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An MA thesis represents an original investigation into a problem or a research project that contributes new knowledge to the field.  A thesis is not required in our MA program.  You should undertake an MA thesis if some idea or observation intrigues you so much that you want to pursue it in depth, and you wish to have the experience of organizing and executing your own research project. Beyond this, some students may be motivated to write the MA thesis in order to produce a writing sample for PhD applications or because the MA degree may carry more weight professionally if associated with a thesis. Note that students who elect to write a thesis may count the oral thesis-defense as the concluding exam for the program in place of the written comprehensive exam taken by non-thesis-writers.

The Steps

• Select a topic, enlisting the help of an advisor or advisors (official or not).  This is very important.  Most students will try to tackle a project that is much too big for the time and resources available. So you will need faculty help in refining your research question(s) and your methodology into something that can be managed for this project. You should do this no later than the middle of your second semester in the program; the earlier, the better. 
• At the same time, you will select an official advisor. Faculty are not obliged to take on thesis projects, so listen to the feedback you receive from faculty and be prepared to ‘sell’ your idea to your chosen mentor. Eventually you will need to recruit a committee of three faculty members (including your advisor, two of whom must be from the Linguistics department), but many thesis projects get most of their input from a single advisor. Unlike a PhD thesis committee, an MA committee need not contain an external member (a CU faculty member from outside LING). You are welcome to invite an external member to serve as the third member of your thesis committee, but faculty members from institutions outside CU are not permitted to serve on MA thesis committees. You must have your committee in place by early March (or late October for fall graduation) of your last semester in the program. Notify the Linguistics program assistant of your committee’s composition to be recorded in your file.
• Start early and observe the work schedule religiously.  Scrambling to get everything done in the last two weeks of the semester is neither fun nor good scholarly methodology, and it does not endear you to your faculty committee.

The Rules

There are strict Graduate School procedures and deadlines governing the preparation and submission of the thesis.  Be sure to follow them. Linguistics Education Program Assistant Ethan McGinnis is fully informed about the procedures and should be consulted about them. See this link for thesis formatting.Your thesis will be submitted electronically; the signed title page is also submitted. 

The Schedule

Work backwards. If you plan to graduate with a completed thesis in May of 20xx, you must file your completed thesis by mid-April of 20xx (exact date set by the Graduate School each Academic Year). Before your thesis is filed, it must be researched, written, read by the committee, defended, revised, and re-read by the committee, and the defense and revision always happen at a time of the semester when both you and the faculty are extremely busy. You must allow enough time between the defense exam and the filing date to make required revisions and allow the faculty readers sufficient time to evaluate the document carefully. Be aware that if you do not allow at least two weeks between your defense date and the thesis filing date, you will probably postpone the awarding of your diploma until the following graduation date (at least).

So for a spring graduation, your backwards schedule might look like this (the dates for a particular year will vary):

• late-April: File the thesis with the Graduate School by the thesis filing deadline, ensuring that you have conformed to the thesis specifications.
• early-April: Submit the final version of your thesis, incorporating revisions required by your thesis committee, to your thesis committee. Make sure to do this well ahead of the thesis filing deadline. While they read it, make sure all Graduate School procedures are understood and being followed.
• mid- to late-March (ideally before spring break): Take the thesis defense exam. You must work with your committee and the program assistant in Linguistics to fix the time and room for your thesis defense. Allow two hours for the defense. Be sure to check with your thesis advisor about the appropriate format for the defense (e.g., how long your presentation should be, how many minutes to set aside for questions). 
• early March, depending on defense arrangements: Submit the completed thesis to your committee (at least two weeks before the defense date). Make certain that the exam report form, containing the names of your thesis committee members (and which your committee will sign once you have taken the exam), has been sent to the Graduate School at least two weeks in advance of the defense date.
• March 1 or earlier: Submit the final draft of your thesis to your advisor. The advisor needs time to read this draft before giving you clearance to circulate it to the rest of the committee. Expect to do some revising between now and the date when you will give the document to the whole committee.
• February or earlier: Make certain that all three of your desired committee members are willing to serve.  Ensure that you have notified the Linguistics program assistant of your committee’s composition.
• February 1, graduation year: File the Application for Candidacy form with the Graduate School (see below).
• April 1, first year (second semester in program): Submit a thesis proposal (2 pages) that outlines your topic and methods to your advisor and one additional committee member.  Notify the Linguistics program assistant of your advisor to be recorded in your digital file. To be safe, double-check during advising to make sure that this information is in your official Record of Progress. You now have nearly a year in which to do the project and write the thesis.
• December, first year (end of first semester in program):  Express "soft intent" to do a thesis. This means that you have discussed the thesis possibility with at least one interested faculty member and the Grad Advisor. At this point, you are not yet obligated to write a thesis; however, you are encouraged to take the Research in Linguistics course in Spring to further explore your interests.

Additional Regulations

• Credit hours: You must take (i.e., pay for) at least four, and may take up to six, credits of the course listed as MA Thesis in order to graduate under the thesis plan. You can register for those hours at any time that is convenient (financially most advantageous) for you and your advisor; the timing of the credits does not have to be the same as the timing of your work on the thesis.  You may take all the credits in one semester if you wish.  Those 4-6 credit hours substitute for course credits and contribute to the 30 total hours you need to graduate.
• Master's Thesis Plan Form: Students completing a written thesis must now submit a Master’s Thesis Plan Form contained in this link: /graduateschool/content/masters-thesis-plan-form
  This form should be submitted as early as possible in the graduate career and at the latest it should be submitted by the deadline to graduate posted for the semester in which the student plans to graduate.
• Candidacy application: The Candidacy Application is a form required by the Graduate School before you can take your final exam (which, for thesis writers, is the thesis defense).  It is due very near the beginning of the semester in which you expect to take the exam. The candidacy form must be completed before the thesis defense and approved by the Graduate School at that time. 
• Comprehensive exam:  Starting July 2024, students will have the option to either write an MA thesis or take the comprehensive exam in order to complete the MA degree requirements. Students who pass the thesis defense are not required to take the written comprehensive exam.