Students may register for thesis credits prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination, although the Graduate School will allow only 15 of the thesis credits taken prior to the exam toward graduation. Students must register for thesis credits in the quarter following successful completion of the Comprehensive Exam. The student must continue to register for IMMU 8990 (from 1-5 credits) for three out of the four quarters per year. Students must register for Fall quarter each year. Registration forms for students other than those in the first year must be signed by Dr. Terry Potter, Program Director. The departmental office will process all forms submitted one week prior to the due date, including obtaining the proper signatures. If your registration form is not received one week prior to the due date, you will be responsible for any late charges incurred and any impact on financial aid. In addition, failure to comply with the registration requirement could result in having to retake the comprehensive exam.
ADVISORS
Students should select a thesis advisor by the end of the Fall quarter of the second year. Thesis advisors are selected by mutual consent of the student and the faculty member. In general, no laboratory should admit more than one thesis student in a given academic year. Exceptions may be granted by the Graduate Program Director.
A student's placement in a thesis lab must be approved by the Program Director. Once a student and faculty member have reached an agreement on a thesis lab, the faculty member should send his/her curriculum vitae, including funding information and faculty appointment status, with a short cover letter to the Department Administrator. The Department office will inform both the student and advisor when the placement is accepted.
COMMITTEES
Early in the winter quarter of the second year, the student should choose a thesis committee, in consultation with his/her advisor.
1. The Committee should consist of five members. At least one member (but not more than two members) must be "outside" the Department, i.e., his/her primary graduate faculty affiliation must be other than in Immunology. (It is recommended that you consider a sixth member should you encounter insurmountable scheduling problems; a sixth committee member could also be added after the first meeting to provide insight into a particular scientific area). There must be more "inside" members than "outside" members on the committee. For a current list of "Inside" members contact the department administrator.
2. All Committee members must have Graduate Faculty status. If a faculty member does not have Graduate Faculty status, please ask him/her to contact the Program Director for approval. It takes several months for the Graduate School to approve a faculty member for Graduate Faculty status. Should a member not be approved at the time of your defense, your defense could be voided.
3. The student's thesis advisor may not be a member of the examination committee.
4. A list of faculty and their primary academic appointments is available for reference in the Department Office.
5. The student must provide the departmental office with the names of his/her Thesis Committee members and have their first committee meeting before the end of the spring quarter of the second year.
The first committee meeting should occur before the end of the spring quarter of the student's second year. The minimum time between your first committee meeting and your defense is two years.
1. One week prior to the first Thesis Committee meeting the student will distribute a short (approx. 5 pages) written proposal to the members of the Committeee. This proposal, which will be written in close consultation with the dissertation mentor, will outline the thesis project and will include a timetable for completion of key phases/experiments.
2. The student will present and discuss the proposed thesis in significant detail at the first meeting.
3. Unless otherwise authorized by the Committee Chair and approved by the program director, the Thesis Committee must meet at least every six to nine months.
4. Organizing thesis committee meetings (arranging a meeting place, contacting committee members, etc.) is the student's responsibility.
5. Prior to each meeting, the student must complete a "Thesis Committee Report" form (see Appendix), including a description of the work to be presented. After the first meeting, this description can be a brief outline of the progress that has been made since the last committee meeting and suggestions for possible future experiments that the committee will discuss during the meeting. The student should also provide to the committee chair any information so that the committee chair can prepare an outline of tasks/goals to be accomplished prior to the next meeting. The student is responsible for ensuring that the committee chair forwards the completed report of the meeting to the departmental office.
6. Students must be current with thesis committe meetings and reports to register for classes. Any financial consequence of not registerering (including tuition payment) will be the student's responsibility. (Any exceptions to this, or any other program policy, require approval by the Graduate Program Committee.)
WRITING AND DEFENDING
The Graduate School requires a specific format to be followed when writing the dissertation which is provided in a style and policy manual for writing theses and dissertations. You may obtain one of these manuals from the Department or Graduate School Office. In addition, the Graduate School conducts semi-annual seminars on thesis preparation; you are strongly encouraged to attend one of these sessions.
Your thesis must be approved by your Committee Chairbeforeyou schedule a defense date. The manuscript must be publication-quality, i.e., in final form except for printing on quality paper; words must be spelled correctly, figures and tables must be labelled correctly, the manuscript must be readable, Graduate School format must be followed, the Table of Contents must be completed, etc. Examples of what is unacceptable include cut and pasted graphs, more than 10 typos, and incomplete references.
As in the Comprehensive Exam Guidelines, the student is responsible for coordinating and scheduling the defense, including preparation and posting of seminar notices. (The office staff can assist you by printing a standard notice, but you must supply the details.)
Also, a Thesis Defense packet is available from the Graduate School with more detailed instructions and a checklist. Arrangements for the thesis defense must be made in the Graduate School Office at least two weeks prior to the scheduled defense. The defense must be given not later than three weeks prior to the date on which the degree is to be conferred. You must be registered at the time of the defense.
GRADUATION
45 credit hours of course work including 12 credit hours of rotations
45 credit hours of thesis credits
A "pass" grade for the preliminary and comprehensive examinations
Completed and approved thesis
