A student is advanced to candidacy (ATC) once approved by the Division of Graduate Studies. To complete a Master’s degree, every candidate must complete a culminating experience and the corresponding course.
Culminating Experience Options
In the Department of Communication Studies, students have three culminating experience options:
- Written Comprehensive Examination and COMM 896
- Creative Work Project and COMM 894
- Master’s Thesis and COMM 898
There are five steps, regardless of which option is chosen.
Five Steps Towards Your Culminating Experience
Students should start to think about a culminating experience up to two semesters before they intend to enroll in their culminating experience course. Students preparing for comprehensive exams will need to assemble a faculty committee the semester prior to taking exams to meet the Graduate Studies deadline. Students writing proposals for a thesis or creative project should expect to develop a topic and approach with the guidance of prospective faculty committee members and a full draft of the proposal should be ready at least one month prior to the Graduate Studies deadline for Proposal for Culminating Experiences and this happens the semester prior to a student enrolling in culminating experience units. The Graduate Studies deadlines typically occur at the beginning of October in the Fall semester and at the beginning of April in the Spring semester. Students and faculty should check for current deadlines on the Graduate Studies website.
The candidate completes the Proposal for Culminating Experience (PCE) form with the assistance of the faculty committee, graduate coordinator and department office staff. For a thesis or creative project, students should have prepared a substantive proposal (typically 15 pages or more) with prospective faculty committee guidance about one month before the Division of Graduate Studies deadline. For example, if the Graduate Studies deadline is October 1, students should be actively drafting the proposal the prior semester and summer, and finalizing the proposal with a prospective faculty committee the first month of Fall semester. Submitting a proposal does not guarantee that your proposal will be judged as qualifying you to undertake a thesis or creative project.
If students are doing a creative project or thesis, and the proposed research involves human subjects, the Protocol for Human Subjects Approval form also must be submitted at this time as well. Students can consult with Human Subjects office staff, the graduate coordinator and the thesis or creative project Committee Chair concerning questions regarding human subjects policies, procedure and deadlines. Students should allow two to four weeks for CITI ethics training certification, and for preparation and approval of drafts prior to submission to Graduate Studies. Students should continue to consult the Graduate Studies website for University guidelines and requirements related to Culminating experiences.
After the above forms have been filed, the candidate enrolls in the appropriate course: COMM 896 (if Written Comprehensive Examination), COMM 894 (if Creative Work Project) or COMM 898 (if Master’s Thesis). Students usually will complete the proposal process in one semester, enroll in the appropriate course for the following semester and in that term work toward the completion of the culminating experience.
Candidates must file for graduation by the appropriate deadlines as specified each semester.
Following the completion of the culminating experience, the candidate must obtain the signatures of the supervising committee on the Report of Completion of Specified Graduate Program Requirements and see that it is filed in the Graduate Division by the appropriate deadline to ensure graduation. (Refer to the University Bulletin or Class Schedule for dates.)
Preparing the Culminating Experience Proposals
Typically, the candidate initiates the proposal process through informal conferences with professors. The candidate should be prepared with possible topics and a preferred type of culminating experience. Faculty should offer feedback and an indication of availability for possible service as either a chair or as a member of the committee. It is imperative that the candidate begin this process with sufficient lead time, to prepare a substantial proposal for potential committee members' consideration. See the specifics of the proposals below.
Comprehensive exams are taken in research methods and two topical areas. Comprehensive exams committees involve 3 faculty members and are generally taken in areas the student has had in a seminar or research methodology course. Candidates should initiate contact with prospective faculty members to determine a general topic area for each exam and which faculty members will serve as first reader for one of the three exams. Each faculty member on the committee will additionally serve in the role of second reader for one other exam. Prior to the exam, following the schedule given for the semester, the first reader and the candidate should agree on a topic area for the exam and determine an appropriate reading list for the candidate to review in preparation for the exam.
In semesters where Comprehensive Exams are offered, all exam dates are determined by a semester schedule outlined by the graduate coordinator and exams deadlines are spaced out across the semester.
Signatures on the University’s Proposal for Culminating Experience Forms (PCE) will be needed and filed in Graduate Studies the semester before the comprehensive exams are taken. After the form is filed the candidate enrolls in COMM 896 to take the exams.
This option for a culminating experience is designed for research interests of substance and disciplinary relevance that can most appropriately be expressed in a creative form.
The process again begins with the candidate completing a written proposal of approximately 15 pages and establishing a committee and chair. A minimum of two faculty members is required for a creative project committee, and a maximum of five is allowed.
The proposal typically includes some variation of the following sections:
- Statement of the topic or purpose of the project
- Rationale for the creative work project option
- Review of related literature
- Design for the project, procedures and timetable
- Bibliography of references
- Protocol Approval Form for Human Subjects and IRB packet (if applicable)
After the supervising committee has approved the written proposal, the student submits the completed Proposal for Culminating Experience form through Docusign to gather committee faculty signatures and enrolls in COMM 894 the following semester.
The candidate initiates contact with selected faculty who might agree to chair or serve as a member of the candidate’s supervising committee. A minimum of two faculty is required for a thesis committee, and a maximum of five is allowed. Whether working with faculty or independently, the candidate prepares a written thesis proposal.
Typically, a thesis proposal is approximately fifteen pages in length and includes some variation of the following sections:
- Statement of the problem or rationale for the study, questions to be investigated or hypotheses
- Review of related literature
- Methods and procedures
- Projected outline and timetable
- Bibliography of references
- Protocol Approval Form for Human Subjects and IRB packet (if applicable)
After the supervising committee has approved the written proposal, the student submits the completed Proposal for Culminating Experience form through Docusign to gather committee faculty signatures and enrolls in COMM 898 the following semester.
Completing the Culminating Experience
To successfully complete a culminating experience, candidates must plan carefully their respective timetables. By fully completing the proposal process during one semester, then enrolling in the appropriate class (COMM 896, COMM 894 or COMM 898) the following semester and devoting one’s full attention to the completion of the culminating experience during that term, candidates typically may expect to complete their work in one or two regular semesters. Summer completion of COMM 894 or COMM 898 is possible only through special arrangements with the supervising committee. COMM 896 is ONLY offered in the Spring semester.
Three test periods will be announced each semester. Supervising committee members are responsible for delivering examination questions in the appropriate order to the Graduate Coordinator at least 48 hours before the exam.
Faculty readers are expected to report their evaluations of exams to the graduate coordinator within one week after having received the candidates’ answers. Exams will be evaluated using the following scale:
- Pass = 2 points
- Marginal Pass = 1.5 point
- Marginal Fail = 1 point
- Fail = 0 points
If the combined score of the two readers equals 3 points or above, the candidate will have passed that section of the exam satisfactorily. If the combined score is 2-2.5 points, an oral defense with the committee or a partial rewrite of the answer will be required, folllowed by a determination of pass or fail for that section of the exam. If the combined score is less than 2 points, the combined score is unsatisfactory, and that exam must be retaken. Oral defense meetings and/or the retaking of one exam question occurs in the final weeks of the semester. Candidates who have not passed all three exams satisfactorily by the end of the semester when they are enrolled in COMM 896 may receive an RP grade for one semester and then complete the exams the following spring semester. Candidates may enroll in COMM 896 no more than twice.
Candidates who satisfactorily pass all three exams will receive credit in COMM 896. Once all exams are passed, the candidate will initiate the Report of Completion form by submitting it to Docusign and the members of the committee sign the form. The Report of Completion form should be filed by the Report of Completion date specified by Graduate Studies for that semester.
Working arrangements between thesis writers and their committees vary and must be arranged by the respective parties. Typically the completion of a creative work project has two parts. One may be a public presentation, such as a workshop, performance or DVD presentation. The other part is a comprehensive written documentation of the project that builds upon the proposal and includes discussion of the process and evaluation.
When the final draft of the written portion is ready for approval, a final meeting between the candidate and committee should be convened to review the documentation and suggest any final revisions or editing. When both parts of the project are approved by the committee, the candidate will initiate the Report of Completion form by submitting it to Docusign and the members of the committee sign the form. Completion form should be filed by the Report of Completion date specified by Graduate Studies for that semester.
As described in the creative work process, the working arrangements between candidates and committee members must be clearly established. Candidates should obtain from Graduate Studies a copy of the Preparation and Submission Guidelines and follow those guidelines throughout the preparation of the document. Some candidates work almost exclusively with their chairs until completion of a final draft of the thesis, which is then given to other committee members for review. Other candidates work with the entire committee throughout the process.
After all committee members have reviewed a draft of the thesis and most revisions have been incorporated, a final meeting should be convened. The purpose of this meeting is to review the thesis, its findings and suggest any final revising or editing. At this time the approval page of the thesis may be signed, and the Report of Completion of Specified Requirements form signed. In the event extensive revisions are needed, these signings may be withheld until a later time.
After everything is completed and the thesis signed by the candidate’s committee, the candidate must follow the steps listed in Graduate Studies' Thesis Guidelines, including an initial and a final thesis formatting check. Once the thesis is checked, a receipt of thesis completion will be obtained. Candidate then take their unbound thesis and thesis receipt to the Campus Copy Center for binding. This copy will automatically go to the SF State Library. The candidate must also provide the Graduate Coordinator with a bound copy of the thesis for the department’s permanent collection and the chair of your committee. Please note: Keep a copy of your thesis receipt until you receive confirmation from the University that you have earned your degree.