Department of Biological Sciences - Students

Section 1 - STEP-by-STEP GUIDE for presentation, submission of your thesis or project, and graduation:

After you have completed your research or project, you must submit the first draft of your thesis or project to your major professor.

Only after your major professor has completed a thorough review shall a revised draft be submitted to all remaining committee members. Your advisor should send an email to committee members stating/certifying/verifying that your thesis or project is ready for review, however, you should keep your committee informed about the progress of your thesis. It is important to keep in mind that all members of your committee are full participants in the critical review of your work. Their role is summarized in the statement they will sign on the approval form for your thesis or project.

Allow ample time for your major professor and committee members to review the thesis or project critically and for you to make appropriate corrections or modifications.

The completed initial draft, including figures and bibliography, must be submitted to your major professor no later than the beginning of the semester during which you plan to graduate,

AND

a more or less final draft distributed to the committee at least one month before the date of your departmental presentation and defense (see below). This draft should be carefully prepared and free of typographical and grammatical errors.

The members of your committee will return the draft with their comments to you at least one week prior to your presentation; you are under no obligation to receive or address their comments after that date. You are, however, obliged to satisfy each member of your committee when his or her comments are submitted in a timely fashion.

After review by your committee, a final draft of your thesis or project must also be submitted for review by the Graduate Coordinator of the Department. This draft should be in a form acceptable for submission to the Graduate Dean, and should adhere to all the rules of the HSU Thesis and Project Format Requirements.

Any substantive objections to your work by a member of your committee or the Graduate Coordinator will be submitted to you in writing. In the rare event that you cannot resolve such objections among the parties concerned, an appeal panel of the Department Graduate Advisory Committee will review the matter. A majority vote of this group is sufficient to render a decision. Appeals beyond the Department should be addressed to the Graduate Dean.

IMPORTANT: Each semester, the Graduate Coordinator sets the deadline for your thesis or project presentation and for the review of your final thesis or project by the Graduate Coordinator. This deadline is approximately mid-November in the fall semester and mid-April in the spring semester. See current calendar of Thesis or Project Defense Dates

Section 2 - Thesis or Project presentation and defense.

The date for your thesis or project presentation and defense should be set as early in your final semester as possible. It is your responsibility to plan carefully to allow sufficient time for revisions, duplication, and handling of other administrative details to avoid delay of your graduation.

Presentations must be coordinated with all members of your committee and the Graduate Administrative Support Staff in the Department of Biological Sciences. Presentations must be held during the regular academic session; they may not be held at night, on weekends or holidays, or during final examination week. In addition, thesis or project presentations will not be held during the last three weeks of the semester when classes are in session. Notices must be posted throughout the Department at least one week in advance, and a notice must appear in the weekly Department Newsletter.

The form of your presentation should be consistent with that made at professional meetings of biologists. If you are unfamiliar with the proper format, you should adhere to all the rules of the HSU Thesis and Project Format Requirements and consult with your major professor. After your presentation and a period for discussion and questions, your major professor will excuse the general audience and conduct whatever examination your committee feels necessary. Further revision of your thesis or project may be required. You must bring to this meeting the properly filled out Thesis/Project Approval Form .

1) Seven-year limit. In accordance with state and university regulations, all students must complete requirements for the Master's degree within seven years. An extension may be granted under special circumstances (GRADUATE STUDENT HANDBOOK).

2) Graduation. You should apply for graduation by the end of the second week of classes the semester before you plan to graduate. You must advance to candidacy before you apply for graduation. Prior to graduation, you must do the following:

Obtain the Master's Degree Application for Graduation form from the Academic Programs (SH 217A). Have this form with you when you pay the mandatory graduation processing fee of $56.00 at Student Financial Services (SBS285). An evaluator from Academic Programs will then evaluate your records to ensure that all degree requirements have been met.
Submit copies of your thesis or project to Academic Programs, located in SH 217A. The deadline for submission of thesis copies is May 10 for Spring and December 10 for Fall. Note: (If the date falls on a weekend, the deadline will be extended to the following Monday) Contact Graduate Studies, SH 217A, ext 5194, for details.

Complete the "Final Hoops" form, available from the Biology Dept. Office (SB 221). Completion of the "Final Hoops" assures that you have completed the Department's exit procedures. You must turn in your grad mailbox key at this time. Failure to produce your mailbox key will incur a fine; fines not paid will delay your diploma.

Section 3 - FINAL Steps for Submitting Your Thesis or Project

1) Approval

Fill out the top portion of the Master’s Thesis/Project Approval form and print it out. Read the HSU Humboldt Digital Scholar Non-Exclusive Distribution License.

Obtain approval signatures from your advisor, committee members and graduate coordinator.

2) Format Review is now Required!

Graduate Studies will check your document for formatting and style, according to the HSU thesis/project format requirements. Subject content, research quality, punctuation, and grammar will not be checked. Deadline for requesting the required format review for spring graduation is April 30, fall graduation is November 30.

Complete the Formatting Checklist.

E-mail Graduate Studies at hsugrad@humboldt.edu to request a format review. Subject line: Format Review

Attach your thesis/project (Word Document) and your completed formatting checklis.

Use the following file naming convention for your thesis/project: last name_first name_middleinitial_graduation term.

For example: if Susan A Smith was submitting her thesis for review and graduating in Spring 2013, her file would be named: smith_susan_a_Sp2013

Once your document is reviewed, Graduate Studies will email instructions. You will need to receive approval from graduate studies prior to submitting your final document to Academic Programs.

3) Thesis or Project Submission

Deliver your Thesis/Project Approval Form with original signatures to the office of Academic Programs, SH 217 by 5:00 pm on May 10 for spring graduation and December 10 for fall graduation.

Submit the final Adobe PDF or Word version of you thesis to Academic Programs via email at hsugrad@humboldt.edu by 5:00 pm on May 10 for spring graduation and December 10 for fall graduation.

Include a list of keywords and/or phrases (limit 15) to help people locate your research.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MADE IT!!

Dr. Michael R. Mesler, Graduate Coordinator, mrm1@humboldt.edu

Revised 2/15/2013

Humboldt State University

Section 1 - STEP-by-STEP GUIDE for presentation, submission of your thesis or project, and graduation:

Section 2 - Thesis or Project presentation and defense.

Section 3 - FINAL Steps for Submitting Your Thesis or Project