Dr. J's MS Project/Thesis Guidelines
A Guide for Graduate Students Working with Dr. J

Procedure Checklist

Initiate an informal introductory discussion/meeting with Dr. J to describe relevant experiences, graduate status, time-frame for project/thesis, idea or area of interest, etc.
As evidence of quality of work, Dr. J requires that prospective students have either
It is imperative that prospective students have excellent writing skills (i.e. language and tools). Reading and interpretation of journal articles is expected.
Upon agreement with Dr. J on a research topic for the thesis or project, write a research proposal (at least five pages) that briefly relates the problem, possible solution(s), methodology, anticipated complications, level of research/understanding, etc. This research proposal must also be approved by Dr. J.
Form a graduate committee consisting of a chair, CSCI faculty member, and possibly another CSCI faculty or external department member. Present a copy of the approved research proposal to prospective members of the committee. Distribute copies of the proposal, along with any modifications agreed upon, to all committee members.
Conduct an exhaustive survey or literature review of the area under investigation by thoroughly reading the literature published in Proceedings and/or professional journals in the field.
Set up the design of a solution; implement and test it. Take alternate designs into consideration.
Conduct a thorough analysis of all designs/solutions considered. Seek approval of analysis/evaluation techniques from the committee.
Prepare a rough draft presenting results and interpretation.
Integrate input from Dr. J into a final draft that must also be approved by Dr. J.
Project/Thesis defense (copies of final draft distributed to committee members) - open to public.
Integrate input from all committee members into a final manuscript.

Other Requirements

Follow the above procedural outline.
Keep a journal of activities and carefully keep track of your progress. Organize your journal by keeping it in a binder. This binder must include copies of all papers, journal articles, online websites, etc. that you used as a reference in working on your thesis/priject. Additionally, this binder must be available for Dr. J to review.
All versions of your M.S. manuscript should be submitted for Dr. J's review in both printed and electronic versions, which must also be accompanied with your journal/binder at Dr. J's request. Dr. J will not review any manuscript that students have not submitted to him via the TurnItIn.com plagiarism prevention and detection system. E-versions of manuscripts are submitted to TurnItIn.com by joining the class with class ID 1069840 (acquire the class password from Dr. J). Additional information is available from the TurnItIn.com website.
Attend at least one other CSU computer science graduate project/thesis presentation (for remote students, this may be substituted with permission), and be prepared to discuss this presentation with Dr. J. Preferably, this would be a presentation in the same general area as yours (i.e. intelligent systems, modeling, etc.).
Submit 1-2 page informal monthly progress reports to Dr. J. These reports should summarize entries in your research journal. In case of a salaried project, the report should also indicate the number of hours worked that month, detailing distribution with the work accomplished.
Schedule to meet (telephone conference allowed with remote students) with Dr. J at least once a month. Dr. J must have access to your progress report for that month on or before the scheduled meeting. Bring your journal to the meeting.
Submit at least one conference or journal paper for possible publication, presentation, or poster session, as a result of this collaboration. All submissions should first be reviewed by Dr. J.

Dr. J's MS Project/Thesis Guidelines A Guide for Graduate Students Working with Dr. J

Dr. J's MS Project/Thesis Guidelines
A Guide for Graduate Students Working with Dr. J