Key Benchmarks

Supervisory Committee – Early Spring, Year One

SGS requires that all students establish a Supervisory Committee to direct their course of graduate study. Committee duties include:

  • Advising students on the curriculum formalized in a Program of Study.
  • Preparing for the thesis or project defense by offering comprehensive written comments and suggestions for revision.
  • Voting to pass or to fail the project/thesis.

Supervisory Committees must have a minimum of three (3) members. The committee chair must be a History, ALC, or Folklore graduate faculty member expert in the student’s research area. Another member must also be a member of the Department’s graduate faculty. The third member of the committee (“outside member”) may be from the Department or from a discipline related to the student’s research interest. Students should form their committee before the end of their second semester of their first academic year. They should consult regularly with their Major Professor (Advisor) from the outset of the research project.

Once the Supervisory Committee is set, students should submit the Supervisory Committee Approval Form (SCAF) during their first year. Find the SCAF on the “Academic Forms” site located on the School of Graduate Studies webpage.

Students may change the make-up of their Supervisory Committee with the approval of the DGS and SGS.

Program of Study – Spring semester, Year One

First year students, in consultation with their Major Professor should submit a Program of Study to the Graduate School. The Program of Study lists the course curriculum, an important guide to completion. An approved SCAF is required before the Program of Study will be accepted.

Thesis/Project Proposal Defense – Late Spring, Year One

The proposal is a brief statement outlining the planned project or thesis. Students work closely with the Major Professor to formulate the proposal framework and revise it for a committee defense. In a meeting with committee members, students present a polished proposal for approval.

Project or Thesis Defense – Spring semester, Year Two

After writing the thesis or creating the project in close consultation with the Supervisory Committee, students present their thesis or project to the other committee members for evaluation and then make an appointment with the SGS to hold the examination (see AFD form). Committee members must have at least ten (10) business days to consider the thesis or project.

At the oral examination, the committee determines whether the project is Satisfactory without Revisions, Satisfactory with Revisions, or Fail. The Major Professor informs the DGS of the result.

Graduation – Spring, Year Two

After the successful examination and subsequent thesis or Plan B project revisions, students submit their work for departmental review. In a Plan A thesis, the GPC reviews the formatting, then either returns the project/thesis for revision or uploads it to the School of Graduate Studies reviewer. Once SGS approves the project, they send out an email detailing the steps to graduation.

Plan B projects do not have to be submitted for SGS review. Students send revised project to the library and receive instructions from the SGS on the final steps to graduation.