CPTS Thesis Process Overview

July 23, 2015

PREFACE

1. Save this slide set and all of the accompanying material.

Refer to them often.

2. These are simple instructions.

3. Students who do not pay attention to deadlines, rules, etc.

are a great risk of not finishing on time.

4. The notion is that in the future, when applying for grants and

contracts, you will need to pay attention to those deadlines

and rules. If you do not, you will not get the funding. In fact,

your application may be rejected without review because

you could not follow simple instructions.

Today’s Agenda

1. Why a Thesis?

2. Becoming a Degree Candidate

3. Stay Registered as a Thesis Candidate

4. Your Thesis Committee

5. Your Thesis Proposal

6. Your Thesis

7. Grad School’s Required Intent to Graduate Form

8. Requesting an Oral Examination (aka Your Thesis Defense)

9. Examination Committee

10. Your Thesis Defense

11. Thesis Timelines

12. Suggested Target Dates

13. A Few More Things

#1 Recommendation

ALLOW TIME

Everything will take 2 to 4 times longer than estimated

(and expect slow-downs during summer months!)

1. Why a Thesis?

• Culmination of degree program

• Establish topical area expertise

• Integrate and apply knowledge and skills developed

during coursework

• Reinforce statistical skills and ability to communicate with

statisticians

• Practice working in a multidisciplinary, translational team

• Create scientific products to further your career

• Manuscript

• Presentation (aka the Thesis Defense)

• Demonstrates qualifications for entry into

community of formally trained researchers

New Certificate Program (starts 2015)

• For those students who can not / do not

complete a thesis during the allotted time,

CPTS and Wake Forest now offers a

Certificate.

• Because each of you have completed the

required class work for a thesis, you are

already eligible to receive the Certificate if

you can not / do not complete a thesis.

2. Becoming a Degree Candidate

• Requires approval of Graduate School Dean

• All required coursework completed

• 3.0 minimum cumulative GPA

• CPTS Program Directors and Coordinator request this

on your behalf, after receipt of summer grades

3. Stay Registered as a Thesis Candidate

• Must remain continuously registered until

graduation

• Fall, Spring, and Summer

• Year 2 of program (Year 1 is coursework)

• Register for 9 research hours (CPTS 750) under advisor

(Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory)

• Tuition collected

• Year 3 of program

• Register as “thesis only” (not graded)

• Fee of $30 per semester (may change at discretion of School)

• Will receive registration reminders from Graduate

School and Tina at beginning of each semester

4. Your Thesis Committee (1 of 4)

• Purpose is to advise and guide you

• You do the work

• Identify Committee members with your current advisor

(aka Thesis Committee Chair) and Program Director(s)

• If no current advisor please talk to Bob or Kate

immediately

4. Your Thesis Committee (2 of 4)

• Thesis Committee must include:

• Your Thesis Advisor

• Statistician

• Must be doctoral level to serve on Committee

• Can access a master’s level statistician to help guide you,

but the doctoral faculty member is THE official person on

the committee.

• Minimum of one other member, typically a clinician

for non-physicians and a researcher for physicians

• All must be Graduate School Faculty (We will check)

4. Your Thesis Committee (3 of 4)

• Tips:

• Larger committee does not mean better committee

• Include essential expertise you need with as few committee

members as possible (non-members may still be authors on

manuscript)

• Balance rigor with intangibles

• An extremely knowledgeable committee member who is rarely

available may be less useful than a highly knowledgeable

person who is often available

• When you approach potential members, be prepared to

discuss your idea(s) & their role

• May want to cultivate relationship with masters level

statistician

• Someone who works with doctoral level Committee member or

secondary data you plan to use

4. Your Thesis Committee (4 of 4)

• Ideally working with your Committee

(keeping in mind they are busy people)

• Meet regularly with advisor (2x/month) and

statistician (1x/month)

• Keep other members involved…at least

occasional meetings and/or emails

• Forming and managing a committee mirrors role of

principal investigator assembling and managing a

team of collaborators

5. Your Thesis Proposal (1 of 5)

• BEFORE YOU START YOUR ANALYSES, YOU NEED

• TO WRITE A THESIS PROPOSAL,

• GET IT APPROVED BY YOUR THESIS

COMMITTEE, AND

• GET IT APPROVED BY THE CPTS

DIRECTORS (Bob Byington or Kate Weaver)

• We will provide you with a model written by a

student who has successfully gone through our

program.

5. Your Thesis Proposal (2 of 5)

• Select a topic that interests you, which will likely

result in publication, and furthers your career goals

• Must be new work

• Work closely with your thesis advisor and your

other committee members to develop your idea

• Typically a secondary data analysis, although

primary data collection also possible

• Any data-related costs are responsibility of student and

their training program or department

5. Your Thesis Proposal (3 of 5)

• Be Careful: Students very often attempt too large a

scope of work and become overwhelmed/paralyzed.

• Generally, two main specific aims with a single main

outcome and one modeling approach allows you to

maximize your learning and use time efficiently.

• Science is done in small, incremental steps. You will be

contributing to this process.

• The thesis is meant to be an exercise, an opportunity

to write a fine publishable research article.

• Whereas we really want you to do an excellent job,

do not aim to win the Nobel Prize. You are just at the

beginning of your research careers.

5. Your Thesis Proposal (4 of 5)

• Proposal is essentially a contract in which you and your committee

agree to a topic and scope

• Proposal includes:

• A moderately detailed literature review, which becomes the

basis of the first chapter of your thesis (10 to 15 pages)

• A statement of feasible specific aims (1 to 2 pages)

• A set of skeleton tables and/or figures that serve as the basis

of the analysis plan and results presentation (5 to 10 pages)

• Double-spaced with 1” margins

• On the cover page of your proposal, indicate who your committee

members are (Advisor/Chair, Statistician, Other)

5. Your Thesis Proposal (5 of 5)

STEPS

1. Work with your Thesis Committee to develop the proposal

2. Get your Thesis Committee to approve the proposal

• Convene in-person meeting if possible

• Best way to resolve any differences of opinion

• Establishes working relationships

• Student responsible for final draft incorporating input on prior

drafts

3. CPTS Program Directors then need to approve the proposal.

• E-mail final, committee-approved proposal to

cpts@wakehealth.edu

• Will notify student and advisor of full approval, approval with

modifications, or disapproval

#1 Recommendation

ALLOW TIME

Everything will take 2 to 4 times longer than estimated

6. Your Thesis (1 of 3)

• Use expanded manuscript format instead of regular

Graduate School format

• Three Components

• Chapter 1 = Detailed Literature Review with

Specific Aims at end

• Builds on thesis proposal literature review

• OK if Specific Aims shift slightly from approved

proposal

• Chapter 2 = Publishable Manuscript

• Chapter 3 = Ancillary Analyses and Expanded

Discussion

• Analyses that did not fit in Chapter 2

• Next research steps

6. Your Thesis (2 of 3)

Thesis Format

• Out of respect for your committee, try to keep drafts

reasonably neat, error free, and consistent

• Reserve time at end of writing process to properly format

document

• Wastes time to repeatedly format drafts

• IMPORTANT/REQUIRED: 4 Weeks Prior to estimated

date of defense - meeting with Graduate School

Registrar (Kelley Reavis) to clarify formatting needs

6. Your Thesis (3 of 3)

Writing Tips (also applies to writing proposal)

• Steady progress (“marathon, not a 100 meter dash”)

• Hard to write well for more than 2 to 3 hours per day

• Better to work almost every day for a shorter time

than to try to work occasionally for many hours

• Essentially starting over if months pass between

sessions

• All writing should be your own, incorporating advice

from committee

• You must meet the requirements of a first author

7. Grad School’s Required Intent to Graduate Form

• Per the Grad School Calendar, early in the semester in which

you want to graduate, notify Graduate School using “Statement

of Intent to Graduate Form”

http://graduate.wfu.edu/Forms/BG%20Campus/BG_stmtofintent.pdf

• E.g. to graduate on May 16, 2016, you should submit this form to

the Grad School by January 29th.

• Graduate School will notify Program

• Graduate School and Program will handle any needed Graduate

Faculty Appointments

8. Requesting an Oral Examination

(aka Your Thesis Defense)

• When you and your advisor feel you are ready to defend

(i.e., your thesis is 99% done/approved), notify the CPTS

Program Coordinator (Tina Church at extension 6-3804).

• An Examination Chair will then be identified by the CPTS

Co-Directors and Ms. Church will poll the Examination

Committee regarding availabilities.

• Because Committee Members very often have busy

schedules, your defense could end up being scheduled 4

to 6 weeks after you notify us that you are ready.

• Note that defense deadlines coincide with times when

people may be away from work

9. Examination Committee

Who is on your Examination Committee?

• Examination Chair identified by Program Directors

with input from you and your advisor • You and your advisor do not select this person.

• Will have relevant expertise but cannot have been involved

in your thesis work

• Thesis Advisor

• Statistician

• Other Thesis Committee members, schedule

permitting

10. Your Thesis Defense (1 of 3)

Scheduling the Defense

• CPTS Program Coordinator (Tina) schedules your

defense in order to ensure arrangements and

paperwork meet Graduate School requirements • Do not identify dates with your advisor or other committee

members. We will do that.

• You are expected to defend at a time convenient to

your Committee.

• Ideally, you must appear in person at the defense.

10. Your Thesis Defense (2 of 3)

Prior to Defense

• Provide a final copy of your thesis to your

Committee no less than three weeks in advance of

your defense

• The Grad School will ask the Examination Committee

Chair to poll the Examination Committee 7 days before

oral defense to determine acceptability of written thesis.

• If written thesis is deemed unacceptable, your defense will

be rescheduled.

• Meet with the Graduate School Registrar (Kelley

Reavis) to review your formatting and meet other

requirements

10. Your Thesis Defense (3 of 3)

Day of Defense and After

• Actual defense lasts approximately 90 minutes • Presentation by student, approximately 30 minutes

• Question and answer period, managed by Examination Chair

(all committee members ask questions)

• Examination Committee deliberates in private, then

meets with student to share outcome, which may

include: • Pass with no additional requirements (very rare)

• Pass with either major or minor required modifications (most

common)

• Do not pass (rare, can be reexamined a second time)

• Final formatting and printing steps follow defense

#1 Recommendation

ALLOW TIME

Everything will take 2 to 4 times longer than estimated

(and expect slow-downs during summer months!)

11. Thesis Timelines

• Work with advisor to establish a timeline with

incremental, concrete steps

• Sample timelines (basic & detailed) available at:

http://www.phs.wakehealth.edu/public/cptsthesis.cfm

• Please be aware of non-negotiable Graduate School

deadlines, found at:

http://graduate.wfu.edu/academic-calendars.html

12. Suggested Target Dates

Desired Graduation Date

Step May August December

Identify faculty advisor Prior to matriculation

Admission to degree candidacy Upon completion of coursework

Form thesis committee Within one month of admission to degree candidacy, preferably sooner

Obtain approval of thesis proposal Mid-October Mid-March Mid-June

Submit complete draft of thesis to thesis committee

Early February

Early May

Early September

Submit Intent to Graduate Form to Graduate School

Late January

Late May

Early September

With support of faculty advisor and thesis committee, request formation of an Examination Committee and scheduling of the oral defense

Early March

Early June

Early October

Submit revised, final draft of thesis to Examination Committee and the Dean of the Graduate School

Early April

Early July

Early November

Defend thesis at final (oral) examination Late

April Late July

Early December

Submit final thesis and any other required paperwork per requirements of the Graduate School (they provide a checklist when reviewing the draft thesis)

Early May

Early August

Early December

13. A Few More Things

• CPTS requires thesis completion within three

years of matriculation (two years from end of

coursework)

• Option to request two one-year renewals or a single

one-year leave of absence

• Program checks progress with advisors and students

once to twice annually

• Honor Code remains in effect http://graduate.wfu.edu/docs/academics/HonorCode.pdf

Questions?

REMEMBER: CPTS Program Directors and

Coordinator are here to help, so please contact us if

you have questions at any point.

But this is your thesis. We will help you help

yourselves.