All students enrolled in master's degree programs in Psychology are required to complete a thesis. Students enrolled in certification-only programs are not expected to complete a thesis. The Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research provides a packet of materials that describes university guidelines, including deadlines, required formats, and necessary forms.

The Department of Psychology requires that all theses conducted under its auspices be empirical research projects. Each thesis is supervised by a committee consisting of three members of the graduate faculty. The chair and at least one other member of the committee must be members of the Psychology graduate faculty.

Each student is responsible for establishing a thesis committee, although all such agreements must be approved by the department chair. A good rule of thumb is to select a committee chair whose interests are appropriate to the topic you wish to pursue. Then work with the chair to select the other members of the committee. Generally, it is in your best interest to establish your committee by the end of your first year in the program.

More information about the Psychology Department's guidelines are available in the Graduate Student Handbook in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.

There are many different approaches to starting a thesis project; however, the most important suggestion is to get started early. Some students will enter the graduate program with a thesis research project already in mind and will simply need to identify a committee with which to work. However, many students will develop potential thesis ideas as a result of course information and projects, clinical experiences, or conversations with faculty and student colleagues. Some students find it helpful to keep a notebook of potential thesis topics or research questions, and then to visit with faculty about their ideas.

One common barrier to starting the thesis is to simply wait until you are certain that you want to pursue a specific research question. Frequently, it is more helpful to begin having conversations with faculty members as soon as you have one or more general topics of interest. These conversations with faculty members often lead to further clarification of your ideas; and in some cases, you can leave such a meeting with a very clear research question.

Many students find it helpful to use course projects (e.g., term papers, literature reviews, annotated bibliographies) as a way to explore potential thesis interests. This strategy also has the advantage of helping you get started on a review of theoretical and empirical literature related to your topic(s) of interest. Often these projects serve as a starting place for the development of a thesis proposal. In short, before starting a course project, you may find it helpful to ask yourself, "How might I use this course requirement to also help me explore a potential thesis topic?"

The thesis idea, however generated, is refined via interaction with your committee chair and, possibly informally, with others. A rough draft of the proposal is generated and rewritten by the student interacting with the chair until the chair decides that the product is sufficiently well advanced to be sent to other committee members for their input. Members' comments are integrated into the draft, and when the chair is satisfied with the new draft it is recirculated. The process continues until the chair and the committee have agreed that the draft is ready for a proposal meeting.

Note that faculty members differ in the type of proposal they favor: some prefer short introductions, some prefer an introduction approximating the final thesis introduction. The proposal style is determined by the chair. In scheduling a proposal meeting, notice should be given to all faculty members at least one week prior to the meeting. Announcements should be posted on the 4th- floor bulletin board designated for such announcements. Please do not affix announcements to walls, elevator doors, outside doors, etc. The proposal meeting is considered a helping or working meeting and as a final check on the design, data gathering procedures, compliance with ethical guidelines, etc. The committee may decide to implement changes in the thesis or simply to approve the proposal as it stands.

Following the proposal meeting, signed Option Approval forms are to be submitted for the department chair's signature and forwarding to the Graduate Office. Theses involving human subjects also require completed human subjects forms; theses involving animal subjects require a completed Use of Animals approval form. The student conducts the research after the proposal meeting and after approval of the forms noted above.

The process of writing the thesis is similar to the process of writing the proposal. When the chair is satisfied with the draft, it is sent to other committee members and their comments are integrated. The process is repeated until the committee is satisfied.

Once the committee is satisfied that the thesis is ready, the thesis defense is scheduled. The manuscript is then written in final form and copies are submitted to the members of the committee at least two weeks prior to the orals. (Obtain the quarterly schedule for the final date for oral exams from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research). Any changes now should be pretty much limited to typographical errors or minor changes in wording.

The faculty should be notified of the upcoming thesis defense two weeks in advance. The format for notification is the same as described above.

The process of preparing, executing, writing, and defending the thesis is time-consuming. If your goal is to be elsewhere by a certain date, be sure to leave yourself enough time to do the job right. A lack of sufficient time is never a justification for lowering standards. It is highly unlikely that an adequate thesis can be done in less than three quarters, and even that frequently is not enough.

The Thesis Defense. The thesis defense is an integral and important part of your graduate work. It demonstrates your ability to articulate your work and answer questions about it. During the course of the defense, you will be expected to make a formal presentation of your thesis, describing its conceptual basis, the methodology and statistical procedures that you used, and the results and their implications in a clear and cogent fashion. You also will be expected to answer questions about the work that are posed by your committee and by others in attendance.

The thesis defense must be (a) scheduled at least three weeks in advance with the Graduate Office and announced to the faculty at least two weeks in advance, (b) held between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. when the university is in session (not between quarters), and (c) held in the last or next-to-last quarter prior to completing the requirements of the master's degree (courses required for certification only may be taken later).

The defense is open to the university community; however, the student's committee alone is responsible for assessment of the student's performance.

The application to schedule the thesis defense must be accompanied by four (4) copies of a "brief" which lists the student's previous degrees, the Course of Study, and biographical data typed in the format described in the Thesis Regulations pamphlet available in the Graduate Office.

At least two weeks in advance of the defense, every member of the thesis committee must be given a final, complete copy of the thesis. All committee members must have had an earlier opportunity to review a draft copy of the thesis, i.e., no committee member should receive, as his or her first copy for review, what the student regards to be the "final" copy. A draft copy must be circulated for comments before the final copy is prepared for the defense. Additional changes may be required following the thesis defense.

Failure to complete all program requirements by the end of the next quarter will, according to university policy, result in requiring the defense to be redone.

Students vary considerably in their approach to completing the thesis requirement; however, it is important to remember that your thesis project will probably end up taking longer (i.e., more quarters) than you initially thought it would. Clearly, the number of quarters required to complete the thesis varies as a function of the complexity of the research design, the availability of participant populations, and the amount of time the student has to work on the thesis. Therefore, students who wish to graduate following completion of their internships are encouraged to work with their thesis committees to establish a realistic timeline for each stage (i.e., proposal development, data collection) of the thesis.

Typically, those students who have completed proposal meetings by Spring of Year 1 or Fall of Year 2 are in the best position to complete theses by the end of the second year. Students who wait until the middle of the second year to propose their theses will typically find it difficult to finish their research prior to the end of the internship.

It is important for students to keep in mind that their M.S. or M.Ed. degree will not be awarded until all coursework, including the thesis, is complete. Students who are ABT ("all but thesis") upon completion of other program requirements will typically face greater challenges in seeking employment. In addition, mental health counselors in Washington state cannot begin to accumulate "postgraduate" experience for certification until the master's degree is awarded.

Please note that many faculty members do not work during the summer, and those that do are on reduced schedules. As a general department policy, faculty members will not be available to work with you on your project during the summer. Please plan accordingly.

The courses of study for the M.S. in Mental Health Counseling or the M.Ed. in School Counseling include six credits of PSY 700 (Thesis). At least two of the PSY 700 credits must be reserved for the quarter in which you defend your thesis (i.e., complete the final oral exam). The remaining four credits are typically distributed throughout the first and second years of your graduate program, as you develop your proposal, collect and analyze data, and develop the final draft of your thesis. You should consult with your thesis chairperson about PSY 700 credits prior to each quarter's registration period.

Students in the Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling programs are assigned academic advisers at the beginning of their graduate programs; however, your adviser is not necessarily the person who will chair your thesis committee. Students are encouraged to meet with faculty members who share their research interests and to identify a thesis chairperson with whom they would like to work. After identifying potential thesis chairs, you may wish to talk with each of them about their preferences for research methodologies, your thesis topic interests, and their willingness to chair your committee. Although many counseling graduate students prefer to work with a thesis chair who has expertise in counseling research, there is no requirement that your chair is a member of the Counseling Program Committee. In fact, students are also free to pursue thesis research projects in other areas of psychology.

Once students have selected a thesis chair, they typically work with their chair to identify other faculty members who might serve on the committee. Once you have finalized selection of your thesis committee, you should talk with all members of the committee about their expectations for the proposal development process. Committees may vary in terms of the number of drafts they expect to review prior to the thesis proposal meeting; consequently, you should work closely with your committee to clarify these expectations.

Members of your thesis committee are referred to as your "graduate committee."

The Office of Graduate Studies and Research develops and disseminates thesis regulations, including guidelines for formatting of your final thesis. Throughout the thesis process, you may find it helpful to regularly consult with the Graduate Studies and Research staff as well as with members of your thesis committee.

In keeping with federal regulations (45 CFR 46), all research involving data collection with human participants must be reviewed and approved by the CWU Human Subjects Review Committee (HSRC). Advertising or recruitment of participants is not permitted until final HSRC approval has been received. Even if you and your chair believe that your particular project is exempt from the federal regulations, you must submit, at minimum, a "request for exemption" form to the HSRC.

CWU guidelines for research with human subjects and related materials (e.g., forms, resources) are available online or from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

Two forms are typically required for the thesis project. The first is the "OPTION APPROVAL FORM." It is signed by all members of your committee and indicates their approval of your proposal thesis research question(s), design, and procedures. This form may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research (Barge 305) or online.

If the thesis research includes collection of data from human participants, there are additional forms that must be submitted to the CWU Human Subjects Review Committee. These forms are available from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research (Barge 305) or online.

Once you have completed the final draft of your thesis, you will be ready to schedule your thesis defense. In order to schedule the defense, you will need to obtain a "Permit to Schedule the Final Oral Exam" from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

The Office of Graduate Studies and Research (OGSR) sponsors a competitive thesis grant program. In addition, OGSR staff provide assistance to faculty and students researchers seeking external funding for their investigations.

Many students in the counseling psychology and school counseling programs express interest in presenting their thesis data at regional or national conferences. For more information about opportunities for presenting or publishing your thesis contact your thesis chairperson.