News Archive: February 2004
Spring 2004 Thesis Workshop
Proofread, proofread, proofread. That was just one of the several points of emphasis delivered at the spring 2004 thesis workshop held Saturday, January 31 on the Fresno State campus.
The workshop, offered twice a year to graduate students completing the thesis option for their culminating experience, typically draws about 20 students who come to learn the finer points of formatting their theses, as well as details about the thesis submission process.
This semester’s workshop drew 47 students, making it the largest ever and forcing a last minute change of venue to accommodate the extra people.
“When there were more people waiting for a seat than people who had actually secured one, I knew we had to find a bigger room,” said thesis consultant Chuck Radke, who was encouraged by the great turnout.
“It means we’re getting valuable thesis information to more people, which will surely result in submissions with fewer formatting and mechanical errors,” Radke said. “That will ease frustration and save everyone time in the long run.”
Besides admonitions to proofread, Radke reminded thesis students of the importance of keeping in close contact with committee members, of familiarizing themselves with the university’s Guidelines for Thesis Preparation, and of practicing with the thesis template to streamline the formatting process. Steve Nasse of the thesis office then provided a 45-minute demonstration of the template.
“The standards for production are high,” Radke said. “But we have a number of resources to help students transform their thesis drafts into bound publications they can be proud of.”
Those resources, he said, are now available at <www.csufresno.edu/gradstudies/thesis/>, the newly redesigned thesis office web site . Students can now download the Guidelines for Thesis Preparation, all thesis templates, and a variety of helpful checklists and forms created to make the thesis experience as efficient as possible.
Radke said the site is equally useful to graduate faculty as many will serve on thesis committees and can benefit from the ease of access to the most current university standards.
“Making all the information easily retrievable on one site will help ensure all involved in thesis preparation are on the same page, no matter what stage of the process the thesis is in,” Radke said. “The ultimate goal is to minimize the number of objective errors and subsequently improve the quality of initial submissions.”
The thesis submission deadline for students planning to graduate in Spring 2004 is March 22.
