A Master's Thesis is a substantial body of original scholarly work by an individual student. The thesis typically takes two semesters to complete. Typically, a thesis has four major components:

• A clearly stated research question that the thesis will endeavor to answer
• A review of relevant prior scholarly work in the area
• Original data and/or analysis
• A synthesis of prior work and the new data and analysis to answer the research question

The thesis is a great opportunity for a student to learn life skills in forming and answering questions in an unstructured environment (by far the usual situation outside of classrooms), to make an original contribution to knowledge as a scholar, and to explore a topic of particular interest in depth. Recommended thesis topics can be found on the Research Ideas page.

The thesis process consists of five stages:

1. Completion of a Research Methods course. The research methods course should be selected in consultation with and approved by your thesis committee chair. Courses that typically meet this requirement include:
   • TLEN 5700 - Capstone 1 (this is the normal course for ITP students)
   • EMEN 5900 - Research Methods
   • COMM 6020 - Quantitative Research Methods
   • COMM 6030 - Interpretive Research Methods
   • PSYC 5741 - Graduate Statistics

Other graduate level research methods courses may also meet this requirement. Consult with your thesis chair if you have one in mind. In rare cases, your thesis chair may waive the requirement to take a research methods course altogether.

2. Identifying a thesis committee consisting of a chair (an ITP faculty member with the appropriate graduate school appointment) and at least two other committee members (University of Colorado at Boulder faculty members with the appropriate graduate school appointment). The committee can be larger and can include members outside the university by mutual agreement of the student and the committee chair. Many faculty members will agree to serve on Master's thesis committees in areas where they have competence or can make a contribution.
   
3. Enough credit hours of thesis work (TLEN 6950) so that the sum of these credit hours and credit hours for a research methods course equals at least seven credits. These can be spread over multiple semesters. The work should be done in case consultation with the thesis committee. Typically, this involves creating drafts, undertaking a review of the literature, developing a plan
   
4. A thesis defense - a verbal presentation of the thesis to the thesis committee.
   
5. Completion of the thesis document.

Thesis Permission to Register
To enroll in Master's thesis, a student needs to fill out a Permission to Register Form and have it signed by his or her advisor. Alternatively, the advisor may email a filled out copy of the form from his or her email account to the program administrator and this will indicate advisor approval.

Timing of the Thesis Defense and Thesis Submission
In order to graduate in a specific semester, defense of a thesis and submission of the written thesis must be completed by the deadlines for that semester set in the Graduate School calendar.

A student must be enrolled in at least one credit hour of classes in a semester in which a thesis is defended. If a student has already completed all course requirements for the degree, including all thesis credits, prior to the semester in which the student is defending, the student may take the special one credit course TLEN 6940 Degree Candidacy in order to be enrolled in the semester of the defense.

A special case arises if a student is enrolled in at least one credit hour in a semester and defends the thesis after the deadline set in the Graduate School Calendar but prior to the end of the semester. The student will not graduate, but providing the thesis is turned in by the Graduate School Calendar deadline in the following semester, the student can graduate at the end of that semester without having to enroll in any classes that semester.

Documents for the Thesis Defense
The student should bring the following documents to the thesis defense:

• At least two original thesis signature pages with spaces for signatures by all thesis committee members.
• A Final Grade Card (available from the ITP office) for use by the thesis committee chair for assigning a final grade.
• A Master's Exam Report for the thesis committee to indicate whether the thesis defense was passed.

A faculty member must return the signed Final Grade card and Master's Exam Report to the ITP office. All four hours of thesis credit must have been taken for the Final Grade card to be submitted.

Thesis Submission Requirements
The Graduate School at the University of Colorado, Boulder, requires two unbounded thesis copies on CU thesis bond paper, which is available at the CU Book Store. Visit the Graduate School's Thesis Specifications web site for more information. The Graduate School is running an electronic thesis submission pilot program during academic year 2004-2005 as an alternative to paper submission. This has several advantages, including wider distribtuion of the thesis, the poential for royalties to the author, and increased convenience. Please contact Jenny Peterson in the graduate school if interested.

The Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program requires one electronic copy by email to the ITP office in MS Word compatible format or as an Acrobat .pdf file.

Thesis Credits
A total of 7 credits are required for a thesis, split between a research methods course and thesis credits (TLEN 6950 credits). Research methods course credits can range from 1 to 3. In rare cases, a thesis chair may waive the research methods course requirement, in which case, 6 thesis credits (TLEN 6950 credits) are required. Other courses (i.e., courses other than a research methods course approved by your thesis chair) cannot count towards the total. A student cannot have both thesis and Capstone 2 credits count towards the degree. If TLEN 6950 thesis credits are earned, but no thesis is completed, the credits cannot count towards the degree.