Thesis and dissertation procedure

Purpose

The purpose of the supervision structure is to:

1. Clarify expectations to all parties involved.
2. Optimize the pass rate.
3. Optimize the use of WU resources.
4. Maintain some uniformity of process while allowing departments to add requirements according to their needs and areas of study.

Application

This policy applies to all theses and dissertations unless specifically differentiated. Procedures should be integrated with the coursework units where relevant.

Supervisory committees

1. Each student shall have a supervisory committee.
2. WU will apppoint one commitee member to be the chairperson.
3. The chairperson of the committee is the supervisor for one-to-one supervision.
4. The whole committee is involved only at particular stages: the prospectus, the full proposal, the review(s), and the final assessment (reading the dissertation and oral defence).
5. Students may nominate their dissertation supervisors, although WU will make the final decision.
6. For a Master program, a committee must have a chairperson and at least one other person.
7. For a doctoral program, a committee must have a chairperson and at least two other persons. (DEAC, p. 85.)
   1. At least one member of the doctoral committee must be a WU faculty member.
   2. At least two members must have earned doctoral degrees from appropriately accredited institutions other than from WU.
   3. All are qualified in the subject area of the dissertation or research/ project topic and possess appropriate credentials, scholarship, experience, and practice in the field of study. WU may appoint committee members for specialist skills (e.g. research methodology, dissertation method, professional practice, statistical methods).

Departments

1. Departments may specify their areas of emphasis, outside of which they do not supervise dissertations.
2. Departments may require that dissertations of a particular kind follow a particular chapter outline.*
3. Each department may specify the style guide for its students.
4. Departments may require students participate in workshops and/or conferences during the dissertation units as long as it is covered in the fee structure and budget.

Overall procedure

1. Application stage
   The student nominates a field of interest in his/her application to the dissertation program.
2. Topic
   Under the guidance of a faculty member, the student defines his/her topic.
   The faculty member may require the student to develop an annotated bibliography of their reading.
3. Prospectus
   The student submits a prospectus of no more than fifteen pages containing a statement of the research problem, a brief literature review, and a proposed methodology.
4. Appointment of supervisory committee
   
   1. The Head of Department must approve the prospectus before the student may proceed.
   2. The Head of Department appoints a supervisory committee. Students may request members of their supervisory committee, although the Head of Department will make the final decision.
   3. The Head of Department will apppoint one commitee member to be the chairperson.
   4. Students might need specialist help from the committee to write their ethics proposal.
5. Full proposal (DEAC, p. 77.)
   
1. The student submits a written full proposal.
2. Depending on the particular field of study, it shall typically contain a working title, a research problem, a research question, the background to the problem, a literature review, a statement of significance, any relevant assumptions and definitions, a methodology, an ethics statement, and a schedule of activities.
3. Students are required to demonstrate that they have sufficiently broad understanding of their specialist area and have done sufficient preparation and planning to begin a thesis or dissertation.
4. The proposal may incorporate documents or content from coursework units.
5. Students may not continue until both the supervisory committee has approved the proposal.
6. Assessment of proposal
   The supervisory committee assesses the full proposal.
7. Institutional Review Board (IRB)
   Students submit their ethics proposal to the IRB for approval. Students may not continue until the Institutional Review Board has approved the proposal.
8. Review
   
   1. During the scheduled period of the thesis or dissertation, the supervisory committee will formally review the student's progress.
   2. The student is responsible to provide evidence of satisfactory progress.
   3. The supervisory committee may set any conditions or corrective actions that it believes are necessary for the student to attain optimal achievement.
9. Supervisor assessment
   The superviser assesses whether the document is ready for final assessment.
   Students may make a preliminary submission before the final submission. Assessors may either carry out the final assessment on the preliminary submission if it is of passing standard, or advise the student on ways to meet any unmet criteria before the final submission.
10. Assessment
    See separate procedure.
11. Final signature
    The signature of Chief Academic Officer initiates the graduation procedure.

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* For example, research dissertations might follow the following chapter outline:

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Analysis
• Chapter 5: Conclusion

Other kinds of outlines include projects, work reports, and collection of research articles (Thesis as a Series of Papers "TASP")