesis.

4) Public notice of the defense must be received in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research at least eight days in advance.

5) Following successful defense, the candidate will deposit all copies of the thesis, abstract, and vita in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research for binding and distribution (two for the Leddy Library, and one or two for the program).

6) The candidate will validate Form NL/BN91, supplied by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, authorizing the National Library to produce single microform copies. The title page of the thesis, or a separate page following, must bear the Universal Copyright Convention symbol ©, full name of author, and year the Master's degree was granted.

7) Copyright application and microproduction by the National Library do not apply for the major paper program. Two copies are required to be deposited in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research (one for the Leddy Library, one for the program).Major papers are available to library users for examination in the Reserve Reading Area of the Leddy Library.

8) Fees for the above are to be paid at the time of deposit of the thesis or major paper in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

Examinations: In addition to the usual examinations on course work, there are three types of special examinations in the program leading to the Master's degree:

1) Qualifying Examinations: A qualifying examination is one in which the student is asked to demonstrate a reasonable mastery of the fundamentals in the major subject; it is designed to test the student's preparation for advanced graduate work. If such an examination is required, it must be administered and passed before the student registers for the final year of Master's work.

2) Comprehensive Examinations: The comprehensive examination is one in which the student is asked to demonstrate a reasonable mastery of the field of specialization; it is designed to test the student's command of knowledge and ability to integrate that knowledge, after completion of all or most of the graduate course work. Normally, this examination is written at the end of the student's final year of study for the Master's degree.

3) Final Examinations: Traditionally, the final examination of a candidate for a Master's degree is an oral defense of the thesis or major paper. A program may, however, permit as a substitute for this oral examination an open seminar to be conducted by the candidate for graduate students and faculty in the program on the subject of the research.