THE THESIS PROCESS: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

WHEN BEGINNING THE THESIS

What forms must I have filed with the Graduate Office and/or my department?

An approved Advancement to Candidacy form, with the program indication of Thesis 299 for the Culminating Experience. Note: Your thesis time limit will be the program time limit date located on the upper right corner of the Advancement to Candidacy form.
A Thesis Committee Assignment Form, with your general topic and signatures of your chosen committee members and your program adviser. Normally, this form is forwarded to the Graduate Office via the college dean's office.

What paperwork must I file while doing my thesis work?

Registration form(s). You must be enrolled at the university during all fall and spring semesters when you are working on your thesis; if you plan to graduate during the summer, you must also be enrolled for that particular term.
1. When first registering for 2-6 thesis units, go to your department graduate adviser to verify your eligibility and obtain the thesis schedule number prior to the first day of registration.
2. Once you have received an RP (formerly SP) on your thesis grade, have finished all your other coursework, and are working only on your thesis, you will need to sign up for 0 units Thesis Continuation, either through regular university enrollment, Graduate Studies (GS) 299, or through the Division of Continuing and Global Education, GS Continuation. For regular enrollment, GS 299, visit the Division of Graduate Studies to obtain the schedule number prior to the first day of registration; for enrollment through extension, GS Continuation, contact or go to the Graduate Office, Thomas Administration Building, Rm. 132, for verification of status and procedures.
3. Don't forget! Be sure you're registered during the semester/term when you are applying for graduation! (Summer applicants, please note!)

What additional paperwork must I file when I have reached the semester when I expect to turn in my thesis and want to graduate?

Application for Degree to be Granted. This form must be filed during the first two weeks of the semester (three weeks, summer term) when you intend to graduate. No exceptions will be made.

What material do I need in order to format my thesis?

Guidelines for Thesis Preparation, prepared by the Division of Graduate Studies, available for purchase in the Kennel Bookstore Copy Center or at no cost from the Thesis Office Web site (www.csufresno.edu/gradstudies/thesis).
Style manual or style sheet chosen by your department (e.g., APA, Turabian, MLA, CBE, J. of Anal. Chem., etc.—consult Appendix D in the Guidelines).
Formatting instructions (including template, if needed) from the Graduate Office and/or Typist list, from the Thesis Office, for formatting/typing assistance. Word processing programs supported by the thesis templates are MSWord for either MacIntosh or IBM-compatible PCs.

WHEN SUBMITTING YOUR THESIS TO GRADUATE

How should my first submission be submitted, and in what form?

Submit your final thesis draft loose-leafed, in a plain manila folder. Be certain that the approval page has been signed by all members of your thesis committee, and that the thesis is paginated, has an abstract of no more than 1 page, has a table of contents and complete reference list, and is as close as possible to the final format. Run a spell check on your document. Ink-jet copy is acceptable for this draft. Tables and figures may be in draft form.
Turn in a digital copy of your thesis on CD, ZIP disk, via USB flash drive, or via email attachment, as appropriate.

When is my publication copy due?

Dates are assigned when the first submission is returned. Unless you are otherwise informed, your publication copy will continue being processed along its own assigned timeline until the end of the semester. You will be asked to meet the final deadline for submission of all copies, fees, and required paperwork as posted by the thesis office. Thesis clearances granted after this date move you into the next semester.

What general Graduate Office forms must I turn in to the Graduate Office by the end of the semester, in order to graduate?

Master's Degree Clearance. This form should be given to your thesis committee chair, who will report the committee's grade for your thesis work. The form then goes on to your graduate adviser, who reviews your complete file for compliance with degree requirements, signs off on the form, and (where required) forwards this to the college or school dean for signature. This form may be filed whenever your committee feels it is ready to award a grade; the process is not contingent upon Graduate Office review of the thesis, which is handled separately.

What thesis paperwork must be submitted to the Thesis Office before I can graduate?

Laser printed publication copy. Tables, figures, and graphs must be in final form. Appendix material must fit inside margins and be reproduced legibly.

Note: Your thesis committee members will need to sign the publication copy approval page (see Guidelines example) preferably in black ink. The Graduate Dean will sign this page as soon as the thesis has met publication standards

Copyright permission forms. Submit all forms granting you permission to publish material you have reproduced in your thesis that is taken from copyrighted sources.
University Microfilms Int’l. (UMI)/ProQuest form. Usually, this form is filled out when you turn in the final draft of your thesis. If you are copyrighting your thesis, you will need to fill out and sign the copyright authorization portion of the UMI form and pay the additional $65 copyright fee when making your thesis fee payment (see last item below).
After final thesis reader review and approval, make a minimum of two additional copies (for library and the department) at the Kennel Print and Copy Center. The original may be sent to UMI for microfilming and not returned to you, or be bound for your personal use.
Fee slip. Pay for your copying at the Kennel Bookstore Copy Center. Next, go to the university cashier to pay for bindings, microfilming, and the UMI fee (plus optional mailing and UMI copyrighting fees). Finally, bring your "Thesis Fees" form, imprinted by the university cashier, to the Graduate Office. Your thesis clearance will then be given to the evaluator.
rev. 12/07