Thesis

Students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher are encouraged to consider completing a thesis as the culminating experience in their Master of Architecture program.  An outline of the procedures and requirements of a thesis are as follows:

Definition

For the purposes of these guidelines, a thesis will be considered any independent inquiry initiated by a student, formulated together with a Thesis Committee, and completed for ARC699 credit.

Prerequisites
  1. 3.5 GPA
  2. A Thesis Committee composed of at least two full-time faculty recruited by the student. The Thesis Committee chair must be a tenured/tenure-track member of the Architecture Department faculty and a Member or Associate Member of the UB Graduate Faculty.
Process
  1. Pre-thesis.In their penultimate semester of the program, students intending and eligible to pursue a thesis will conduct pre-thesis research to explore the viability of doing so. This prethesis research will take the form of either:
    • Directed Research, conducted within a Graduate Research Group, or
    • Independent Study with a faculty member.
    Pre-thesis will be graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. Satisfactory completion of pre-thesis research (ie: receiving a passing grade) does not necessarily qualify a student to continue on to pursue a thesis. A separate evaluation will be made by the Thesis Committee regarding the viability of pursing a thesis.
  2. Thesis Abstract. Students will submit a thesis abstract no later than the 6th week of their pre-thesis semester. This abstract must be signed by all members of their Thesis Committee and be approved prior to commencement of the thesis. The Thesis Abstract is submitted along with the Application to Candidacy.
  3. Reviews:

    4. Thesis Proposal Review. The first review occurs at the end of the pre-thesis semester. At this review, a prospective thesis student presents a Thesis Proposal that consists of the Thesis Abstract together with preliminary research conducted during the pre-thesis semester, the first three sections of the Thesis Documentation (see 3d below) and examples of past work that demonstrate the preparation and ability for the student to successfully complete a thesis. The jury will consist of the student’s Thesis Committee and at least two additional faculty members. These additional faculty members serve as advisors to the Thesis Committee and do not have voting rights with respect to the Thesis Proposal.

    Thesis Progress Reviews. Thesis students will be reviewed at least twice in the course of their thesis semester. The jury will consist of the Thesis Committee and at least two additional faculty members. These additional faculty members serve as advisors to the Thesis Committee and do not have voting rights with respect to the progress of the Thesis. These reviews will occur in the 5th and 10th weeks of the semester. At the second review (10th week) students will be evaluated by the Thesis Committee as follows:

    • PASS: This indicates that the student has a well-articulated thesis and a project that is developed to a point where very few changes are needed. This student is ready to begin final production and may proceed without conditions toward the final public presentation.
    • PROVISIONAL PASS: This indicates that the student has a well-articulated thesis but still needs time to develop certain aspects of his/her project. The student is expected to re-present the project in 2 weeks time for approval to participate in the final public presentation. Depending on the circumstances, students with Provisional Pass grades may request an extension or defer their final public presentation to the following semester.
    • FAIL: This indicates that the student lacks a coherent thesis and will not be allowed to continue his/her Thesis. The student will be required to return to UB the following semester and take a final project studio in order to graduate.
  4. Documentation
    Each student's thesis work must be documented as a bound print volume (provided to the architecture department) and as an electronic submission (provided online to the Graduate School). Students should reference the Graduate School 's Electronic Thesis & Dissertation (ETD) Submission guidelines http://www.grad.buffalo.edu/etd/) for information about required parts of the documentation, its physical specifications and style manual options.

    Content: The content of the thesis documentation must include:
    1. discussion of the thesis issue/problem and its significance
    2. review of the salient literature and design precedents
    3. discussion of the methods/procedures of inquiry and analysis employed
    4. discussion of the relevant results/findings from that inquiry and analysis
    5. presentation of the application of those results/findings to the thesis issue/problem
    6. concluding critical assessment of the strengths and limitations of the completed thesis

    Deadlines: Items 1 through 3 on the above list are to be completed by the end of classes of the pre-thesis semester and submitted together with the Thesis Proposal to the Thesis Committee.

    The completed thesis documentation must be electronically submitted to the Graduate School by the following deadlines:

    Conferral:

    Deadline:

    February

    Friday before 1st day of spring semester classes

    June

    Last day of spring semester final exams

    September

    Friday before 1st day of fall semester classes

    Students must submit a final draft of their thesis documentation to their Thesis Committee for review and comment no later than one week prior to the deadlines listed above. The Thesis Committee chair will then communicate the revisions required for the committee to sign-off on the thesis documentation and the deadline by which these revisions need to be submitted to the thesis chair for subsequent review.

    The required M-form signed by all members of the student's Thesis Committee and a receipt for having the committee-approved thesis documentation bound must be submitted to the architecture department two days before the aforementioned documentation submission deadlines.

    A student whose thesis documentation is submitted after these deadlines will have his or her degree conferral deferred until the next applicable conferral date.

     

Timetable example for 2-year Master of Architecture June Degree Candidates

Second Semester, Fall Semester:

  1. Pre-thesis research: Register for ARC 567 (Directed Research) or ARC 599 (Independent Study).
  2. Submit Application to Candidacy form and thesis abstract by 6th week of semester.
  3. End of semester: Thesis proposal review.

Second Year, Spring Semester:

  1. Thesis (7 credits)
  2. Thesis interim review 1 (5th week of semester)
  3. Thesis interim review 2 (10th week of semester)
  4. Thesis final review/public presentation (last week of classes)
  5. Submit bindery receipt and signed M-Form (two days before final exams end)
  6. Submit thesis document online (last day of final exams)
 
Timetable example for 3.5-year Master of Architecture February Degree Candidates

Third Year, Spring Semester:

  1. Pre-thesis research: Register for ARC 567 (Directed Research) or ARC 599 (Independent Study).
  2. Submit Application to Candidacy and thesis abstract by 6th week of the semester.
  3. End of semester: thesis proposal review.

Fourth Year, Fall Semester:

  1. Thesis (7 credits)
  2. Thesis interim review 1 (5th week of semester)
  3. Thesis interim review 2 (10th week of semester)
  4. Thesis final review/public presentation (last week of classes)
  5. Submit bindery receipt and signed M-Form (Wednesday before spring classes begin)
  6. Submit thesis document online (Friday before spring classes begin)