TO: MA CLASS OF 2011
Your completed Master’s Thesis is due by 10 a.m. on Monday, April 18. I’ll be in the World Room collecting copies starting at 9 a.m.
You must submit TWO PAPER COPIES that meet the following requirements. You’ll be required to sign your name in the thesis submission log when you hand them over.
You must also EMAIL ELECTRONIC COPIES OF YOUR THESIS to your primary adviser, your outside adviser, and me.
Please follow these instructions carefully. Those of you submitting web or broadcast pieces should pay particular attention to numbers 8 and 9.
1. Each thesis should include the following:
–A SOURCE LIST: At minimum, this should list the name and contact information of your human sources. Some advisers may also require a bibliography. You should be aware that source lists (and your entire thesis, including the postscript described below) will be available to all library users. If there are confidentiality issues with sources, you are responsible for removing the source list from the library copy before you submit it. If you’re not sure how to cite a source, consult with your adviser.
–A SEPARATE TITLE PAGE: This should have the following information: Your name, class year, the title of your thesis, and the name of the faculty member(s) who supervised it. At the bottom of the page, type the following:
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Arts in Journalism
Copyright
[Name of Student]
[Year]
–A POSTSCRIPT: You’ll need to submit a short, first-person account of how you discovered, researched, and reported your story. This postscript should run no longer than 1,000 words. The narrative will help students in the future see what goes into the making of a successful Master’s Thesis.
2. Print your manuscript or broadcast script on plain white paper, double-spaced and single-sided. Leave an inch-and-a-half margin on the left-hand side and at least an inch on the other three margins. The pages must be numbered. Do not put any sort of binding on the thesis, and do not staple the pages.
3. Put each copy in a new 9 x 12 envelope. Label the front of each envelope with your name, your class year, the title of your thesis, and the name(s) of your adviser(s) for the Master’s Thesis. The first copy will be reserved for the library, and the second copy will be used in judging the M.A. thesis prize. Please write “Library Copy” on the envelope intended for the library.
4. Please submit separate, additional copies of your thesis to both of your advisers. Unless one or both of your advisers prefers to receive a paper copy, you may do this by email.
5. Please email an electronic copy of your thesis, saved as a single Word or PDF document, to me at tmw2112@columbia.edu
6. If you are submitting your Master’s Thesis earlier than the deadline, you still have to submit two paper copies. Please contact me to make arrangements.
7. Keep a copy of your thesis for yourself. Neither the Journalism School nor the Journalism Library is able to provide copies of your work. You are expected to keep usable copies of your Master’s Thesis for future reference.
8. WEB THESES: If your thesis is a website, the paper copy of the thesis should consist of a printed title page with the name, title, a URL, and a copyright statement and, if possible, printed material from the website. You should also include a source list and the postscript as described above. Submit two hard copies (again, one for the library, one for the thesis judging). All content and source code must be uploaded to the Columbia server. If you are using software such as Wordpress, you need to have it hosted by Columbia. Also, your videos and other multimedia need to be on Columbia servers, even if you are already hosting your content on external servers such as YouTube, blip.tv, etc. The library cannot store computer disks, and does not have the facilities for viewing their contents. A hyperlink will be made from the Master’s Thesis web page to the thesis itself. Email the URL to your advisers and me separately.
9. BROADCAST THESES: If you are submitted a broadcast thesis, please make two copies on audio tape, CD, or DVD. Label the tapes/discs, the covers and the cover spines with complete thesis information (author, title, adviser(s)). Then make two printed copies of your script, title page, source list, and postscript. Put one tape/disc and one set of papers in each envelope. E-mail a separate copy of your script to each of your advisers and to me.
A NOTE ON EXTENSIONS/LATE THESES
Extensions will be granted case-by-case, when circumstances require. In order to get an extension, your adviser must put in a written request to Dean Huff and me. The request must specify the new deadline. Students who get extensions should know, however, that late theses are disqualified from thesis prizes. Let me state that again: only theses that are handed in by the deadline will be in the running for thesis prizes. Only in extenuating circumstances such as serious illness or a death in the family will this rule be reconsidered. Also, any student who does not submit his or her thesis by May 6 runs the risk of not graduating.
—
Tali Woodward
Assistant Director, MA Program
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
