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MS Degree Thesis Requirements
(LIST APPEARS IN CHRONOLOGIC ORDER)
FIRST YEAR OF PROGRAM
- Transferring prior credits - If you have any CS Master's program courses from prior programs (including courses taken as a non-declared graduate student) that you want credit to be transferred to our program, you must submit a memo from your prior program's Graduate Program Director or Department Chair to our Graduate Program Assistant. The memo must be on department letterhead, indicate the course numbers, the semester and year the courses were taken, and the statement that the courses were not used to meet the requirements of any previous degree program.
- Meet with Graduate Program Director - You must meet with the Graduate Program Director as soon as possible to discuss your program agenda, course selection, possible research advisor choices, etc.
NOTE: If you did not take CS 401, CS 414, and CS 455 in your bachelor's degree or in your master's degree here, then you must register for CS 401, CS 414, and CS 455 as soon as possible. If you have questions about this you must make an appointment to see the Graduate Program Director for him to review your file.
- Thesis Research Topic and Thesis Defense Committee Advisor - No later than the end of the second semester: you should select a Thesis Committee advisor and research topic area. The advisor and you will decide when you should register for Thesis Research [CS 599 Section (advisor's 700-number)]. Later, you may need to take a Readings course [CS 590 Section (your advisor's 700-number)] to do additional investigation of the selected research area. Remember -- students admitted from Fall 2004 onward, must complete two consecutive semesters of Thesis hours in 3-hour increments as part of their program required credits.
- Thesis Committee Members - At least one semester prior to your planned thesis defense, you and your advisor should select two (2) additional committee members and provide the Graduate Program assistant with their names. This information should be submitted to the Graduate Program Assistant on a paper or email with your name, the committee members' names, and noting which one is the committee Chair (your advisor's name), so a Committee Approval Form can be prepared and submitted to the Graduate School by the Graduate Program Assistant.
FINAL SEMESTER
A student who has been admitted to the graduate program in Computer Science (Fall 2004 semester or later) can meet the requirements for the Master's of Science degree by completing 33 hours of graduate credit subject to the following constraints:
- Apply to Graduate - No later than the Friday of the second week of the semester in which you wish to graduate, you must apply for graduation with the Graduate School. The form may be obtained on the Graduate School Forms web page. This is the only form from the Graduate School which does not have to be given to the Graduate Program Assistant first; it can be given to and filled out directly by your thesis advisor.
- Thesis Proposal - At least one month prior to the final oral exam, you should present an outline of the research project to your committee and solicit their comments and suggestions. This may be done through a proposal meeting (but this is to be decided by your advisor). If you need to set up a proposal, reserve the Conference Room and any necessary presentation equipment through the same steps outlined below under Item 4.
- Thesis Pre-Preparation - You can start writing your thesis at any time before your defense date. You are responsible for having your thesis meet the format requirements of the Graduate School and the Department of Computer Science. These may be found on the Web under the Graduate School at "Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations" and Computer Science at "Departmental Guidelines for Thesis Preparation." Use the online templates from the SIUC Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) web page at http://www.siu.edu/gradschl/ETD_templates.htm. You can save the information in a personal file on your disk without actually submitting it to the ProQuest company.
Responsibility for proofreading the grammar, punctuation and formatting rests with you. Your Thesis advisor can make recommendations but should not have to take their valuable time to do any more for you. The advisor is there to help in the topic and research, not the proofreading. Make sure you allow plenty of time to write and proof your thesis.
- Defense (or Proposal) Scheduling - No less than two (2) weeks prior to your defense, you must set a date for defense agreed upon by your Committee members. Deadlines for proposals are not as strict.
Only after ALL the Committee members have agreed on a date,
A) You must then check with the Main Office Assistant to confirm availability of the Conference Room and time for the presentation.
B) Any presentation equipment must be arranged by you through the link in this sentence. It will connect you to an online reservation form.
C) For a Defense only, you must notify the Graduate Program Assistant in writing regarding the date and time, and provide the final formal title of the thesis, approved by the thesis advisor, so papers for the defense may be prepared sufficiently in advance.
- The Graduate Program Assistant will prepare the appropriate forms prior to the oral examination and give them to the advisor just prior to or on the day of the oral examination.
NOTE: Please do not provide food or refreshments for your defense.
- After the defense, the advisor will return the completed Exit Info and Approval forms to the Graduate Program Assistant.
- You should make committee-recommended corrections and revisions to your thesis. Using the Format Templates from the Graduate School web page http://www.siu.edu/gradschl/ETD_templates.htm merge all the pages into one PDF file, save it and have your committee members review it once more for changes and to check your reference citations for format. REMEMBER: The ProQuest UMI company which the Graduate School uses for theses submissions checks for plagiarism and copyright permission in your paper. Therefore, make sure you have cited everything properly and received and documented any copyright permission.
- You will then submit your committee-approved thesis electronically by following the "Steps" in the ETD Submission Process at http://www.siu.edu/gradschl/ETD_templates.htm. Upon receipt of your electronic submission, Dr. Ratna Sinha will send you an email either approving your draft or making recommendations for changes to it. Once you have received an "approved" email from her, forward it to the Graduate Program Assistant Georgia (georgia@cs.siu.edu) and Diane (csinfo@cs.siu.edu). Any questions should be referred to Dr. Ratna Sinha (Woody B114; 618-453-4570).
- You should submit two different versions of your committee and Graduate School-approved final thesis to the Graduate Program Assistant: 1) hardcopy printed on regular stock paper; and 2) PDF emailed directly to the Graduate Program Assistant, Georgia (georgia@cs.siu.edu) and Diane (csinfo@cs.siu.edu). The paper copy should NOT be bound, just loose leaf -- do not staple or have this copy bound! You will then be provided by the Graduate Program Assistant with one (1) copy of the Thesis Approval form and one (1) original copy of the Oral Defense form to take to the Graduate School. You will take these two documents and a printed Title Page, along with your Money Order/Check to the Graduate School for thesis submission.
- You must return all keys, FOBs and/or books belonging to the Department to either the Graduate Program Assistant or the Main Office Assistant.
NOTE: If you are an international student going on Optional Practical Training you must turn in all of your department-issued keys, FOBs, software or textbooks before leaving for OPT. If you should return, you may make arrangements to borrow a lab key for the time you are here.
- The Department Graduation Clearance form received by the department from the Graduate School will be signed only when the Graduate Program Assistant has received all the above required items (thesis versions, approval email, textbooks, keys, etc.).
SPECIAL NOTE: You must continue to be registered for at least course CS 601 (Continuing Enrollment) for EACH semester (excluding Summer) until you complete all the requirements for your degree and obtain final approval for graduation from the Graduate School.
Last revised November 13, 2006
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