Thesis, Research, or Capstone Project

Students who elect a thesis, graduate research project or graduate capstone project must obtain approval of the research topic. The University encourages master's students to select thesis, graduate research/capstone project topics that permit them to participate in faculty research. Once approved, a research advisor and one or more additional committee members are selected and approved by the department coordinator or designee. Normally, if a student is working with a faculty research team as part of their thesis or graduate/capstone research project, the faculty member who is directing the student’s research should generally be the student’s research advisor. The graduate research/capstone project option may not be available for all programs. 

An interruption in thesis registration requires written approval in advance from the department chair or designee and is permissible only for sound reasons and only if the student is making no use of University facilities or personnel. 

Change from Thesis or GRP Option

Students may, with appropriate permission, change from thesis or GRP options to another available option within their graduate program.

A student may petition for permission to change from thesis to another option (Graduate Research or all coursework). The student must obtain permission from the thesis committee chair and approval from the department chair or designee to make such a change. If the petition is approved, a grade of W will normally be assigned to all thesis credits.

When a student changes from the thesis to another option, a maximum of three credits earned for thesis work may be counted toward the degree requirements. This requires recommendation from the thesis committee and approval from the department chair or designee. The committee must document that the work was productive and warrants credit as a special topics course.

A student may petition to change from GRP to all coursework. The student must obtain permission from the GRP committee chair and approval from the department chair or designee to make such a change. If the petition is approved, a grade of W will normally be assigned to all GRP credits.

When a student changes from thesis to another option, a maximum of three credits earned for GRP work may be counted toward the degree requirements. This requires recommendation from the GRP committee and approval from the department chair or designee. The committee must document that the work was productive and warrants credit as a special topics course.