Master's Thesis Committee (Plan A) Information and Forms

The steps and information below will help guide Master's students through the thesis committee approval process.

1. Master’s students must be Advanced to Candidacy prior to appointment of a thesis committee, or (in a few Master’s programs) the Thesis Committee Form is submitted to Graduate Studies at the same time as Advancement to Candidacy. Please check with your Graduate Advisor to learn your program’s workflow.

2. After Advancement to Candidacy, students should meet with their Graduate Advisor to discuss the proposed thesis committee. If you are considering a committee member who is not a tenured/tenure-track faculty member, please review the table below:

Permissible thesis committee member affiliations:

*  Outside experts without any SDSU affiliation, SDSU lecturers, and SDSU adjunct faculty must complete the petition described in Step 3 below.
*  Outside experts without any SDSU affiliation can serve as 4th committee members only. They must first be appointed as volunteers through Human Resources. See the home department chair or coordinator for approval.
‡  Only tenured/tenure-track faculty from the home department may chair committees, except in unusual circumstances. The Graduate Advisor must directly contact the Assistant Dean of Graduate Affairs to petition for an exception.

3. Thesis committee members who are not tenured/tenure track faculty at SDSU must be approved using the Petition for Lecturers, Adjuncts, and Outside Experts Without SDSU Affiliation to Serve on Thesis Committees.

• The Graduate Advisor will coordinate and submit the petition to [email protected].
• Within the petition, the Graduate Advisor may request a blanket waiver for this individual to serve on future thesis committees, for a period up to 5 years. If a blanket waiver is already active, then a new form does not need to be filed. Committee members and Graduate Advisors who are unsure whether a blanket waiver is active may email [email protected].
• The petition requires supporting documents from both the committee member and the Graduate Advisor.
• The petition requires signatures from the committee member, Graduate Advisor and department chair (or equivalent).

The Petition for Lecturers, Adjuncts, and Outside Experts Without SDSU Affiliation to Serve on Thesis Committees must be approved prior to the Thesis Committee Form.

4. The Master’s program Graduate Advisor will need to gather this information prior to submission:

• Student’s SDSU email address or SDSU Empl ID# (beginning with 1) or old Red ID# (beginning with 8).
• Each committee member’s status (tenured/tenure-track faculty, lecturer, adjunct, FERP, emeritus, etc.)
• Each committee member’s SDSU email address. Individuals with no SDSU affiliation can be added as a 4th member.
• The anticipated thesis title.
• Whether the thesis will be written in a foreign language.
• Whether the thesis is associated with research that could require IRB (human subjects) approval.
• Whether the thesis is associated with research that could require IACUC (animal research) approval.
• The Graduate Advisor will need an electronic copy of the student and thesis chair's data ownership and publication agreement.  Alternatively, the advisor may simply indicate that all rights to data (and sole publication authorship) belong exclusively to the student.

5. The Graduate Advisor can submit the Thesis Committee Form in one of two ways: a fillable pdf, or an OnBase form. 

Thesis Committee Approval form (pdf)

• The Graduate Advisor must complete this pdf and email it to [email protected]. The Master's student should be cc’d on this email.

Thesis Committee Approval form (OnBase) 

• The OnBase Thesis Committee Form must be initiated by the Graduate Advisor.
• In OnBase, select the three-line menu icon in the upper left. Then select New Form -> GRD Appointment of Thesis Committee.
• All supporting documents should be attached to the OnBase form.

6. Rarely, students wish to delay public release of a thesis or dissertation. Montezuma Publishing and the SDSU University Library can delay public release of a thesis or dissertation if the author (i.e., student) requests such action, and Graduate Studies approves. The purpose of this embargo is to protect the author's right to publish or otherwise exploit the new knowledge before making it available to others.

The embargo (delayed release of a thesis, dissertation, or Plan A project) may be for a period of up to one year. Please review the Embargo Policy for instructions on how students may submit a request.

7. Each Master’s program oversees its own processes for thesis defense, thesis committee review, and thesis committee approval. Discuss these requirements with your thesis chair and your Graduate Advisor.

8. Registration in 799A (Thesis) is required for students to complete their Master’s thesis, and a 799A grade of Credit is required to award the degree.

• 799A registration should happen prior to the start of the graduating term.
• The Thesis Committee Form (Step 5 above) must be approved by Graduate Studies prior to enrolling in 799A.
• Students may request 799A registration permission and information by emailing Graduate Studies [email protected]. Assuming that an approved Thesis Committee Form is on file, review and processing should be completed within 7-10 business days.
• Montezuma Publishing does require and verify 799A registration at the moment that students submit their approved and formatted thesis for review.

Thesis submission deadlines for each semester are posted on the Graduate Studies Deadlines page.

9. If a student registered in 799A is unable to submit their thesis to Montezuma Publishing before the last day of the semester, they will need to enroll in Thesis Extension 799B in a future term.

• 799A registration will only happen one time; subsequent registration(s) will be 799B.
• 799B registration may be through main campus or SDSU Global Campus, although Global Campus registration may be ineligible for Financial Aid. Please refer to the online Catalog for more information on thesis and thesis extension courses.
• Students may request 799B registration permission and information by emailing Graduate Studies [email protected]. Review and processing should be completed within 7-10 business days.
• Montezuma Publishing will require and verify a student’s 799A or 799B registration at the moment of thesis submission.
• Thesis submission deadlines for each semester are posted on the Graduate Studies Deadlines page.

10. Thesis committee approval expires after 3 years. After expiration, the student should contact their Graduate Advisor to get their Thesis Committee Form re-validated (Steps 2-5 above).