What is a thesis proposal?
How do I write a thesis proposal?
Who Approves my thesis proposal?
How Many copies of the proposal do I need to make?
What is a Petition for Candidacy?
What deadlines do I have to meet concerning the thesis proposal and Petition for Candidacy?

What is a thesis proposal?
The department requires that every student write a thesis proposal stating the goals of his or her proposed thesis and outlining the steps required to complete the thesis.
The proposal is normally comprised of the following sections:

* an abstract
* a statement of the problem to be researched or solved
* a section covering background and justifying the need for the project
* a description of the project
* a section describing possible outcomes of the project
* a plan for implementing the project
* a bibliography

How do I write a thesis proposal?
The following suggestions are adapted from a handout distributed to the MCS232 Technical Communications class, Spring 1988:
The thesis proposal presents ideas for your thesis. Your thesis committee, while supportive, will ask hard questions -- not only about the topic you have chosen and its relevance to your field but also about your schedule, the resources you have listed as critical, and the likelihood of achieving what you have set out to do. You must persuade them that you have chosen a topic important to your field, that you are qualified to address that topic with the help of the faculty you intend to draw on, and that you have a plan that can be successfully undertaken and completed within the time and resource constraints of the ICS program.

Cover Page
See an example in word or pdf.

Abstract or Summary
Your abstract or summary will appear following the title page of your thesis proposal. The abstract is intended to give a brief definition of the problem addressed by your thesis and a brief description of your proposal to explore the problem. After finishing each draft of your proposal,write a draft of your abstract. In condensing your thoughts, you may discover ways to strengthen your introduction. Writing the abstract last is a good way to give the proposal a final, critical editing for omitted or unclear information.
Problem Statement
Answer these questions in your problem statement:

1. What is the problem?
2. Why is it significant?
3. Who else has studied this problem? What have they found? What is the supporting empirical evidence? What are the theoretical underpinnings?

The statement of the problem must clearly and concisely describe an important problem to be explored or question to be answered.A general statement about the relevant issues within the field you have chosen is needed for the purpose of giving your audience a jumping off point. But you must then draw the audience from that general level down to a specific branch of knowledge pertinent to your thesis and within that branch describe a very specific problem or question you are going to address. In many cases, you will go one step further and identify a particular aspect of that problem, making it clear that you are not going to deal definitively with all aspects of the problem stated.

The problem statement is crucial. If you have "a problem with your problem," you're going to have trouble with the entire proposal because the other parts of the proposal flow logically from the problem statement. So take time with this section; think it through carefully before proceeding.

Background and Justification
By clearly isolating the problem you intend to explore, you will preclude a host of questions from your committee about the scope of the problem or research you are undertaking. They will be ready to read your justification and background material with a clear objective in mind and form their opinion of your problem's significance. Your justification and background material is intended to convince the committee of the importance of an unanswered or poorly answered question or of a project that will shed further light on some issue, theory, or technique. This section is where you can show why you chose one aspect of the problem for study rather than another which might be of equal importance. You also need to demonstrate your awareness of related work in the field, and how your work will differ and/or improve on the work of others. This will save your committee time and illustrate the depth to which you have analyzed the problem within the context of the disciplines involved.

Project Description
If you have clearly identified the problem you intend to explore, and if you have made a strong argument for the importance of this problem or question, your audience will now be ready to hear what your project will entail and how it bears on the problem or question identified. The project description is the foundation needed by the committee to judge your qualifications, methodology, implementation plan, and ability to complete your project within the time constraints and resources of the ICS program. Use this section to create a concise overview of your intended project, including your ideas for evaluation Do not get bogged down in detail that is better expanded upon in the implementation plan. Don't forget the potential of graphics to save words and the effectiveness of clarity and conciseness.

Possible Outcomes
It is important to address the possible conclusions and the expected importance of your results. Another way of stating this is "How will I know that I have accomplished what I set out to do?" Outcomes need to be concretely stated. If you are designing a computer learning system, for example, a statement like "the users will learn more about X" is unacceptably vague and should be replaced by statements which are more easily operationalized, such as "the users will be able to recount the 3 pros and the 2 cons about X".

Implementation Plan
The implementation plan is the platform for detailed information about your planned schedule, interactions with specific individuals, evaluation activities, and resources needed. Do not cope with careful writing of this section until you are relatively happy with your problem statement, background & justification, project description and possible outcomes. However, it is useful to make preliminary lists while doing the other sections, to keep track of items you discover you will need to do or to have available. Specifically, you will probably want to create lists for critical deadlines and milestones, for people you will need to draw on, for equipment and software you will need to have available, for miscellaneous costs that may arise, and for evaluation ideas. These preliminary lists will help you to narrow your project to fit into a manageable time frame and to realistically assess the resource needs that can be met by the Mills environment. This technique will hopefully save you from investing unnecessary time and energy in implementation details that will only have to be revised once the main body of your proposal is firmly in hand.

Bibliography and Other References
If your proposal draws on published materials, you must give a list of your sources at the end of the work. A bibliography is a listing for background or further reading. A reference list contains only the names of works cited in the proposal. This is also where you would include reference materials, usually in the form of appendices.

Who approves my thesis proposal?
Each committee member will determine the acceptability of a thesis proposal. Proposals are not submitted to or reviewed by the entire Department of Math & Computer Science or the department of interdisciplinary interest. The person you have in mind as a interdisciplinary advisor must judge the scope and feasibility of the proposed work. The person you have in mind as a computer science advisor must judge the acceptability of the computer science principles, techniques, and tools for the thesis. Writing a proposal protects you from embarking upon an overly ambitious thesis or a thesis whose scope will not satisfy your thesis committee. Consider the proposal as a contract between you and your committee, describing the work you will deliver for the master's degree.
Remember that you will need the approval of all of these interested parties before final typing, that is, before you have prepared your proposal in final form. Your committee members will not appreciate being presented with a proposal or thesis as a fait accompli without having the opportunity to review it and suggest or require changes.

How many copies of the proposal do I need to make?
Copies of your proposal are kept for departmental files by the Director of the ICS program as well as by each member of the thesis committee and your academic advisor.

What is a Petition for Candidacy?
The Petition For Candidacy is a document which informs the College that you will be graduating in the following semester, so that all concerned parties will be notified of this and can begin to verify that you have completed all graduation requirements. It requires a list of courses you have taken, as well as all courses you intend to take in your remaining semesters, to satisfy the degree requirements as specified in the graduate catalog at the time you file the Petition. You must also indicate the thesis type (see next section), the thesis title, and the members of your thesis committee. This information must be typewritten.

Your thesis proposal must be approved before you file the Petition for Candidacy. The proposal is the basis for obtaining all the signatures necessary for the Petition For Candidacy. The petition of Candidacy requires, first, the signature of your thesis committee and your academic advisor, and finally that of the Director of Graduate Studies.

What deadlines do I have to meet concerning the thesis proposal and Petition for Candidacy?
At the very latest, the proposal must be completed in the semester prior to the intended semester of graduation. This Petition must be filed with the Registrar's Office no later than one full semester before the degree will be awarded. See also the Mills College Catalog section on Graduate Petition for Candidacy and Thesis. Also be sure to read the registrar and records deadlines for the current semester to confirm exact due dates.

In the first week of classes of the semester in which you are filing the Petition For Candidacy:
Talk to the potential members of your thesis committee to confirm that what they expect you to include in the thesis proposal is, in fact, what your are including, before completing a draft of the proposal.

Due the third week of classes of the semester in which you are filing the Petition For Candidacy:
A written draft of the thesis proposal, given to potential thesis committee members for review and comments. Expect to revise this initial draft several times before it is considered an acceptable and complete
proposal.

Due two weeks before the filing deadline:
A completed thesis proposal, handed in to thesis committee members, your academic advisor, and the Director of the ICS Program for their final comments and approval. Again, expect to make minor revisions and formatting changes after receiving their comments.

Due one week before the filing deadline:
Final copies of your thesis proposal to all members of thesis committee, of your academic advisor and to the Director of the ICS Program. Arrange with each person to come back within 7-10 days for signatures on the thesis proposal and your Petition for Candidacy.

By three days before the filing deadline:
Go to the Registrar's Office, pick up the Petition for Candidacy, and complete all portions of the form except the signatures. The information on this form must be typed!

Due at the filing deadline:
The thesis proposal signature sheet (cover page) and the completed Petition for Candidacy, with signatures from each member of your thegbbbsis committee, your academic advisor and the Director of the ICS Program.
Sign the Petition For Candidacy and file it with the Registrar for the signature of the Director of Graduate Studies.
Turn in the thesis proposal to members of your committee, your academic advisor and the ICS director.