CIS Department - MS Degree Thesis Option

What is a Thesis?

"The purpose of the masters thesis is for the student to demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research that is of significant value to the discipline".

A version of this document will be given to student at the time he/she agrees to the thesis option.  The following will be found in the upcoming Graduate catalog:

Catalog Description

Credit Requirements:

MS-CIS with thesis option would require a student to complete 36 semester hours of course work and thesis.

Courses: 30 hours of course work including CIS 8389 (Directed Readings in Information Systems); CIS 8389 will be a prerequisite for thesis.

               All 7-core courses (CIS 8110 - CIS 8170) are compulsory.

               Only 2 specialization courses may be taken.

Thesis: 6 hours

Total:  36 hours (same as non-thesis option as existing now).

The student must enroll for the thesis hours towards the end of his/her program.

Thesis Prerequisite

A student opting for the thesis option must have completed a Directed Readings course (CIS 8389) with a graduate faculty member. The Directed Readings course must be used by the student to do preliminary work in preparation for thesis work and will be used by the course instructor to gauge the competence of the student to do thesis work. The enrollment of the student in a thesis will be contingent upon a positive recommendation by the course instructor to the master’s program coordinator and his/her willingness to be the thesis supervisor.

Thesis Supervision and Related Policies:

The thesis supervisor is appointed by the department chair on the recommendation of the master’s program coordinator.

Thesis Examination: Upon completion of the thesis, the student will submit the thesis to his/her supervisor who will examine the thesis and assign a Pass/Fail grade to the thesis. If the student fails, he/she will get one more attempt to submit the thesis. The student must get a passing grade in thesis within three years from the start of the MS program by the student.

Presentation of Thesis: Upon passing the thesis examination, the student must present the thesis through posters in a Masters Thesis Poster Session to be organized by the department in which all successful theses will be presented.  Poster presentation of the thesis is a requirement for the completion of the thesis by the student.

MS Thesis Format:

The thesis must be formatted according to the Ph.D. dissertation guidelines published by the CIS department and GSU. The thesis committee chair will be responsible to enforce the formatting standards. The thesis will not be submitted to Microfilms.

Enrollment, Course Numbering and Grading System:

·        The thesis will be assigned the CIS 8990 course number. 

·        The student will fill out the CIS 8990 paperwork and submit it to the master’s program coordinator for approval.  On approval, the student can register for CIS 8990.

·        The student can register for either three or six hours in a semester.  If the student has completed six hours of thesis work but has still not completed the thesis then he/she can register for "zero" hours. The student must register for thesis until it is completed and  presented.

·        If the thesis extends more than one semester, a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade at the end of the preceding semester(s) must be given to indicate progress.