Cellular and Molecular Medicine Master’s Program
CHANGES FOR THESIS UNITS - EFFECTIVE FALL 2018
The CMM program requires each student to earn a minimum of five thesis units during their tenure in the program. The intention of thesis units is to award credit for the time students spend working on the thesis and to help them stay on track to complete the thesis on time. The policies below describe the milestones that must be met to earn each thesis unit and are meant to guide students and faculty mentors through the thesis process. They require that students begin work on the thesis well before the semester in which they intend to graduate. It is understood that thesis work, especially lab work, does not always follow the expected schedule and, under unusual circumstances, exceptions may be made to these policies with approval of the Director of the Master’s Program.
First unit - Student identifies a thesis advisor and members to serve on the thesis committee. With the committee’s input, student selects a thesis topic (literature-based or lab-based) and develops an outline for the thesis to be presented to the committee at the first meeting.
Second unit - Student provides the advisor/committee with a draft of the introduction section of the thesis.
Third unit - Student provides the advisor/committee with a draft of the results/synthesis section of the thesis. Student should include figures or placeholders for figures in the draft. The draft should include revisions of the introduction section of the thesis (should the committee have provided any). If there has not been a thesis committee meeting within this past year, meet with the committee and discuss progress and timetables.
Fourth unit - Student provides the advisor/committee with a full draft of the thesis (including any revisions provided by the committee). If there has not been a thesis committee meeting within this past year, meet with the committee and discuss progress and timetables.
Fifth unit – Defend thesis, make any required revisions, and submit final document to the library for cataloging. If the student is not ready to defend, meet with the committee and make a plan to complete the thesis.
Important additional policies:
- No more than three thesis units may be taken in one term. Therefore, the thesis process will cover at least two terms.
- If students register for thesis units but fail to meet the guidelines set out above, then they will receive a grade of “Incomplete” (I) until they finish the requirements. No additional units may be taken until the requirements have been completed. An “incomplete” will automatically become an “E” after one year.
If there are any questions about this policy, please direct them to the CMM Graduate Coordinator, Barbara Kahn-Sales: bkahnsales@email.arizona.edu