[CW-Grad] Information on Thesis Committees

[mjayme at ucr.edu]

Dear Second-Year MFA Candidates: 

It has come to my attention that there has been some misunderstanding about 
the thesis committee process, and that many of you have yet to approach faculty 
with whom you would like to work on your thesis. 

If you have yet to assemble your committee, you should begin doing so as soon 
as possible.  The committee must be composed of three faculty members, with 
one agreeing to chair the committee.  Different faculty members will complete 
the process differently, and I recommend that you discuss with each faculty 
member how they might complete the process should they agree to work with 
you. 

You should expect to turn in your thesis to your committee early in the quarter 
in which you will be completing course work.   This version of the thesis should 
contain material that has been revised and should as polished as possible.  It 
should be work that you stand behind.  The minimum page length for a fiction 
or nonfiction thesis 100 pages.  For a poetry thesis, the minimum page length is 
50 pages.  For a screenplay, teleplay, or play thesis, the minimum page length is 
90 pages.

The early-in-the-quarter deadline is loose and will depend on the differing 
workloads of your committee, but you would like to give them as much time to 
read your thesis and return their feedback to you before the Graduate Division 
filing deadline.  Information about the thesis-filing process can be found here: 
http://graduate.ucr.edu/dissertation.html 

All best, 

Michael Jayme