THESIS

Some UTB/TSC master’s degree programs allow for a thesis as part of the program of study. In consultation with the Faculty Advisor, students should carefully consider their career goals in deciding between a Thesis and a Non-Thesis degree. Some academic institutions regard a Non-Thesis master’s degree as a terminal degree program. Students who intend to pursue the doctoral degree should seriously consider undertaking a thesis.

Students in programs that require a thesis must complete the six required hours of thesis credit. Thesis courses may be repeated and are counted in determining course load limits for a semester or Summer session, although credit for these courses is given only once. Students who register for the thesis course must continue to register each succeeding semester or summer session until the thesis is completed.

The student shall choose, in consultation with their faculty advisor, a thesis committee consisting of three graduate faculty members including the student’s faculty advisor (who chairs the committee). The committee will be approved by the student’s advisor, the Graduate Coordinator or Program Director, the Department Chair, and the Graduate Dean. The thesis topic and written prospectus must be approved in writing by the Faculty Advisor, the thesis committee, and the Dean of Graduate Studies prior to the student’s undertaking the research problem. All research involving human subjects must also be approved by the Human Subjects Research Review Committee (HSRRC) prior to collection of any data. Similarly, all research involving live vertebrate animals must also be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) prior to collection of any data. Instructions for the preparation of the thesis and information on the HSRRC and the IACUC can be obtained from the academic department or Office of Graduate Studies.

The thesis committee will judge the research competence of the student during the thesis defense meeting. A graduate faculty member from outside of the School/College, appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies, shall represent the Office of Graduate Studies on the thesis committee during the defense meeting. The Graduate Program representative will be provided a copy of the thesis one week prior to the defense. Thesis defense meetings are announced in advance and open to the university community. Students are responsible for adhering to all due dates regarding the thesis defense, submission of copies of the thesis to the Office of Graduate Studies, and binding (see university class schedule for dates, fees and deposits). The student must complete all course work for the degree within seven years of the time of the first graduate course registration. Courses older than seven years will not apply towards the degree. Students who have compelling reasons for interruption of their graduate degree may petition the Office of Graduate Studies for an extension of time.

Student's THESIS Completion Checklist

______	Register for six required hours of thesis credit. Registration must be continuous until the thesis is completed.
______	Apply for Thesis at the Office of Graduate Studies during first semester of thesis.
______	Obtain a Thesis Guide and Checklist from the Office of Graduate Studies or its website at http://www.utb.edu/vpaa/graduate
______	Submit the Thesis Proposal Approval form and Prospectus signed and dated by the Thesis Committee during the first semester of thesis.
______	If applicable, obtain approval from the Human Subjects Research Review Committee (HSRRC) and/or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
______	In cooperation with the Thesis Committee Chair and the Office of Graduate Studies, set a date and time for the Thesis Defense.
______	Submit two copies of the final draft of the thesis at least one week prior to the Thesis Defense to the Office of Graduate Studies.
______	Thesis Defense (At least two weeks prior to the deadline to submit completed thesis).
______	Following published time lines, the successful candidate provides five copies of the thesis for binding on the type of paper specified by the Graduate Office
______	Student pays the required binding fee to the library.

Forms:

Thesis Packet

Thesis Application

Theses of Graduates:

Catherine M. Winter (December 1995). Friendship in Mrs. Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters, Mimosa Stephenson, Chair

Mireya C. Henggeler (April 1996).Reading Comprehension and Second Language Learners, Dr. Graciela P. Rosenberg, Chair

Mary E. Means (June 1996). Early School Factors Affecting TAAS Mathematics Test Scores in the San Benito, Texas Consolidated Independent School District, Dr. Walter R. Howard, Chair

Bonita J. Peterson (July 1996). A Comparison of the Performance of Remediated and Non-Remediated Writing Students in a College-Level English Course, Dr. Graciela P. Rosenberg, Chair

Sylena Goller (November 1997). A Survey of Technology Use in PK-12 Public Education Schools in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Charles Comeaux, Chair

Michael Scott Van Wagenen (April 1999). The Texas Republic and the Modern Kingdom of God: The Attempt to Establish a Theocratic Nation in the Texas-Mexico Borderlands in 1844, Dr. James B. Sullivan, Chair

Dallas Ray Smetter (April 2000). The Importance of Technology Skills for Educators: Discrepancies Between Perceptions of Teachers and Administrators, Dr. Michael Sullivan, Chair

Monica Delgado Van Wagenen (April 2001). The Sacred and the Mundane: Images of Deity in Ordinary Objects in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Dr. David Pearson, Chair

John Clark Owen (August 2001). James Joyce and Rolando Hinojosa: Artists in a Colonial Milieu, Dr. Farhat Iftekharuddin, Chair

Mayra Cerda (August 2002). The Formation of the Self Through Dialogue in Don Quixote and Joseph Andrews, Dr. Cheryl Phelps, Chair

Terry W. Wesley (December 2002). Symbolic Realism in La Muerte de Artemio Cruz By Carlos Fuentes: The Very Pith and Substance of Narration, Dr. Charles Dameron

Enrique Pazos Avalos (July 2004). Fourth Order Convergent Nurmical Integrations of the Teukolsky Equation, Dr. Carlos Lousto, Chair

Anissa C. Longoria (July 2004). The Evolution of Hump: The Sea Wolf as an Exemplification of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation, Dr. Charles Dameron

Ernest Lee Anton Bruns Jr. (October 2004). Efficacy of Collaborative Self-Direction in a Technical Training Program, Dr. Michael Sullivan, Chair

Santiago Pena (October 2004). Grid Based Data Analysis for Lisa Capture Sources, Dr. Manuela Campanelli, Chair

Miranda H. Dettwyler (November 2004). Comparing Methods for Determining Quasi-Circular Orbits in Multiple Black-Hole Initial Data, Dr. Carlos Lousto, Chair

Arturo Jimenez Salazar (November 2004). Exploration of Some Gravitational Wave Burst Detection Algorithms, Dr. Soumya Mohanty, Chair

Martha Placeres (April 2005). Three Violin Sonatas By Twentieth Century Mexican Composers: An Alternative to the Standards Violin Literature with Pedagogical Application, Dr. Sue Urbis, Chair

Martha Jean (April 2005). Learning Centers in the Elementary Music Classroom, Dr. Sue Urbis, Chair

Adriana G. Capetillo (April 2005). Children’s Literature in the Orff-Schulwerk Music Classroom, Dr. Sue Urbis, Chair

Ramiro Juarez Ruiz (April 2005). Identidad chicana en las obras de Rolando Hinojosa: Un analisis de la estructura, el lenguaje y los temas se la obra Claros varones de Belken con relacion a la identidad, Dr. Lindia Diaz, Chair

Mary Katherine Raines (June 2005). Satan and 44, the Angles of Enlightenment in Mark Twain’s “Mysterious Stranger” Manuscripts, Dr. Charles Dameron, Chair

Guillermo Napoleon Hernandez Warren (July 2005). Solution of the Teukolsky Equation with at Point Source in Time Domain, Dr. Richard Price, Chair

Jonathan Torvik Jones (October 2005). The Reach Beyond Babel: Persuasion and Schemata in Indo-European Scholarship, Dr. Alan Church, Chair

Robert Stone (October 2005). The Exploration of Multivariate Data Visualization Methods for the Analysis of Burst Signals in Gravitational-wave Interferometric Data, Dr. Soumya Mohanty, Chair

Uwe Hoffmann (November 2005). Listening and Response Skills to Student Questions, Dr. James Telese, Chair

Angelica M. Fuentes (November 2005). Reading Achievement and Attitudes Toward Cooperation Learning Among Hispanic Developmental Reading Students in Higher Education, Dr. Paula Parson, Chair

Gina V. Ortiz (November 2005). On an Ellipsoid Packing Algorithm For a Solid, Dr. Taeil Yi, Chair

Pedro A. Paz Jr. (December 2005) On Schemes the Order of Which is a Prime Number, Dr. Paul-Hermann Zieschang, Chair

E. Anthony Reisinger, Jr. (March 2006). Mercury Concentrations in South Texas Game Fishes, Dr. Genaro Lopez, Chair

Arlene Ready (March 2006). A Profile of the Reading Attitudes and Literacy Histories of Developmental Reading Students in a Predominantly Hispanic Postsecondary Institution, Dr. Paula Parson, Chair

Adrienne Rodriguez-Zermeno (April 2006). Computer Simulation Experiences in the General Physics Laboratory, Dr. Phillip Ducks, Chair

Christina Banuelos (April 2006). The Effects of Status Epilepticus on
Neuronal Population in the Septum of Sprague-Dawley Rats, Dr. Luis Colom, Chair

Luis A. Sanchez (May 2006). A role of almost invertible maps in geometric topology, Dr. Jerzy Mogilski, Chair

Kaycie M’Lee Sullivan (July 2006). Effects of Texas Tech University Junction Outdoor School on 5^th Grade Texas Students, Dr. Michael Sullivan,
Chair

Sun Mi Yoo (July 2006). Nonparametric regression analyses of gravitional wave data, Dr. Vesselin Vatchev, Chair

Bart Webb (November 2006). Category 5 Hurricane Evacuation Analysis of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas: Maximum Flow Problem, Dr. Jorge Navarro, Chair

Lucrecia Alanis (November 2006). The Effect of the Consistency of Program Participation in a Dual Language Program on Reading, Dr. John Sutterby, Chair

Rene D. Lerma (December 2006). On a Theorem of Fermat, Dr. Paul-Hermann Zieschang

Jose Arizmendi Jr. (April 2007). The Effects of Music Interventions in Greif Counseling, Dr. Manuel Zamarripa, Chair

Mirna Gabriela Vasquez (June 2007). Matilda Burgos: Desafiado El Patriarcado Desde La Marginalidad En Nadie Me Vera Llorar de Cristina Rivera Garza, Dr. Lidia Diaz, Chair

Laura Patricia Robledo (June 2007). Iconos Y Rupturas en la Configuracion del Personaje Fermenino en Dona Juana Tenorio de Christina Gutierrez Richaud, Dr. Lidia Diaz, Chair

Aida Stinson (June 2007). Reivindicacion se la Hispanidad en la Obra Literaria de Alma Flor Ada, Dr. Lidia Diaz, Chair 2008

Angela Kaberline (November 2007). Operationalizing Learning Communities at a Hispanic Serving Institution, Dr. Charles Chapman, Chair

Juan Miguel Atkinson (November 2007). Optimization of Imaging Conditions for the Visualization of DNA and DNA-Protein/Polymer Interactions Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Natalia Guevara, Chair

Christopher Carmona (November 2007). The Legacy of Joan Vollmer: The Short Significant Life of a Beat Woman, Dr. Javier Martinez, Chair

Arnold D. McElroy Jr. (November 2007). Effectiveness in Student Performance of Limited and Full Device Simulators, Dr. Cheng-Chang, Chair

Omar Zamora (April 2008). Hurricane Katrina Emergency Response Operations in Search of a Better Response, Dr. Alexander Dawoody, Chair

Gabriel J. Williams, Jr. (May 2008). A Statistical Analysis of Double White Dwarf Binaries in the Lisa Gravitational Wave Foreground, Dr. Matthew Benacquista, Chair.

Edgar Zeferino de la Cruz Vázquez (April 2008). On Association Schemes of Order 4, Dr. Paul-Hermann Zieschang, Chair

Guillermo Adrian Valdes (April 2008). Study of Interdependence of LIGO Auxiliary and Main Gravitational Wave Channels Using Information Theory Methods, Dr. Mario Diaz, Chair

Shaghayegh Azadi Setayesh (April 2008). A Recognition Theorem for Association Schemes of Finite Valency, Dr. Paul-Hermann Zieschang, Chair

Ke Jia Li (April 2008). Pulsar Timing as a Probe of non-Einsteinian Polarizations of Gravitational Waves, Dr. Fredrick Jenet, Chair

Michael J. Grebb (April 2008). Improving Homework Completion Rates in the Middle School Classroom, Dr. Bobbette M. Morgan, Chair

Amy Ferguson Baker (April 2008). The Humor of Fanny Fern, Dr. Mimosa Stephenson, Chair

Felicia Farquhar (November 2008). Feeding Ecology of the Intertidal Mole Crab, Emerita Talpoida: Response to Algal Biomass Concentration, Nutritional Quality, and Particle Size, Dr. David Hicks, Chair

Perla Jessica Martinez (August 2008). Intracellular cytokine expression and white blood cell phenotype profiles in TB and TB/T2DM patients: optimization and validation protocol for field studies, Dr. Heather Poetschke, Chair

Nazul H. Grimaldo (November 2008). A Dovetailing Approach to Solving the Subgraph Isomorphism Problem, Dr. Liyu Zhang, Chair

Maria Teresa Aguirre (November 2008). The Role of the Fat Mass Index in Determining Obesity, Dr. Emilio Garrido Sanabria, Chair

Jessica Aulasa Camerlin (November 2008). Odd Man Out: Chinese Exclusion in the Works of John Rollin Ridge and Other Late Nineteenth-Century American Writers, Dr. Lyon Rathbun, Chair

Wiktor Jerzy Mogilski (April 2009). The Four-Vertex Theorem, The Evolute, and The Decomposition of Polygons, Dr. Oleg Musin, Chair

Pavel Hinev (April 2009). Fast Online Handwritten Character Recognition using DTW pruning, Dr. Hansheng Lei, Chair

Ezhil Arasan Manoharan (April 2009). Analytic and Numerical Study of a Gravitational Wave Coherent Network Analysis Statistics, Dr. Soumya Mohanty, Chair

Yan Wang (April 2009). Strong field effects on pulsar arrival times, Dr. Richard Price, Chair

Claudia Louise Ortega (June 2009). Blessed is the Man Whose Heart is set on Pilgrimage: The Canterbury Tales: A Living Penitential Manual, Dr. Diana Dominguez, Chair

Erica K. Guevara (July 2009). Identity Crisis: The Missing Female Self in Flannery O'Connor's Short Fiction, Dr. Javier Martinez, Chair

Jose Antonio Garcia Hernandez (July 2009). Septo-Hippocampal System Alterations in the Pilocarpine Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Dr. Luis Colom, Chair