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Policies and Guidelines for
Graduate Committees on Thesis, Dissertations, and Professional Papers
These policies shall apply to the research committee of each candidate
for a graduate degree requiring a dissertation, thesis, or professional paper.
Purpose
The purpose of the committee is threefold:
(1) to guide the student during the major study,
(2) to evaluate the student’s total progress and achievement, and
(3) to maintain high standards of scholarship.
Selection
A graduate student’s responsibility includes recommending the membership of the
committee. Before first registration for thesis, professional paper, or dissertation,
the student should identify in writing to the head of the appropriate department,
school, or college those persons whom the student wishes to have as chair and members
of the committee. The head of the component recommends in writing the appointment of
the committee and its chair to the dean of the college, who then recommends the
committee to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. If those recommendations are
different from the student’s request, a written statement to that effect accompanies
the recommendations to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
Master’s Degree
The Research Committee consists of at least two voting members of the graduate
faculty, at least one of whom represents the major component. If the student has a
minor, one member of the committee should be a faculty member from the minor area.
Doctoral Degree
The Research Committee consists of not fewer than three voting members of the
graduate faculty, at least two of whom represent the major discipline. If the student
has a minor, one member of the committee should be a faculty member from the minor
area. This committee shall have authority with respect to the student’s dissertation;
and the committee chair administers this authority. This committee also serves as the
candidate’s committee to examine over the dissertation.
Qualifications for Committee Membership
Ordinarily, a person selected to serve on a committee should hold a regular,
full-time academic appointment at TWU and should be a member of the graduate faculty.
A person selected to serve on a master’s committee must hold a master’s degree or
higher, and one selected to serve on a doctoral committee is expected to hold a
doctor’s degree. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate
Studies and Research.
Appointment
Official appointment of the committee is the responsibility of the Dean of
Graduate Studies and Research.
Authority and Responsibilities
The committee is an arm of the Graduate School. When the committee has been
appointed, the authority of the component with respect to the student’s program
including course work, evaluation, and major study is delegated to the committee;
however, actions and decisions of the committee are subject to review and recommendation
by the head of the component.
The committee chair is the committee spokesperson in dealing with the student.
The student should have no uncertainty concerning the person with whom to deal in the
day-to-day preparation of the major study, and it should seldom be necessary for the
student to hold conferences concerning minor matters with the individual members
between committee meetings.
- The committee determines specific program requirements for the student
consistent with University policy.
- The committee requires an approved prospectus before the student begins
data-gathering procedures. To indicate approval, each committee member signs the
prospectus; the committee chair forwards the approved prospectus to the head of the
next larger component for signature. The thesis or dissertation prospectus is then
forwarded to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. To indicate approval of a
professional paper prospectus, each committee member signs the prospectus, and
the committee chair files it with the office of the component in which the student is
majoring.
- The committee chair assures the Graduate School in writing that any
study involving human subjects meets the criteria of the Texas Woman’s
University Institutional Review Board guidelines established in accordance with
the Department of Health and Human Services regulations, and that it has been
approved, if necessary, by the Institutional Review Board. These guidelines are
available in each academic component and in the Graduate School.
- The committee chair assures the Graduate School in writing that written
permission has been obtained in advance from every person who is photographed,
filmed, video-taped, or recorded in any way for educational or research purposes.
Consent forms are available in each academic component and in the Graduate School.
- The committee chair assures the Graduate School that when other
institutions or organizations are involved in the major study, the student will
obtain letters of cooperation from the appropriate officials on their letterhead
before beginning the collection of data.
- The committee chair informs the Graduate School of the receipt of the
required letters of informed consent for human studies and letters of
institutional cooperation. These documents are filed for the length of time
stipulated in the regulations.
- The committee chair informs the student of the necessity of assuring the
rights to privacy and protection of confidentiality of data before data are
collected, normally when the prospectus is approved.
- The committee chair assures the Graduate School in writing that any
study involving live animals meets the criteria of the Texas Woman’s University
Animal Care and Use Committee guidelines.
- The committee accepts or rejects the completed major study in accordance with
high standards of scholarship.
- The committee members are responsible for thorough and prompt review of the
student’s work throughout the major study.
Changes in Committee Appointment
If necessary, changes in committee membership can be made. A request for a
change may be initiated by the student, committee member, or head of the component.
Requests for changes should be written and routed through the chair of the committee to
the head(s) of the component(s) to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Academic
courtesy holds that before an official change is made, the committee chair should
inform all parties concerned.
Committees of the Federation
A Texas Woman’s University student enrolled in a program of the Federation of
North Texas Area Universities may request that a faculty member from another Federation
university be asked to serve on the committee. The head of the component recommends
such an appointment in writing to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, who
forwards the request to the appropriate dean in another university of the Federation.
The chair of the student’s committee provides guidelines relative to the
Federation program in the student’s major component. When the degree is granted by the
Texas Woman’s University, the chair and the majority of the voting members of any
committee of the Federation must be from the student’s major component at the Texas
Woman’s University.
Meetings
A committee is convened by the chair no fewer than two times and often three or
more times, depending upon the student’s progress. Committee members are expected to
respond promptly to the call for a meeting. All committee members are expected to
attend committee meetings. Majority decisions of the committee prevail.
First Obligatory Meeting
At least ten days before this meeting, with the approval of the committee chair,
the student gives each member a copy of the prospectus developed to the level of
complexity deemed appropriate by the chair. The prospectus typically may include an
introduction, a statement of purpose (problem, questions, hypotheses), a selected
review of literature, and a description of the student’s research methods and
procedures. At this meeting, the committee assesses the student’s prospectus and
ability to carry out the research. The committee makes suggestions to the chair
concerning the course work or study still needed by the student and establishes the
time limitations for the currency of the research data. The committee decision takes
one of the several forms listed below.
- Unqualified approval: If the prospectus is followed in precise
detail, the student’s research design will not later be challenged.
- Qualified approval: Changes may be made under the supervision of the
chair without further committee involvement.
- Qualified disapproval: The student must revise the prospectus and
meet again with the whole committee.
- Unqualified disapproval: The student must prepare a new prospectus or
withdraw from the program.
When the committee has granted unqualified approval to a prospectus for a thesis or
dissertation, the student must file in the Graduate Office a copy of the prospectus
bearing the approval signatures of all committee members, the department chair, and the
academic dean. (This filing is not required for professional papers.) Although
departments may require a more extensive prospectus, the copy filed in the Graduate
Office must be no longer than ten pages, setting forth the following:
- tentative title,
- purpose and rationale for the study,
- statement of the problem,
- proposed procedures, and
- other information deemed necessary by the committee.
If human subjects, animals, or outside agencies are involved, the appropriate
permission and approval statements must also be filed with the prospectus. See the
Graduate School publication Guide to the Preparation and Processing of Dissertations,
Theses, and Professional Papers, for more details concerning preparation of the
prospectus available from the Graduate School.
Second Obligatory Meeting
At least ten days before this meeting, with the approval of the committee chair,
the student gives each member of the committee a copy of the completed major study. At
this meeting the student must defend the major study, although relevant questions
outside its purview may be asked. The component decides whether the examination is
written or oral. If the examination is oral, the meeting is announced and is open to
the component faculty. Ordinarily, only the committee and the candidate participate in
the examination; however, the committee may invite the participation of other faculty
members. The committee’s decision, made in executive session, takes one of the several
forms listed below.
- Unqualified approval: The committee recommends the student be approved for
the degree by the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
- Qualified approval: Suggested changes are made under the direction of the
chair without another meeting of the committee and the committee will then recommend
that the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research approve granting the degree.
- Qualified disapproval: The research needs to be repeated or modified, or the
major study rewritten extensively and resubmitted for another meeting of the committee.
If a second formal defense of the major study is scheduled, two such meetings may not
be scheduled in the same semester. (Two consecutive summer terms are considered one
semester.)
- Unqualified disapproval: The student is advised to withdraw from the program
without completing the degree.
The committee chair promptly informs in writing the Dean of Graduate Studies and
Research, the head(s) of the component(s), and the student of any decision falling into
the category of unqualified approval or unqualified disapproval.
Preparation and Submission of Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Papers
Specific Graduate School requirements for preparing professional papers, theses,
and dissertations are listed in the publication entitled Guide to the Preparation and
Processing of Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Papers, available at
http://www.twu.edu/o-grad/ (the Graduate
School website).
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