Your M.A. thesis is meant to demonstrate that you have a broad understanding of English literature and are therefore deserving of the M.A. degree. You must also be “contributing to the profession,” in the sense that you are doing work that has not been done before. It is helpful to think about this work as eventually leading to conference presentations and/or publication. You will identify two professors (most likely those from whom you have taken graduate-level classes at Buffalo State); one will be your first reader, who will act as your primary thesis adviser. Your second reader should also be knowledgeable about the area in which you are working, but he or she will not take as active a role in the mentorship process. (The extent and manner of involvement differs according to different thesis committees. You are your readers will determine the scope of the advising prior to acceptance of the prospectus.) Your two readers will be your main guides, but you will eventually need approval from four total readers (the first and second faculty readers, the English Department Chair, and the Dean of the Graduate School) for your thesis to be accepted. Any of these readers may request changes before signing off on your work. Upon receiving signatures from each of these signatories, the M.A. Coordinator will notify the Office of Graduate Studies that you have passed and are cleared to receive your degree.
You should plan to register for your thesis (ENG 695) in your final semester, usually after you have finished all coursework. Completing a thesis typically takes two semesters. However, you may only register for ENG 695 one time (registering more than once counts as an “illegal repeat,” which will prevent graduation.) Therefore, if you have already taken ENG 695, and you are still working on your thesis, you must register for ENG 721 (thesis continuation). ENG 721 is a non- credit course, and you do not need to pay to register for it (for up to two times). If you have not finished the thesis after two semesters of ENG 721, you must register for ENG 722, the thesis extension. This course is non-credit bearing but the college will charge you for one credit hour of tuition.
Before any English M.A. student may enroll in ENG 695, the thesis course, s/he must meet the following requirements:
N.B.: Students should solicit committee members for the thesis prior to reaching this point in the program.
The proposal is a short (5-page) explanation of what you plan to do. The proposal briefly outlines your critical field, states your intervention in this field, and provides a chapter-by-chapter summary of your planned work. The working bibliography is a preliminary list of possible sources for your thesis. Do not worry if your argument is still in its early stages; theses evolve. (See your individual thesis readers for guidelines.) You will need to provide copies of both the proposal and bibliography to your director and the M.A. Coordinator before you can register for ENG 695 (by instructor permission only).
You should get a sense of who you want to ask to be readers for your thesis. You should choose faculty you have worked with and who have expertise in your field. The English department asks its graduate faculty not to take on more than 2-3 theses at once. Therefore, for any number of legitimate reasons, professors may not be in a position to work with you on a thesis. If you are interested in working with a particular professor, don’t delay in contacting her or him. In any case, the responsibility of finding faculty readers falls to you. Make a good impression while taking seminar classes, use good social skills (ask rather than demand), and write a thank you note to those who do agree to work with you.
All M.A. theses must conform to the Buffalo State Graduate Program guidelines. These can be found on the Graduate Office’s webpage. In addition, the English Department also requires the following:
Theses must be typed and meet the conventions of standard grammar and style. As you will be referring to a variety of writers and texts, be sure to follow MLA format and to provide a “Works Cited.” The final copy must be formatted with signature page according to the guidelines issued by the English department and the graduate office. When finally approved by all readers, the work must be bound.
The English department expects you to make all reasonable efforts to complete your thesis within two semesters. When a faculty member agrees to support a thesis, that faculty member only agrees to do so for one year. If you are unable to complete your thesis in one year, make sure to let your faculty readers know, and ask them if they are willing to continue as readers. Do not plan to finish a thesis or project in the summer unless both readers agree that they will be available to work with you during the times when many professors are off campus, doing their own research.
Plan to set up mini-deadlines for sections of your thesis or project. Be aware that your work may wait on professors’ desks for two or more weeks before they have had time to read it. The thesis will not be sent to the Department Chair and Graduate School Dean until both readers are satisfied that it is acceptable work. Expect to do a number of significant revisions; this is part of the process. Theses are completed in parts; do not disappear and then show up months later with a “completed” thesis.
Do not get yourself in the situation of needing to finish by a date, which is not reasonable for the amount of work to be done or the time the readers have to give to it. (This should be of special note to any teacher who may have to petition Albany for an extension on a teacher’s license.)
We suggest you spend some time in the English department seminar room (Ketchum 318), where we keep bound copies of our theses from years past. You might also look at some thesis abstracts, which are available on our department website. Before you begin writing or thinking about how you want to structure your thesis, you should look through a few of these to get a sense of what a thesis is and does.
Fall semester 1 – Write proposal, compile bibliography, and contact potential director and second reader
Spring semester 1 – Obtain permission from the M.A. Coordinator to enroll in ENG 695; establish timeline for drafting thesis chapters with director
November of Fall semester 2 – Final draft of full thesis due to director and second reader by third Friday
December of Fall semester 2 –Receive comments from director and second reader; upload final version of thesis to Digital Commons by third Friday
OR
March of Spring semester 2 – Final draft of full thesis due to director and second reader by third Friday
April of Spring semester 2 – Receive comments from director and second reader; upload final version of thesis to Digital Commons by third Friday
The Graduate School of Buffalo State now requires that all M.A. candidates completing master’s theses to submit their theses virtually through Butler Library’s “Digital Commons.”
The Digital Commons process asks students to make two choices, the first regarding “Access Control” and the second regarding an “Embargo Period.” “Access Control” determines who will be able to view the thesis in its entirety. There are two options under “Access Control”: “Open Access” and “Campus Access.” “Open Access” makes the thesis available for anyone in the world to see at no charge; “Campus Access” makes the thesis accessible only through a Buffalo State account or interlibrary loan. The “Embargo Period” determines the amount of time, after the virtual submission of the thesis, until the thesis becomes available for others to view under the terms of “Access Control.”
The choices that master’s candidates are asked to make while submitting their virtual master’s theses will have a great impact on the future possibility of publishing their work, including their own rights to their own work. Most journals and publishing houses will not consider, for publication in a peer-reviewed forum, a work that has been openly available. Because of these concerns, and because the English Department recognizes its students’ rights to their own intellectual production, the English Department encourages master’s candidates submitting theses to choose “Campus Access” and to set an embargo period of “24 months.”
Thesis writers are strongly encouraged to discuss these options with their thesis readers, the M.A. Coordinator, and/or members of the Graduate Committee. In addition to the virtual thesis submission required by the Graduate School, the English department requires all master’s students completing a thesis to submit one bound copy (with particular specifications) to the department before the conferral of the degree. (Paper, margin, pagination, content, and spacing requirements will be shared with thesis writers in ENG695, and they may be found on the English department website.)
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