Thesis Guide and Resources

Students will select a thesis chair with approval from their academic advisor (who is usually the same individual) and with approval of the Department of Communication's Graduate Committee. The student and their thesis chair will create a dissertation committee at the time the student begins to develop the thesis proposal. The thesis committee will include two additional faculty members from within the Department of Communication's graduate faculty. All M.A. thesis committee members must hold a doctoral degree. Students must complete a Thesis Committee Form and submit it to the Department of Communication's Graduate Program Coordinator, who will forward it to the Graduate College.

A copy of the thesis proposal must be available to the student’s thesis committee members at least two weeks in advance of the proposal defense. The thesis proposal defense will be scheduled only after the student’s advisor has determined that a defense is appropriate. Once the oral defense of the proposal is finished, the M.A.Thesis Proposal Committee Meeting form must be completed, signed by all committee members, and submitted to the Department of Communication's Graduate Program Coordinator.

​The format of the thesis must adhere to the guidelines specified by the University's Thesis and Dissertation Manual.

Prior to scheduling a defense, the candidate must use iThenticate, the university-provided plagiarism detection software, to check their work. The advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies should receive a copy of the iThenticate report prior to submitting the final thesis draft.

The thesis defense will be scheduled only after the candidate’s advisor has determined that a defense is appropriate. A copy of the thesis must be made available to thesis committee members at least two weeks prior to the thesis defense. After a successful defense with the thesis committee, the thesis must be approved by the thesis chair, the Chairperson of the Department of Communication, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Dean of the Graduate College.

In addition, once the oral defense of the thesis is achieved, the M.A. Oral Defense of the Thesis Form​​ must be completed, signed by all committee members, and a PDF of the final thesis must be submitted to the Department of Communication's Graduate Program Coordinator, who will forward it to the Graduate College.