Thesis Defense and Final Submission

The respective Colleges publish a Graduation Timeline for the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters. The timeline provides a guide to processes students and faculty must complete leading up to the final thesis submission and defense, including the thesis formatting guidelines. Graduate students are required to follow this timeline and adhere to the specified deadlines during their final semester of study in order to graduate on time. A student should normally be in good academic standing and registered for thesis credits during the semester he/she intends to defend.

The Department Chair (or nominee) appoints a Thesis Defense Coordinator. The Coordinator can be any full-time KU faculty member from the home department of the student. The primary responsibilities of the Defense Coordinator are:

Schedule the final thesis defense in consultation with all RSC members, make the relevant logistical arrangements and inform the student about the date and time.
Attend the final thesis defense and the private RSC meeting to ensure that the examination is conducted in accordance with all relevant KU academic policies and procedures. The Defense Coordinator does not have a role in the final outcome of the thesis defense.
Report the examination result to the Graduate Studies Office and confirm that the correct examination process was followed.

The student must submit an initial thesis draft to the Main Advisor and Co-Advisor(s), who will work with the student on the necessary revisions. Upon receiving the approval of the advisors, the revised thesis is submitted to all RSC members and the Defense Coordinator for examination. The student must submit his/her thesis to the RSC by the deadline published in the Graduation Timeline for the relevant semester.

The final thesis defense consists of two parts: a public presentation and a private examination. In the first part, the student delivers a thesis presentation open to the public (normally 30 minutes), followed by questions (normally 10-15 minutes). The second part is a private examination with a nominal duration of 60 minutes, attended by the RSC members, the Defense Coordinator and any relevant ex-officio members. During the private examination, the committee will interview the student, ask more detailed questions and examine a demonstration of the completed work, if applicable. The committee will also convey to the student any changes that he/she is required to make before the final submission of the thesis.

During the final thesis presentation and defense, the student is required to:

Demonstrate a high level of understanding and specialization in the thesis area;
Show evidence that he/she has conducted an independent investigation with rigor and discrimination;
Demonstrate the acquisition and collation of information through the effective use of appropriate sources and equipment;
Appreciate the relationship of the area of his/her thesis to a wider field of knowledge;
Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the literature in his/her thesis area;
Demonstrate an ability to appraise critically his/her contribution in the context of his/her overall investigation;
Constructively defend his/her thesis outcomes;
Make reference to the thesis that has been written clearly, accurately, cogently, and in a style appropriate to purpose; and
Construct coherent arguments and articulate ideas clearly.

Following the examination, the RSC members and the Defense Coordinator will meet privately to decide on whether the student has successfully defended the thesis. The advisor(s) decision is divided equally among the Main Advisor and Co-Advisor(s) such that each may decide independently but the total advisor(s) decision equals one. The other RSC members have one decision each, with the exception of any external members who do not have a role in the final decision. However, feedback from external members on the thesis and any suggested improvements should be recorded in the examination report.

The final decision on the outcome of the thesis defense will be the lowest thesis defense outcome reported by the RSC committee members. The Thesis Defense Coordinator communicates this decision to student, RSC members, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and the AVP of Graduate Studies.

The following RSC recommendations are possible:

Pass	That the candidate be recommended for the award of Master’s degree. No further revisions are required for the thesis.
Pass with Minor Corrections	That the candidate be recommended for the award of Master’s degree, subject to the satisfactory completion of such minor corrections as may be required by the RSC. Minor corrections shall normally be completed within a period of one week after defence. The RSC may stipulate that the minor corrections made shall be scrutinized by the RSC as a whole or by the Main Advisor prior to the award process being initiated.
Fail with Revise and Resubmit	The thesis should be referred back for major revisions. This normally means there are some major conceptual issues with the thesis and/or the student’s performance during the oral examination does not meet the required standards. The student is failed in the thesis evaluation in the semester in which the thesis examination is conducted. However, the revised thesis may be re-submitted for a second and final attempt at passing the examination subject to the conditions specified by the examination committee. In a regular semester, the re-submission shall normally take place within a period not exceeding 12 weeks from the date of the decision of the RSC. The RSC must specify in the examination report whether they require (a) re-submission of the revised thesis without oral examination or (b) full re-examination of the revised thesis including the oral defense.
Fail	That the candidate be not recommended for the award of Master’s degree and no further submission is permitted. The candidate must then be terminated from the Master’s program.

The final, corrected copy of the thesis post-examination and endorsement of the student’s Main Advisor, Co-Advisor(s) and RSC members must be submitted to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the relevant College and subsequently to the AVP of Graduate Studies for approval.