Students who elect Track 2 must complete 27 credit hours of coursework in the program (including the required core courses) and may then begin work on the thesis. Students must follow these steps in writing the thesis:

1. Select thesis adviser and receive adviser's approval of topic. The thesis adviser must hold full graduate faculty qualification
2. Submit prospectus (including thesis statement and bibliography) for approval of the adviser and the program director. (See Prospectus Guidelines below.) After the prospectus is approved, the student enrolls in ENG 695, Master's Thesis. A student may enroll for 1-3 credits per semester (for a total of at least 6) and must enroll continuously for at least one credit each semester (including spring/summer) until the thesis is successfully defended and accepted
3. Select two other faculty members (regular or adjunct) who hold either regular or adjunct graduate faculty qualifications for thesis committee
4. Submit draft for suggested revisions from committee
5. Submit final draft for approval of committee. Minimum length for the thesis will be 50 pages (double-spaced, not including bibliography)
6. The format of the completed thesis should follow the University Guidelines for Preparation of Theses and Dissertations
7. Thesis defense. The thesis director will schedule a time (1½ hours) for the defense when the entire committee can be present. The student must have registered for a total of at least 6 credit hours of ENG 695 before the defense is scheduled. The defense may be scheduled in summer, fall, or winter terms and should be at least three weeks before the end of classes for that term. The revised draft of the thesis must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks prior to the defense date. Copies will be made available for other interested faculty members to read. All English Department faculty will be invited to attend the defense and participate in the discussion. The defense will be open to other English graduate students as observers.
8. After the defense, the committee may require further revisions; if so, the student will have 30 days to submit the revised thesis for final determination. If the committee votes not to accept the thesis, the student will have the option of changing to Track 1, which would require taking 6 additional credit hours of coursework and passing the Qualifying Examinations.
9. Once the thesis has been accepted, you may apply for copyright and need to submit an electronic copy of your signature page (committee members, plus the dean of your college) to the The Graduate School (TGS) for final approval and the signature of the Dean of The Graduate School. Once approved, you will submit a final electronic copy of your thesis to ScholarWorks@GVSU, the university's electronic repository for scholarship ([email protected]).
10. Contact the registrar's office to initiate a graduation audit.

The prospectus gives the student a chance to clarify the topic and present the idea formally to the faculty member who is being asked to direct the thesis and to the program director, both of whom must approve the prospectus before the student enrolls in ENG 695, the thesis course. It is not expected that the argument of the thesis would be worked out completely, but it is important to have a hypothesis and to have done some initial research and thinking before committing a great deal of time to the project.

The prospectus should be approximately 4-6 pages (double-spaced), plus a provisional or working bibliography. It should do the following:

• Describe a focused topic
• State a provisional thesis
• Discuss how this work will fit with some of the existing scholarship on the topic

Once the thesis director and program director have reviewed the prospectus, they may approve it, decline to approve it, and direct the student to consider other topics, or suggest revisions and read it again before making a final decision. Their decision in any case should be given in writing, via mail or e-mail.

Sample GVSU Master's Theses