Thesis defence guidelines

Refer to the Thesis Assistance website for important instructions pertaining to your thesis. If your thesis is not approved by the Assistant for Theses, your graduation will be delayed.

MA Thesis Defence Guidelines

The defence date should be set at least three weeks, or preferably, four weeks before the thesis submission deadline, to provide enough time for revisions to the thesis.

Four (4) weeks prior to defence

Student to ask Supervisor to email the following to intst@sfu.ca:
1. date and time of the defence (two to three alternate dates for room booking)
2. confirmation that the thesis is ready to be defended
3. names, titles and departments of all examining committee members
4. CV of the external examiner if s/he is not from SFU
5. external examiner's full name, rank, department, institution, full address, phone number, e-mail, and whether this person will be examining in person, in absentia, or via Skype

Student to email the following information to intst@sfu.ca:
1. AV equipment needs (i.e. internet access, projector, screen, computer, if you are not bringing your own)
2. copy of the Research Ethics Approval issued by Office of Research Ethics (ORE), if applicable
3. title and abstract of thesis

Students are to remind supervisors to email the thesis to members of the Examining Committee well in advance. MA candidates are not permitted to contact the external examiner.

The Graduate Program Assistant will prepare defence documents (e.g. Approval of the Examining Committee form; thesis approval page), obtain signatures and forward them to Graduate Studies.

One (1) week prior to defence

1. Proofread and email thesis handout prepared by the Graduate Program Assistant.
2. Confirm information on thesis approval page.

Post defence

1. Ask supervisor to confirm by email that the student has completed all required revisions.
2. Review thesis submission instructions and submit to the Library by the posted deadline.