Current Students

FALL 2023 THESIS DEFENSE TIMELINE

Download a PDF here.

Friday, September 2
Final date to apply for graduation on Athena. Your Advisory Committee form and final Program of Study form must be submitted to the Graduate School by this date.

Wednesday, October 18
Final date to submit a complete draft of your thesis to your major professor. You and your major professor then have two weeks to make any needed revisions before a final copy is distributed to the committee. We assume that you have been working closely with your major professor and your committee for quite some time, but by this time you should have put together a complete draft.

Monday, October 30
Final date to electronically submit one complete copy of your thesis for a format check on the Graduate School website. Format check and final submission are routed through ProQuest.

Wednesday, November 1
Final date to distribute the final copy of your thesis to your committee members. Your committee has two weeks to read your thesis before deciding whether or not you are ready to defend.  The committee may also request changes before the defense takes place.  Although a defense time and date will be reserved soon after distribution, please be aware that this might be canceled or rescheduled if your committee does not approve your thesis for a defense.

Wednesday, November 15
Absolute last day the Graduate Program Administrator will schedule a defense. The committee may request changes before final approval.

Wednesday, November 23 (please note that this is during Thanksgiving Break)
Final date to submit the Approval Form for Master’s Thesis and Final Oral Examination and final copy of your thesis to the Graduate School for a December graduation. “Final” means that all suggested changes have been made and approved by your major professor.

MA students are required to write and defend a thesis in order to graduate.

Written under the direction of the student’s major professor, the thesis must show independent judgment in examining a problem from primary sources.

Current students please see the Master’s Thesis Checklist for detailed procedures.

When should I start working on my thesis?

Most master’s degree students begin working on their thesis ideas at the end of their first year of graduate school.  Usually, by this point, you have written several research designs and perhaps one full research paper on your own. You have been exposed to at least four substantive courses and two methods courses.

During that first graduate school summer, students should begin thinking about a potential research question that they would like to pursue.  At this point, it would be helpful to talk to a professor in the area. If your idea has merit, then the next step would be to identify a thesis chair.

And remember, the best students go beyond their coursework, reading beyond their assignments and attending lectures outside of class.  This will help you as you begin focusing on your own research ideas.

What is the process for putting together a thesis committee?

The identification of the advisory committee (three faculty members with one serving as chair) usually takes place at the start of the second year.  Most of the time, your committee is determined by the nature of your research.  The chair’s expertise should be generally related to your subject matter.  Often students will ask additional committee members based on some other need – expertise in the fields you will be utilizing, grounding in theory, further expertise in the area, etc.

The person that you designate as your chair will help guide you in this matter as well.  Most of the time, but this can vary, your committee chair works to direct your thesis without a great deal of input from the other members of your committee.  At times, other members may be involved during the research process, but most of the time, your additional members see your drafts only after they have been approved by your committee chair.  Once you have identified the three members of your thesis committee, you must submit an Advisory Committee Form to the Graduate School.  Information about this form and the Graduate School deadlines for receiving this form will be sent out with plenty of advance notice.

Are there any rules about format?

Students are required to submit a draft of your thesis to the Graduate School for a format check.  The deadline for this submission is about 2/3 of the way through your defense semester, which means you submit your thesis for a format check likely before you defend.  You then submit a final version after you defend and make any changes your committee suggests.

Graduate School Format Check Information

How do I defend my thesis?

The graduate program and the Graduate School impose several deadlines.  For example, there is a deadline upon which a student must get their complete draft to their major professor.  The professor has two weeks to review and make suggestions for revision.  After that, if approved by the chair, the draft goes to the other members, and they are given two weeks to decide if the thesis will make it to the defense stage.  At this point, students work with the Graduate Program Administrator to schedule a defense time.

Deadlines are important.  Consequences of not following deadlines usually mean some expense to you.  Remember that if you do not meet your deadlines, you will then need to carry over to the next semester.  That means paying additional tuition and fees.

At the defense, usually, students will make a short presentation and then take questions from their committee.  Students may pass or fail at this juncture.  Usually, even upon passing, students may be asked to revise their thesis before being given official permission to submit to the Graduate School for final acceptance.

Master’s Thesis Checklist
Download the PDF version of this checklist

The Semester Before Your Defense

1. Choose your major professor.  You’ll need to have chosen a major professor before you can be cleared to register for POLS 7300 (Master’s Thesis) for the next semester.  When you have been cleared by the Graduate Program Administrator, be sure to register for at least 3 credits of POLS 7300.
2. Choose your thesis advisory committee in consultation with your major professor. Notify the Graduate Program Administrator of the names, roles, and email addresses of your thesis committee. The Graduate Advisor will submit this form online to the Graduate School.
3. Fill out a Worksheet for MA Program of Study.
4. Schedule an appointment with the Graduate Program Administrator.  During this meeting you will: 1) review your program of study worksheet and 2) complete your Program of Study for Master of Arts.
5. Start researching and writing your thesis!  Next semester, you will be required to allow your major professor two weeks to work with you on a complete draft, your committee two weeks to read the final thesis, and the Graduate Program Administrator will need a window of time in which to schedule the defense before the Graduate School deadline, which means you will not have the entire semester to finish your thesis. To avoid a last-minute rush, start writing now.

The Semester in Which You Defend Your Thesis

1. Apply for graduation on Athena.  The deadline to do so comes shortly after the beginning of the semester. You can find this semester’s Graduate School deadlines here.
2. Follow departmental deadlines for distributing and defending your thesis.  The Graduate Program Administrator will have sent these dates out shortly after the midpoint of the previous semester.
3. Submit an electronic copy of your thesis to the Graduate School for a format check.  For format check information and submission guidelines see this page.  To find this semester’s submission deadline, please see the Graduate School deadlines.
4. When your major professor has approved your thesis for distribution to the committee, you may distribute it to your committee via email and CC the Graduate Program Administrator. The Graduate Program Administrator will schedule a thesis defense no less than two weeks after the official distribution date.
5. At the defense, you may be asked by your committee to make changes to your thesis before final approval. You will need to make these changes and submit them to your major professor, who will need to sign off on them before the Graduate School deadline.  You will also need to submit a final electronic copy of your thesis to the Graduate School by this date. Again, see the Graduate School deadlines for your specific semester.

All policies for current students can be found in the Graduate Handbook. Students should consult this manual for information and procedures on issues related to coursework, comprehensive exams, the dissertation, etc. Students will adhere to the version of the Graduate Handbook active in the year in which they matriculate. In the case of any discrepancies between the Graduate Handbook and The Graduate School’s policies, The Graduate School’s policies supersede those of SPIA.

• Assistantship application for current students (due January 1)
• POLS 9200 approval form
• Worksheet for MA Program of Study
• Worksheet for MA (Non-thesis) Program of Study

Graduate courses for Political Science, Fall 2023, can be viewed here.

Graduate courses for International Affairs, Fall 2023, can be viewed here.

Graduate students traveling on University business, including attending and presenting at conferences, must register their travel with the University and SPIA. Please complete the following steps every time you travel for University business, even if you do not anticipate receiving travel funding:

1. Complete a Travel Authorization on OneSource. (Find instructions here.)
2. Complete the SPIA Student Travel Request Form. You will need to provide documentation of your approved travel funding (e.g., letter from the Graduate School) no less than 2 weeks prior to travel.

Graduate students traveling internationally must also register their travel authority with the Office of Global Engagement.

All travel authorities must be completed a minimum of 2 weeks before your travel begins. You cannot complete them after the fact without going through extra paperwork and pain.

If you have received travel funding, please keep a record of your expenses and receipts. You will need to submit an expense report, also on OneSource.

Please familiarize yourself with the following resources:

SPIA Travel Guidelines

UGA official travel policy

Common errors in OneSource

OneSource Travel Instructions

Travel-related expense types