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Graduate College 

Distinguished Thesis Award Guidelines

Fall 2008 Guidelines

The Graduate Council Scholarship Committee is soliciting nominations for the Missouri State University Distinguished Master's Thesis Award.  The award is to recognize and reward Missouri State students for distinguished scholarship and research at the master's level.

The Scholarship Committee Guidelines for the Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award are:

  1. Each department participating in a graduate program may submit one nomination for the award. 
  2. Nominations will be accepted in any discipline in which the institution offers a master’s degree.  Original works accepted by an institution in lieu of thesis (such as musical compositions, published books, works of art, computer software, etc.) may not be nominated.
  3. A nominee must have earned the master's degree within the calendar year from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008.  Since the intent of the competition is to recognize scholarship by students who are pursuing their first graduate research degree, individuals who received a Ph.D. (or comparable research degree) in any discipline prior to the writing of the master's thesis are not eligible.  However, recipients of a first professional degree awarded prior to the writing of the thesis may be nominated.
  4. Nomination materials must include: (a) two copies of the thesis (both to be returned); (b) a written endorsement by the faculty mentor or Graduate Coordinator; (c) a one-page resume of the nominee; (d) two copies of their abstract, not to exceed 300 words; and (e) a two page summary (stated in the student’s own words) describing how the thesis contributes to knowledge within their discipline.  The abstract should only list the title of the thesis and the name of the author.  The selected thesis must be submitted in the Graduate College, Carrington Hall, Room 306, by OCTOBER 3, 2008

The recipient of the Missouri State University Distinguished Master's Thesis Award will receive a commemorative plaque from the Graduate Council.   The winner will also automatically be the university nominee for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award.