Procedure

Consult with a graduate advisor about your graduate program and the possibility of including a University Thesis. Procedures for creating a thesis committee and thesis topic guidelines will vary from department to department. Once you have an advisor and committee, enroll in your department’s 6910 (University Thesis) course.

Get IRB approval if needed: Approval of research protocol by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is mandatory if research with human subjects is involved. This review is necessary to determine whether human subjects will be at risk and to protect their rights and welfare.

Any research involving experiments, questionnaires, surveys, interviews, and similar methodology involves research with human subjects. Theses in the social and behavioral sciences, education, health fields and management/administration will probably require this review.

IRB approval must be obtained before research commences. Students should contact the IRB Coordinator early in their thesis planning process and should submit their completed application (protocol) to the IRB at least two months before they plan to begin their research. Further information is available on the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs website at: www.csueastbay.edu/orsp/ (Click on the "Institutional Review Board" link.) If you have questions not answered on their web pages, you may call the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (WA 977) at: 510-885-4212.
 

After Your Topic is Approved

Draft and revise the thesis: Work closely with your thesis committee chair to review your progress and revise as directed until your committee judges your thesis to be acceptable and complete. It is strongly recommended that you prepare your drafts according to the format requirements in this guide in order to avoid reformatting prior to submitting multiple copies for binding.

NOTE: Faculty members are not expected to take time to make extensive corrections or revisions. They are encouraged, instead, to return draft materials to the student with general instructions and suggestions for bringing the thesis up to required departmental and university standards.
 

Prepare your final manuscript for binding according to the requirements in this guide. Be sure to include all mandatory elements and format the manuscript accordingly. Pay special attention to the "General Format Requirements" and the "Specific Format Requirements" sections of this guide.

Pass format review: Submit the entire, final manuscript to the Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office (WA 877) for format review by the "format review" deadline. The copy you submit for format review should be your final, approved thesis. (Your committee members have approved the text of your thesis and require no further changes.) Your thesis should be complete except for the signatures of your committee members on the approval page.

* It is important that your approval page layout be reviewed and accepted by the Thesis Editor in Academic Programs and Graduate Studies before you ask your committee members to sign the page.

Be sure to complete the “Thesis Submission Information Form” and include it with your thesis when you submit it for review.

NOTE: The Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office does not review Departmental Theses.

Obtain committee signatures: After the Thesis Editor in Academic Programs and Graduate Studies completes the format review of your thesis, obtain approval signatures from your University Thesis committee. [Please note that you must now type each committee member’s name under each corresponding signature line.] An oral defense is normally required prior to committee approval. Check with your department.

If the chair of your University Thesis committee will be away from campus during the final quarter, you are responsible for making alternative arrangements for final approval.

Do not have photocopies made until after the thesis has been approved by both your University Thesis committee and the Office of Academic Programs and Graduate Studies.
 

Submit photocopies (or original print-outs) of your thesis for binding to the Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office (WA 859 or 877).

Number of Copies. Plan to provide the following number of copies to be bound:

* One for the University Library.
* Another for the department.

* Exceptions: Marine Science and Teacher Education require two copies. Verify this with your Thesis Chair.

Additional bound copies can be ordered for personal use. If you want copies for yourself, include the quantity in your order.

A Note about Collating. For each copy of your thesis that you submit for binding, it is your responsibility to assemble the pages in the proper order. Please put a sheet of colored paper between each copy. Neither the copy center, the Thesis Editor, nor the bindery takes responsibility for this collating.

Pay for binding: Binding is done by Valley Library Binding in Fresno, CA. The theses are hard-bound in red cloth and stamped in gold with title and author's name on the front and the spine. The bindery limits cover and spine titles to a total of 85 letters/spaces. If your title is longer, it is your responsibility to indicate a shortened version for the cover.

There is a separate handout titled "Thesis Binding Charges" which is provided during the format review with the Thesis Editor from the Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office (WA 877).

Payment.
Make check cashier’s check or money order payable to Valley Library Bindery and present it to the Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office along with the multiple copies. Lack of sufficient funds to cover a check will result in a $5.00 assessment and an encumbrance; graduation will be delayed.

After payment is made, the Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office will notify the graduation evaluators in Planning and Enrollment Management that your thesis has been accepted.

Pick up personal copies of the bound thesis. About three to four weeks into the following quarter, the bindery will deliver the bound copies of the theses to the Academic Programs and Graduate Studies Student Services office (WA 859 or 877). Academic Programs and Graduate Studies will then send a copy of your thesis to your department and to the University Library, and will notify you by phone or e-mail to pick up your personal copies.

* It is your responsibility to pick up (or arrange for pick up of) your personal copies. The university can not mail or otherwise transmit the personal copies.

BEFORE THE RELEASE of any copies, you must insert maps, illustrations, etc. (if any) and must pay any additional binding fees.