School of Computing Graduate Student Session

School of ComputingGraduate Student Session What You Need to Do to Graduate This Term And Other Important Information September 5, 2014 15/2203 12:00 PM School of Computing

Topics • Research • Requirements • Deadlines • Thesis Write-ups • Thesis defense • Data flow • Editorial requirements • Plagiarism • The role of your thesis advisor • Where to find help • Forms • Signature pages School of Computing

Research • Select Thesis Advisor • Listen during course work • Identify common areas of interest • Extend knowledge base slightly • Secure Prospectus • Select committee members • Set up meetings • The thesis is your responsibility School of Computing

Deadlines and Critical Times • Deadline to apply for graduation • The third Friday of the semester (September 12) • Applications are available on the web or from the One Stop Student Services Center. Students may apply online in MyWingsby signing into Student Self-Service, then selecting Student Records, then Graduation Application. School of Computing

Deadlines and Critical Times • Deadline for presentation of a thesis defense • Friday, 6 weeks before the end of the term • The final draft of the thesis write-up is due the day presented • Thesis or Dissertation track, s/he should visit the UNF Graduate School Thesis and Dissertations Procedures and Timeline site to plan accordingly: http://www.unf.edu/graduateschool/student_resources/Thesis_and_Dissertation_Procedures.aspx. • Date by which thesis must be in the Graduate School • Friday, 2 weeks before the end of the term (Dec. 1) • Date by which thesis must be in the library • Friday, following final exams School of Computing

Thesis Defense • Thesis defenses are conducted in open forum before the thesis committee and must be held on or prior to the deadline set by the Graduate School for the term • Thesis is graded pass/fail as determined by the thesis committee • The final draft of the thesis write-up is due the day of the defense in hard copy form for submission to the Director of the School of Computing • At least 5 School of Computing Graduate Faculty members must be in attendance School of Computing

Data Flow Your ideaSoC Graduate faculty agrees to work with you Create/refine an idea With thesis advisor/committee Establish thesis committee 3 graduate faculty 1 of whom is thesis advisor Develop and present prospectus to committee Committeedoes not approve Committee approves Proposal form* to Graduate Dean Do the work keeping advisor/committee informed School of Computing *on grad school web site continued

* If the final draft is returned to the thesis Advisor by a reviewer, graduation will likely be delayed and in some cases the presentation repeated Data Flowthis term Complete work for thesis keeping advisor/committee informed With thesis advisor & thesis committee (8-9 weeks before commencement) Provide committee thesis write-up draft Student, thesis advisor/committee Final draft Thesis advisor approves At least 5-6 weeks before commencement ** Thesis defense Committee approves School review School Director Director approves College review College Dean University review Graduate Dean ** Graduate School deadline Final copies School of Computing GRADUATE Library

Plagiarism • Plagiarismis a form of academic dishonesty basically characterized by incorporation of someone else’s work in your own without proper acknowledgement • Implies you are claiming original authorship for work not your own • If plagiarism is found to be present, it can result in harsh penalties ranging from severe reduction in grade to expulsion to criminal prosecution • If employed, it can result in loss of job, limiting prospects of re-employment elsewhere School of Computing

Plagiarism (cont) • Self-Plagiarism is re-use of your own work already submitted for another purpose without revealing that fact • Submission of a project already completed for an employer • Submission of a second Masters thesis substantially taken from a first Masters thesis • Submission of a paper already submitted for another class • ACM (October, 2006) has published a Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism, including a policy for self-plagiarism • (http://www.acm.org/pubs/plagiarism%20policy.html) School of Computing

Considerations • Wholesale copying and pasting together paragraphs from multiple sources, so-called content scraping, even with acknowledgement, is not an acceptable practice • Word for word text used in-line should be enclosed in quotes, with a citation • Full paragraphs incorporated into your work should be offset and indented, with a citation • Work paraphrased from a source should acknowledge the reference or references it is taken from • Paraphrasing is more than changing a word or two, it is rewriting in your own words • When you have read from multiple sources and written your own opinions, you should still include these sources in your Bibliography even though there’s no expectation that you specifically cite them • This provides the answer to the question: “I wonder if they’ve read what X has to say about this?” School of Computing

Checking… • The School of Computing will be utilizing • Safeassign within Blackboard School of Computing

The Role of Your Thesis Advisor • Your work is to be your own • The faculty resource is for review and advice • You should have regular, on-going meetings with your thesis advisor (and thesis committee) while your work is in progress • Your thesis advisor is a published authority, and as such is expected to be able to assist you with content • Faculty time for editorial assistance is limited • Write-ups returned during the review process reflect negatively on those who have approved the write-up to that point School of Computing

Requirementsto be cleared to graduate this term • Must have applied to graduate • Program of study must have been completed • Courses must have grades of B or better (1 C) • Graduate GPA must be 3.0 or higher • All incomplete grades must have been resolved • Thesis write-up must have been accepted for UNF Library archive • Any outstanding financial obligations to UNF (e.g., library fines, parking tickets) must have been paid School of Computing

Graduate School Thesis Requirements • After the prospectus has been accepted by the thesis committee, a Proposal Filing Form is to be submitted to the Graduate Dean. • The form is on the Graduate School’s website • Download, complete, and submit electronically to the Graduate School as a PDF file • Due at the time of prospectus presentation • The Graduate School will not process thesis submissions for which this form is not on file School of Computing

Editorial Requirements • The final draft • Formatted according to School of Computing Thesis Guidelines http://www.unf.edu/ccec/computing/Policies___Guidelines.aspx • Observes commonly accepted standards for technical writing • ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) • A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian – Bookstore) • Handbook of Technical Writing (St. Martin’s Press) • Science and Technical Writing (Routledge) • Submissions after deadline • Graduation usually delayed to subsequent term School of Computing

Editorial Requirements (cont) • Submissions with significant deficiencies, either editorial or content • Submission returned to thesis advisor to resume work with student to make corrections • On resubmission of the work, the review process is started over from the beginning, behind all other work already in review – in some instances the presentation may need to be repeated • Reviewers may suspend their review at any point they determine a write-up needs to be returned • If only the errors noted by such a reviewer are corrected, the paper will probably be returned again, and with admonishment • If a write-up is returned to the thesis advisor, graduation in the current term cannot be assured School of Computing

Where to Find Help • UNF Graduate School • Professional editors • School of Computing Web Page: Graduate Program Tab • School of Computing Masters Thesis Guidelines http://www.unf.edu/ccec/computing/Policies___Guidelines.aspx School of Computing

Where to Find Help (cont) • School of Computing Web Page: Items of Interest Tab • Common Errors in English Website (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html) • Reference texts • Handbook of Technical Writing by Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu (St. Martin’s Press) • Science and Technical Writing by Rubens (Routledge) • For general questions • Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press) • A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian) • ACM examples School of Computing

Forms • Thesis • CIS 6970 Enrollment Form (http://www.unf.edu/ccec/computing/Policies___Guidelines.aspx) • every term enrolled School of Computing

Forms • Thesis • Graduate School Proposal Filing Form (http://www.unf.edu/graduateschool /student_resources/Forms.aspx) • With acceptance of prospectus School of Computing

Signature Pages • For both thesis submissions • Turn in 2 signature pages with final draft • Final draft on regular paper • Signature pages on thesis paper • Thesis signature page is included within • http://www.unf.edu/ccec/cis/SoCdocs/SoCThesisTemplate.doc School of Computing

CDs • Required CD copies • For each bound copy of your thesis you must include a CD with (one or more) pdf files containing your write-up • It is suggested that you use the indexing feature of Adobe Acrobat to index your write-up for professional appearance • For thesis you must also prepare 1 additional CD for the UNF Graduate School electronic archive • Each CD must have a printed label formatted as specified in the School of Computing thesis guidelines School of Computing

Acknowledgement These slides were initially created by Professor Emeritus Dr. Charles Winton, retired and edited by Dr. Roger Eggen who is entirely responsible for their content. Thank you for your attention. Any questions? Dr. Roger Eggen School of Computing

School of Computing Graduate Student Session