Master’s Thesis Guidelines 2015-2016
The following schedule of guideline dates has been set for graduate students writing a thesis for the
master’s degree. Each graduate student should work closely with her or his adviser to determine
additional or alternative dates appropriate to the thesis project.
Fall-semester
thesis
Year-long
thesis
Spring-semester
thesis
Student submits to the Graduate and Special Programs
Office the “Thesis Subject and Proposed Reader” form
describing the general topic of the thesis and listing the
thesis director, the graduate adviser in the department, and
the proposed second and third readers.1
October 23
October 23
February 12
Student submits to the thesis director an outline of the
thesis and a draft of one chapter. At this time, the
second reader should be shown the general scope of the
thesis and asked to discuss the outline with the student.
October 23
beginning of
interterm
February 20
Student submits final draft to the thesis director.
The third reader must be identified by this time.
November 20
April 15
April 15
Student submits three final copies2 to the thesis director.
The director forwards copies and thesis evaluation forms
to second and third readers.
December 4
April 26
April 29
Thesis director approves the final copy. Student submits
thesis in final form (as a Word document and a pdf) to the
Graduate and Special Programs Office. (The thesis will be
forwarded to and catalogued in the Smith College library.)
last day of
exams
last day of
exams
last day of
exams
Thesis director collects the readers’ evaluation forms,
compiles a final grade, and then submits all three forms
to the Graduate and Special Programs Office.
deadline for
grades
deadline for
grades
deadline for
grades
Graduate and Special Programs Office then submits
final grade to the registrar and notifies the student.
deadline for
grades
deadline for
grades
deadline for
grades
1
The second reader normally is a faculty member in the department where the student is preparing his/her thesis. The
third reader should be someone external to the department who is qualified to assess the form and content of the thesis.
2
If the thesis cannot be completed on schedule, the student must contact the graduate office as soon as possible to
request an extension. The deadline for such a request is the last day of classes in the semester in which the thesis is due.
A continuation fee of $60 per semester will be assessed when the student is not enrolled for any course credits.