Policy Library

For financial aid purposes, a graduate student must:

• Maintain a 2.75 overall graduate grade-point-average (GPA), and
• complete 67 percent of all credits attempted per term.

in order to be considered making satisfactory academic progress for purposes of continued federal aid eligibility. Any student whose graduate GPA falls below a 2.75, or who completes less than 67 percent of all attempted credits per term, will be considered making unsatisfactory academic progress.

For more information about UB's graduate SAP criteria for federal aid eligibility please refer to the Office of Financial Aid website.

Graduate students not meeting the written terms of their academic probation may be academically dismissed from the program by the director of graduate studies, chair of the department or graduate program director. Such dismissals shall be done in a timely fashion but no later than three weeks after the completion of the term. The Graduate School will be notified in writing of all such academic dismissals.

Graduate students who are dismissed for academic reasons from a graduate program will have a "GRD" (Graduate School) service indicator placed on their academic record to prevent future registration.

Any graduate student who receives a grade of U or F in any course, including lab work or informal credit (e.g., independent study, research, dissertation guidance, etc.); or who indicates a lack of ability as determined by the director of graduate studies or student's academic advisor, must receive an immediate academic review. Upon completion of the academic review, the director of graduate studies may place the student on academic probation.

Any student who is not in good academic standing as defined above or who is otherwise determined to be making unsatisfactory academic progress must be placed on academic probation. A probationary letter must be issued to the student (with a copy to the advisor, if applicable) indicating the conditions that must be met and outlining an appropriate period of time in which to regain good academic standing. The outcome that will result if the conditions are not met must also be included in the probationary letter.

In general, academic review takes place at the end of each fall and spring semesters. After review, the department must issue probation letters (in late-December/early-January for fall, and/or in late-May for spring) to the appropriate students. Probation letters must indicate the terms of the probation and the pathway toward its removal. After the specified period outlined in the probation letter, the student must be sent another letter to either remove the probationary status or issue a second probationary letter with new conditions for regaining good academic standing, or to dismiss the student from the program. 

The Graduate School defines good academic standing as a student who is making acceptable progress toward a graduate degree or advanced certificate. All graduate students are expected to remain in good academic standing throughout the entire course of their study. To monitor graduate student academic standing, the chair/DGS/program director in charge of each graduate program will regularly review the academic records of its graduate students. Any graduate student who fails to remain in good academic standing will be placed on academic probation for the subsequent fall or spring term.

The Graduate School’s minimum academic requirements for each graduate student to remain in good academic standing are: 

1. Achieve a term grade point average (GPA) of a 3.0 (B) or better, with no U or F grades earned.
2. Completion of at least 67 percent of their attempted credits each term.

Note: The S grade is awarded only in those instances where a student's letter grade would have been equivalent to at least a 3.0 (B) or better. As such, the S grade is considered equivalent to a 3.0 grade point average.

Individual college/schools may establish stricter academic standards. Academic requirements other than those established by the Graduate School are determined by the program faculty and approved by the appropriate decanal unit.

Students who are not in good academic standing as defined above, or who are put on academic probation, are not eligible to participate in university activities, including athletics.

Each PhD student’s academic progress must be evaluated annually by the director of graduate studies (DGS) and, if appropriate, the student’s dissertation advisor. The most appropriate time for annual review is mid-May, thereby permitting appropriate academic planning for the following semester and allowing for timely responses to inquiries about students in jeopardy of losing federal financial aid. Alternatively, though not ideal, review can take place in mid-October.

Additionally, each PhD student’s academic progress must be reviewed after their first semester of enrollment, in order to identify any academic problems early in the program. Directors of graduate study are required to communicate the annual academic evaluation to the student in writing.

Each graduate program is encouraged to develop its own process for student evaluation and advisement. However certain elements must be included in PhD student annual evaluation:

1. Review of the student’s academic record including:
   • Checking the overall grade point average.
   • Addressing any incomplete and/or resigned courses.
   • Monitoring overall progress toward completing the coursework phase of the program.
2. Checking on progress in completing or preparing for the preliminary or qualifying exam(s) or paper(s).
3. Planning for a timely defense of the dissertation research proposal or prospectus.
4. Monitoring adequate progress in research including timeliness of degree completion.

A sample review form is available to facilitate the academic review process.

Graduate students are sometimes presented with opportunities to provide and sell course materials developed by faculty to companies that post and/or sell those materials without the author’s permission. Posting and selling course materials without the author’s permission violates the intellectual property rights of the author.  In addition, it degrades educational quality and the classroom experience by promoting a lack of direct participation in the class, and encourages students to use the work of others to complete their own course requirements. Therefore, instructors may prohibit the distribution of their course materials by including a notice in their course syllabus. The prohibition is not effective or enforceable unless an explicit written directive is provided in the syllabus to the students in the course. This policy in no way expands, limits or otherwise modifies any and all rights established pursuant to Article XI, Title J of the SUNY Board of Trustees Policies.

Students who violate this policy will be required to complete an educational sanction about the value of intellectual property. More serious and/or repeat violations of this policy may be treated as acts of "academic dishonesty" under the Academic Integrity Policy or subject a student to disciplinary charges under the Student Code of Conduct.

A graduate student who has been officially dismissed and who seeks reinstatement shall submit a formal request for reinstatement, along with a supporting statement of explanation, to the chair of the academic department. The request shall be acted upon by the established procedure or review group appropriate to the particular graduate program. If a student is subsequently reinstated to the program from which they were dismissed or is admitted into another graduate program, the "GRD" service indicator will be removed from the student record by written request from the academic department to the Graduate School.

Depending on the particular advanced certificate program in question and its admission/eligibility requirements, a graduate student may be authorized to pursue that advanced certificate program on a "stand-alone" basis or in conjunction with an existing graduate level degree program. When a graduate student who is pursuing an advanced certificate program has nearly completed the requirements for it, the student must apply for graduation in HUB in order to become a candidate for conferral of the advanced certificate.

On rare occasion, when clerical error causes delay in submission of the Advanced Certificate Program of Study Approval form from a department to the Graduate School, that department must file the approval form within 12 months of the student's last date of attendance at UB. Such a request must specifically state the reason for the delay in processing the request. Requests received after the 12-month period will not be processed.

In cases where a student wishes to utilize selected graduate level courses to satisfy the degree requirements of more than one post-baccalaureate (graduate and/or professional) degree program, the following limitations apply:

1. The integrity of each master's level degree program must be observed by the student's completion of a minimum of 24 semester hours of credit at UB. Individual degree programs may establish minimum credit hour requirements that exceed that level.
2. No more than 10 percent of the total credit hours required to complete two UB master's degree programs may be comprised of "shared courses" (i.e., courses applied to both programs). For example, in the case of two MS degree programs each of which requires 30-credits (i.e., a total of 60), no more than six credit hours (10 percent) of the 60 may be comprised of courses applied to both programs. Similarly, in the case of two degree programs that, in total, require 90 credit hours between them, no more than nine credit hours (10 percent) of the 90 may be comprised of courses applied to both programs.
3. In cases where one or more specific courses are explicitly required by both programs (i.e., not merely as acceptable electives), such course(s) are considered "shared courses" under policy definitions and will be the first course(s) counted toward the 10 percent limit. If those specific courses explicitly required by both programs exceed the normal 10 percent "shared courses" limit, the 10 percent limit is waived and all such courses may be counted toward both degrees.
4. Up to 50 percent of a student's PhD program may be comprised of courses used to complete another degree program at UB or at another institution. A minimum of 50 percent of the PhD program must consist of courses completed at UB that have not been applied toward any other degree program.

Dual-listed courses that are taken at the undergraduate level and applied toward an undergraduate degree cannot be taken later at the graduate level and applied toward a post-baccalaureate degree or advanced certificate if the student received a B grade or higher in the undergraduate level offering.

Delayed public access, commonly known as an “embargo,” postpones public distribution of the thesis or dissertation that has been approved and filed with the university. In some cases, it may be reasonable and appropriate to put in place an embargo that delays public release, but only in narrowly prescribed circumstances affecting intellectual property rights (such as when a patent is being filed), to satisfy requirements for the review of grant-sponsored research, to allow time for the submission of content to a peer-reviewed journal, or for potential consideration of content by an academic or commercial press. Such an embargo must be limited in time.

If delayed public access is necessary due to the purposes set forth in the previous paragraph, a graduate student should select this option when uploading the thesis or dissertation to ProQuest, and a completed and signed Request for Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation form should be submitted to the Graduate School.

The delayed release requested at the time of submission will postpone public distribution of/access to a thesis or dissertation via both ProQuest and the University at Buffalo’s institutional repository (UBIR). Students may request embargoes for up to one year or two years, with longer time periods considered by exception. If a delayed release is approved, ProQuest and UBIR will display only the graduate’s citation and abstract for the duration of the embargo. The full text of the graduate’s thesis or dissertation will become available for public access only after the embargo expires. The UB Libraries will archive and preserve the manuscript in perpetuity.

Exception Requests for Extended Embargoes

Under rare circumstances and prior to the filing of the thesis or dissertation, the dean of the Graduate School may approve requests for embargoes beyond the two-year limit. A request for such an exception to UB policy should be made as soon as the graduate student’s master’s or doctoral committee is aware of the need to do so.

The Graduate School is the first point of contact for exception requests. The graduate student and their major advisor must submit a formal request for a time-delimited extended embargo using the Request for Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation form available from the Graduate School. The request must be made prior to filing the thesis or dissertation.  Each request will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The Graduate School’s review of such requests will take the following factors into consideration:

• Are there serious mitigating circumstances whereby publication of the thesis or dissertation would cause undue risks or potential harm to the author or subjects?
• Will the data generated through the student’s research support other in-progress publications from people on the student’s research team, which could be impacted by public dissemination?
• Is the student applying for a patent based on research that is discussed in their dissertation?
• Is the data or material in the thesis or dissertation subject to review by the sponsor or grantor prior to publication?
• Is there a need to prevent disclosure of information about persons, institutions, technologies, etc.?
• Is there an academic or commercial press that has documented its requirement of manuscript embargo in order to acquire the rights to publish the thesis or dissertation as a book?

When an exception request is approved by the Graduate School, the library will be notified to ensure that UBIR suppresses access until the end of the approved extended embargo period.

Post-Submission Requests for Delayed Public Access

Students who wish to delay public access must select this option at the time they submit their theses or dissertations to the Graduate School via ProQuest. Requests to embargo a thesis or dissertation after the manuscript has been filed generally are not allowed. Post-submission embargo requests to the UBIR are permissible only in exceptional circumstances and require Graduate School review and approval.

Procedure

The Graduate School is the first point of contact for post-submission embargo requests to the UBIR. To make such a request, which is considered only for exceptional circumstances, the graduate student must submit a Request for Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation form to the Graduate School detailing the reason for the request for an embargo and the reason for the delay in seeking the embargo, and including an explanatory letter from the thesis or dissertation committee chair.  Each request will be reviewed on a case-by- case basis.

ProQuest allows graduate students to embargo their manuscripts at any time and for any duration, but cautions that “the rules and policies around dissemination related to a university’s institutional repositories are created and managed separately by the university”.*

ProQuest will notify UB’s Graduate School of each request for a post-submission embargo. Upon receiving the notification from ProQuest, the Graduate School will send an email to the graduate student reminding them of the university policy restricting delayed release. The Graduate School will approve of such post-submission requests in accordance with the procedure set forth below for review of post-submission requests.

Review of Post-Submission Embargo Requests

The review of a post-submission embargo request by the Graduate School will take the following factors into consideration:

• Are there serious mitigating circumstances such that publication of the thesis or dissertation would cause undue risks or potential harm to the author or subjects?
• Is there a need to prevent disclosure of information about persons, institutions, technologies, etc.?
• Is there good cause for the failure to seek delayed public dissemination at the time of submission?
• Is the work already accessible via UBIR?

In the rare cases in which a post-submission embargo request is approved by the Graduate School, the Graduate School will notify the library and UBIR to withhold release for the approved embargo period.

*ProQuest, Embargoes and Restrictions

Coursework more than 10 years old, whether from another institution or from UB, that is to be included in a current graduate degree program must be petitioned at the time of the student’s matriculation to the program. The student should submit a Use of Historical Coursework Petition upon admission to the graduate program to determine whether such courses and associated graduate credits can be applied toward the current degree program requirements. The director of graduate studies reviews the coursework to determine whether the content of those courses is still relevant and applicable and the student must demonstrate their continued knowledge of the course content.

Definition: Informal courses include registration in independent study; project, thesis or dissertation guidance; directed or supervised reading; and directed research coursework.

A formal Independent Study Agreement (see section below regarding Independent Study Agreements) must be established in writing between the instructor and the student for each registered independent study course by the end of the first week of classes. It is the responsibility of the student and the instructor to see that all Independent Study Agreements are maintained in the student’s file within the student’s home department. Independent Study Agreements are to become part of the student's permanent academic record.

Informal courses associated with final project, portfolio, thesis, research or dissertation completion do not require the establishment of formal Independent Study Agreements.

With the exception of Introductory Language Courses, use of undergraduate courses below the 400 level, as the criteria for creating an informal graduate course, is strictly prohibited.

Independent Study Agreements
Independent Study coursework agreements should contain the following components:

• The student and the instructor’s names and signature.*
• Name and number of the course.
• Number of credits for the independent study.
• Description of work required to complete the course.
• Tentative schedule for when/how often the student and instructor will meet during the given term.
• Course objectives.
• Intended learning outcomes.
• Method of assessment.
• Clearly delineated grading type (e.g., pass/fail, letter grade).

*If the Independent Study Agreement is filed electronically, some indication of acceptance of the agreement from both the instructor and the student.

Although the Graduate School does not have a language requirement for master's or doctoral degrees, some departments have established a language or skill requirement for their programs.

In limited instances when certain conditions are satisfied, a posthumous degree may be awarded when a student dies prior to completing all of their graduate degree requirements. UB faculty (in consultation with the student's family) may request the posthumous conferral of the graduate degree in recognition of the work completed toward that degree at the time of the student's death.

The request for consideration of the posthumous award of the degree in question may emanate from either a member of the student's family or a UB faculty member. If the request originates from a family member, they should communicate those wishes to the department within which the student was pursuing the graduate degree. If the request originates from a faculty member, it is incumbent upon that faculty member to first seek the family’s concurrence that the degree be awarded posthumously to the student. The faculty member then directs a written request to the chair of the student’s department. The chair, in turn, submits a formal request for the awarding of the posthumous degree to the vice provost for graduate education/dean of the Graduate School (VPGE).

The posthumous award of a graduate degree will be considered providing that the student:

• Was considered in good academic standing possessing a minimum graduate degree program grade point average of 3.0.
• Had been actively pursuing the degree in an appropriate and timely manner at the time of death and had completed virtually all requirements of the degree program in question.
• Was making satisfactory academic progress and was nearing completion of the final master's degree project or thesis or the doctoral dissertation.

The following documentation is required when filing the formal request:

1. Departmental evidence of the extent to which the degree program was actually completed and a brief summary of any program requirements that had not been completed. This may include a copy of the application to candidacy, thesis/dissertation prospectus approval forms, evidence of passing qualifying exams or any other documentation deemed appropriate.
2. A written letter of recommendation from the department chair supporting the conferral, together with correspondence from the instructors of any courses in which the student was enrolled at the time of death (including courses outside the department). Each such instructor should indicate the grade (if any) of the student's work in that course up to the time of death.

If the VPGE reaches a favorable decision in support of granting the degree, they will issue a letter authorizing the university registrar to confer the degree posthumously and issue a transcript and a diploma to the appropriate family member's current mailing address. In all such cases the degree will be awarded reflecting the next regular institutional conferral date (Feb. 1, June 1 or Aug. 31) following the date of the student's death.

If the VPGE determines that the degree will not be awarded posthumously, they will provide a letter to the chair of the student's department explaining the reason(s) for the denial. It shall be the responsibility of the Graduate School to advise the student's family if the request for posthumous degree conferral is denied.

Affirmation of Public Access

Submission of a thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School is the last step in many academic programs leading to the award of a graduate degree. The manuscript is a scholarly presentation of the results of the graduate student’s research and/or creative work. The University at Buffalo requires that research and scholarly work conducted by graduate students and incorporated into theses and dissertations be made publicly available through the University at Buffalo’s institutional repository (UBIR). The University at Buffalo’s Graduate School hereby affirms the principle that graduate students have a responsibility to share their work with scholars in all disciplines and the general public, and stands by the university’s commitment to ensuring public access to master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. The policy of the University at Buffalo is that graduate students own the copyright to their original works of authorship. The license granted to UB as required by the Public Access of Theses and Dissertations policy is fully consistent with university copyright policy.

Public Access

As one of the requirements for conferral of a degree, a graduate student must submit their thesis or dissertation to UB through the ETD Administrator website. Approximately three months afterward, the manuscript is made available for viewing through ProQuest's dissertations and theses database as well as the UBIR. Requests for delayed public access through either ProQuest or the UBIR must adhere to the Graduate School’s Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation policy.

Upon submission of their thesis or dissertation as a requirement for conferral of the degree, the graduate student shall grant a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to the University at Buffalo/SUNY as set forth in the University at Buffalo Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Reproduction and Public Access Agreement form.

Author Warranties

Upon submitting the thesis or dissertation as a requirement for conferral of a degree, the graduate student shall affirm that the work: (a) is the graduate student’s original work and that they have full power to enter into an agreement; (b) does not infringe copyright, intellectual property rights, or privacy rights of another; (c) contains no material that is libelous, defamatory or other unlawful material; and (d) the graduate student has not made, and will not hereafter make, any contract or commitment contrary to the terms of the agreement with UB or in derogation of the license granted to the university hereunder. The graduate student shall indemnify, defend and hold the university harmless from any losses, claims, damages, awards, penalties or injuries incurred, including reasonable attorney's fees, which arise from any claim by any third party of an alleged infringement of copyright or any other property right arising out of the access and use of the work.

Students must be registered for at least one credit in the term immediately prior to degree conferral as indicated below:

• Fall term registration is required if a student intends to finish degree requirements in time for the Feb. 1 degree conferral.
• Spring term registration is required if a student intends to finish degree requirements in time for the June 1 or Aug. 31 degree conferral.

Students who wish to write their dissertation or thesis in a language other than English (except those in the department of romance languages and literatures) must obtain prior approval from the Executive Committee of the Graduate School. A petition for such approval must include reasons why the work cannot be written as effectively in English as in the other language. In addition, the following conditions must be met:

1. Students must demonstrate an adequate command of the language prior to undertaking their projects.
2. The topic of the thesis or dissertation must be extensively represented (i.e., include primary and/or secondary sources) in the foreign language in which the thesis or dissertation is to be written.
3. The members of the thesis or dissertation committee must all read the language fluently (i.e., with sufficient ease and accuracy to enable them to determine the quality of work).
4. A lengthy and detailed summary or translation in English of the thesis or dissertation must be supplied by the candidate to the department for the oral defense.
5. The topical examination and oral defense must be conducted in English.

Master's degrees must be completed within four years from the student's first registration date in that master's degree program. Doctoral degrees must be completed within seven years from the student's initial formal matriculation in that doctoral program. Requests for extensions of time limits must be petitioned using the Extension of Time Limit to Complete a Degree Program form. Each divisional or area committee may establish its own stricter policies within the constraints of these overarching institutional policies. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the spring 2020 term is excluded from UB's time-to-degree calculations.

The Graduate School will consider for transfer credit graduate-level coursework from nationally accredited institutions of higher education, as well as graduate-level coursework from any international institution that UB recognizes as equivalent to a nationally accredited institution.

Only those graduate courses completed at accredited or recognized international institutions and with grades of full B or better are eligible for transfer credit. Courses with grades of S or P are eligible for transfer except when the transfer institution’s grading policy equates S or P with lower than a full B grade.

Transfer Credit Limits

Advanced Certificates

A minimum of 90 percent of all credits applied to a UB advanced certificate credential must be comprised of UB credit. The advanced certificate is an official post-baccalaureate credential in New York State. However, it is not considered a degree program. Therefore, all credits satisfactorily completed for a UB advanced certificate, may also count toward a relevant UB graduate degree. Academic programs may have stricter transfer limits.

Master’s Degrees

No more than 20 percent of a master's program may be comprised of credits from another graduate degree program. For example, students pursuing a 30-credit UB master's degree may transfer up to six graduate credits either from UB, or other accredited institutions, into their program. Students pursuing a 45-credit master's degree program may transfer up to nine graduate credits.

Doctoral Degrees

Transfer credits for the doctoral degree may not constitute more than 50 percent of the total minimum credits required for that specific degree program.

Courses transferred from another institution into the graduate division will be transferred with full semester credit value. Conversion of credits from trimester, quarterly and other calendar systems will be completed based on nationally accepted standards: i.e., trimester hours are equivalent to semester credits, however quarterly hours are equivalent to two-thirds semester credits.

Transfer Credit Process

The director of graduate studies or chair of the student's home department must first formally evaluate any transfer coursework for its applicability toward any particular graduate program of study. Once transfer credits are deemed appropriate and applicable by the department, the student files a Graduate Student Petition for Transfer Credit form during the student's first year of matriculation to UB. Upon receipt of the transfer credit petition, the Graduate School will evaluate credit and grade equivalences, and verify the courses were completed at an accredited or recognized institution. UB must receive a final official transcript from the transfer institution before the transfer credits may be formally approved and recorded on the student's UB record.

When a graduate faculty member retires from UB with no intention of assuming a faculty appointment at another institution, that faculty member is eligible to continue serving as the major advisor or as a committee member for a current student. The actual decision whether or not that person may continue to serve in such a capacity with a current student rests with the director of graduate studies and the chair of the department. However, subsequent to their retirement, graduate faculty members should not accept major advisor or committee membership assignments for any new student.

When a graduate faculty member leaves UB for an appointment at another institution and the student is at the final stages of completing the thesis or project (generally with one year or less needed to finish), the Graduate School will allow the departed faculty member, if they are willing, to retain their role on that student’s committee, providing the department chair and the director of graduate studies concur. The primary consideration in retaining a departed faculty member on a committee should be to avoid delaying completion of the degree and unwittingly penalizing the student. However, if the student is more than a year from degree completion, the Graduate School does not recommend allowing a departed faculty member to remain on that student’s committee since, after that time, the faculty member will become immersed in responsibilities at their new place of employment, often leaving little time to devote to our student.

The focus of the research for a master's project is generally more applied than that for a thesis, with the student often defining a problem and developing a solution for it. The project may be a scholarly undertaking that results in a tangible outcome (a photo exhibit, a performance piece, a business plan, a technical report, a computer program) that does not fit neatly within the framework of a traditional scholarly thesis paper. However, the final project should be accompanied by a paper written by the student that introduces, analyzes and contextualizes the project and demonstrates the student's familiarity with the relevant literature of the field. A master's project/paper receives final approval at the department level.

A small number of master's degree programs at UB offer the portfolio as a culminating capstone option. A student who completes the master's portfolio option is required to compile a set of materials that summarizes and displays the student's knowledge, skills and problem-solving capabilities within their discipline as well as their ability to design, manage, operate and report on topics typically required for professional employment. While the project option requires the student to research one specific topic, the portfolio option emphasizes the student's competence across several areas within their discipline. The materials in the portfolio must be assembled and presented in a professional manner. All elements of the portfolio must be organized cohesively and be self-explanatory.

The portfolio cannot be solely comprised of a student's previous work/coursework (e.g., course projects/papers). While such materials could comprise elements of the portfolio, the portfolio must also contain new and additional substantive work that would satisfy the expectations of another capstone option (e.g., thesis, project).

Initial supervision of a student's program is exercised by a faculty member appointed as an advisor by the major department. This advisor assists the student in planning their program until the student chooses a major professor under whose supervision they will work on the final thesis, project or portfolio. The major professor must be either a full member or an associate member of the UB Graduate Faculty.

The Graduate School requires only one Graduate Faculty member, the major professor, to supervise and approve a master's thesis, project or portfolio. Individual academic departments or programs may permit or require additional committee members to supervise the final master's capstone.

Before degree conferral is possible, all master's candidates must:

1. Maintain continuous registration each spring and fall semester until all requirements for the degree have been completed.
2. Complete a minimum of 30 credits (or more depending on program) of graduate study, with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
3. Fulfill the minimum residency requirement of 24 UB credits of registration.
4. Apply for graduation.
5. Successfully complete the master's culminating experience, as specified by the academic program: pass a comprehensive examination, complete a final project, prepare a comprehensive portfolio or finish a thesis based on independent research. 

It is the student's choice whether to copyright their thesis. Copyrighting formally protects the student's rights as an author. These rights include the ability to make copies of the work, to distribute them, to make derivative works, or to perform or display the work. By copyrighting a thesis, a student can control the rights to it or may authorize others (i.e., a publisher) to exercise them. It is the student's responsibility to guarantee that the work is original and that they have followed accepted standards for documenting the use of references and citations of other works. Students should discuss the option to copyright their work with their major professor before reaching a decision. Once the decision has been made to copyright, the appropriate symbol, the date and the author's name needs to be included on the page immediately following the title page. The copyright will run for the life of the author plus 50 years. The law requires that two copies of the work be submitted to the appropriate federal agency. Students may request this service to be provided through the Graduate School's online submission system available on the Graduate School website as an option under the ProQuest Thesis Publishing Agreement they sign when submitting the final master's thesis.

The Graduate School will accept any self-consistent format that follows conventions of a recognized discipline, but some general formatting standards are also expected as outlined on the Electronic Thesis & Dissertation (ETD) Guidelines page.

Master's theses, except those in the department of romance languages and literatures and those associated with the Caribbean studies specialization within the humanities interdisciplinary program, should be written in English.

Students who complete the thesis option for the master's degree should generally undertake the following steps in its preparation:

• Design an appropriate research or other scholarly study with the help of their faculty advisor(s).
• Conduct and document the necessary background literature review.
• Investigate a specific aim or focused question(s).
• Analyze the results.
• Write their findings according to guidelines outlined in the Graduate School's Guidelines for Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Submission.

Where the thesis option is completed, a public oral defense examination at the department level and electronic submission of the resulting master's thesis to the Graduate School is mandatory.

Since 2005, all master’s theses and doctoral dissertations completed by UB students in fulfillment of graduate program requirements have been archived and accessible through ProQuest’s dissertations and theses database. Beginning with the June 1, 2018 degree conferral, all theses and dissertations will also be accessible for public access through UB’s Institutional Repository. Students will continue to have the option to request a temporary embargo (delayed release) of their thesis or dissertation containing patentable material or content being submitted to peer-reviewed journals or for commercial publication. See the Public Access of Theses and Dissertations and Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation policies.

A public oral-defense-of-thesis examination, scheduled by the student's department is required for all students who complete a master's thesis. The oral-defense-of-thesis is attended by the candidate's major professor (and graduate committee, if applicable), members of the faculty from the major department and the outside reader if one is required by the academic department or program. The department has the prerogative to open the "oral-defense-of-thesis" to a larger audience if that is desired.

The difference between a master's thesis and a master's project is generally related to the extent and focus of the research, the formatting of the finished written product, the requirement to give an oral defense of the work and the final approval of the finished product.

A thesis is typically longer than a project and is a well-organized, thoroughly documented scholarly paper, detailing research purpose, methods, results, analysis and conclusions. Research for a thesis maybe more extensive than research for a project in terms of the amount required, but this varies with the individual and the discipline. While a thesis must be defended orally in a public forum, a project need not be so defended unless the department requires such a defense. Whereas a master's project only needs approval at the department level, a master's thesis must receive final approval from the Graduate School and will be kept in perpetuity in the university's thesis/dissertation database within the library.

When a graduate faculty member retires from UB with no intention of assuming a faculty appointment at another institution, that faculty member is eligible to continue serving as the major advisor or as a committee member for a current student. The actual decision whether or not that person may continue to serve in such a capacity with a current student rests with the director of graduate studies and the chair of the department. However, subsequent to their retirement, graduate faculty members should not accept major advisor or committee membership assignments for any new student.

When a graduate faculty member leaves UB for an appointment at another institution and the student is at the final stages of completing the thesis or project (generally with one year or less needed to finish), the Graduate School will allow the departed faculty member, if they are willing, to retain their role on that student’s committee, providing the department chair and the director of graduate studies concur. The primary consideration in retaining a departed faculty member on a committee should be to avoid delaying completion of the degree and unwittingly penalizing the student. However, if the student is more than a year from degree completion, the Graduate School does not recommend allowing a departed faculty member to remain on that student’s committee since, after that time, the faculty member will become immersed in responsibilities at their new place of employment, often leaving little time to devote to our student.

The dissertation should be an original contribution to the field as determined by the PhD candidate's department or program. Doctoral dissertations, except those in the department of romance languages and literatures, are normally written in English.

There are several style manuals available in the UB Libraries, including Strunk and White, Turabian and the University of Chicago Press, that answer a host of questions regarding the technical aspects of a properly prepared dissertation. A bibliography is also available which provides further examples that are more specific to various disciplines (e.g., the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association). Students should consult the appropriate professional journals and their major professors to determine the most appropriate style within their area of research.

It is the prerogative and responsibility of the candidate and the sponsoring department to ensure that the canons of organization, presentation and documentation usually prescribed for publication in their discipline are observed. Likewise, the dissertation must be certified as substantially free of errors and ready for publication before it is submitted to the Graduate School.

Since 2005, all master’s theses and doctoral dissertations completed by UB students in fulfillment of graduate program requirements have been archived and accessible through ProQuest’s dissertations and theses database. Beginning with the June 1, 2018 degree conferral, all theses and dissertations will also be accessible for public access through UB’s Institutional Repository. Students will continue to have the option to request a temporary embargo (delayed release) of their thesis or dissertation containing patentable material or content being submitted to peer-reviewed journals or for commercial publication. See the Public Access of Theses and Dissertations and Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation policies.

A doctoral dissertation committee, selected by the student with the approval of their home department, oversees the doctoral student’s work in preparing the PhD dissertation. The doctoral dissertation committee must be comprised of at least three core members: a major professor and at least two additional core committee members. Each core committee member must be a member of the UB Graduate Faculty. Associate members of the UB Graduate Faculty may not serve on doctoral dissertation committees as core members, but may serve as additional committee members. On occasion, individuals who are neither members nor associate members of the UB Graduate Faculty may serve as additional dissertation committee members if their expertise would be of significant value to the student and the core members of the committee. Questions concerning the composition of doctoral dissertation committees should be referred to the Graduate School.

The student's copyright is established as soon as the dissertation is fixed in a tangible medium, i.e., saved on a computer hard drive. However, it is the student's choice whether or not to then register that copyright. Registering the copyright will allow the student to file suit against anyone who infringes upon this copyright in the future. Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is not required in order to establish copyright. The rights of a copyright owner include the ability to make copies of the work, make derivative works, distribute copies of the work, perform the work publicly and display the work publicly. Whether or not a student chooses to register their copyright, that student retains the rights to their dissertation and may authorize others (i.e., a publisher or another researcher) to exercise them. The student retains these rights unless they relinquish them, as is the case with some publisher contracts. It is the student's responsibility to guarantee that the work is original and that they have followed accepted standards for documenting the use of references and citations of other works. Attribution of one's sources, however, has nothing to do with copyright and does not protect a student from copyright infringement when using other copyrighted works in their dissertation. Students should discuss the option to register the copyright of their work with their major professor before reaching a decision. Once the decision has been made to register one's copyright, the appropriate symbol, the date, and the author's name must be included on the page immediately following the title page. Regardless of registration, the student's copyright will run for the life of the author plus 70 years. Students may request this service to be provided through the Graduate School's online submission system as an option under the ProQuest Dissertation Publishing Agreement they sign when submitting the final dissertation.

The Graduate School will accept any self-consistent format that follows conventions of a recognized discipline, but some general formatting standards are also expected as outlined on the Graduate School's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Guidelines page.

A Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) constitutes a doctoral-level scholarly endeavor that integrates research methodologies with practical applications. Focused on addressing a limited problem within a professional context, the DiP prioritizes the generation of impactful solutions that directly improve practices in a particular field. In contrast to traditional dissertations that primarily contribute to the theoretical foundation of a discipline, the DiP emphasizes the purposeful application of research to effect positive change.

An EdD Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) committee, selected by the student with the approval of their home department, oversees the EdD student's work in preparing the dissertation-in-practice for a formal defense. The EdD Dissertation-in-Practice faculty committee must be comprised of at least two members: a major professor and one additional committee member. The major professor must be a Member of the UB Graduate Faculty, and the second committee member must be an Associate Member or Member of the UB Graduate Faculty. An additional person(s) may be added to the committee if their expertise would contribute to supporting the student's research.

The oral defense is a public event scheduled by the department and must be attended by the candidate's PhD dissertation committee and if required, the outside reader. At the discretion of the department, the defense-of-dissertation examination may take the form of a seminar with a more varied selection of participants. Examination questions will always include questions arising from the dissertation itself. In many cases, particularly ones in which departments have not required extensive examinations during the course of the student's tenure, questions will be more general and the examination longer.

Admission and matriculation into a PhD program does not automatically qualify a student to be a candidate for that PhD degree.  Typically, a student advances to candidacy by the end of the third year in the PhD program, but this can vary from person to person, or by degree program. To become a formal PhD candidate, generally after passing the PhD qualifying exam or qualifying paper, a student formulates their dissertation committee with the help of the DGS or another assigned academic advisor, and submits the PhD Application to Candidacy (ATC) to their department to begin the application vetting process. Each PhD student shall consult with the director of graduate study (DGS) to discuss the right time to file for PhD candidacy.

At such time, the student’s PhD committee and the director of graduate study and/or the department chair will carefully review the student’s performance in coursework, independent study, and any qualifying exam results as evidenced in the PhD ATC materials. Upon department approval, the ATC is then vetted by the school’s divisional committee (if required), the relevant dean, and finally the Graduate School. Upon Graduate School approval of the ATC, the PhD student becomes a candidate, enters the final ABD stage of their program, and engages generally exclusively, in scholarship leading to a completed dissertation.

Typically, the PhD ATC is submitted one year or more prior to the student’s anticipated degree completion. Regardless, the PhD ATC must be filed with the Graduate School at least three months before the student’s anticipated graduation, according to these deadlines:

• March 1 for June 1 degree conferral.
• July 1 for Aug. 31 degree conferral.
• Oct. 1 for Feb. 1 degree conferral.

Each student is advised to check with the appropriate office one semester prior to the deadline date listed for up-to-date information. It is the student's responsibility to check with the Graduate School at 716-645-2939 prior to the deadline dates to be sure all the requirements and paperwork for your degree have been completed. Each department has the appropriate forms and additional instructions.

Qualifying to become a PhD candidate is a significant milestone along the path to program completion and is a gateway to the dissertation-preparation phase of the PhD program. Candidacy qualification may be accomplished through discipline-specific/program-defined assessment measures such as an oral and/or written comprehensive or preliminary qualifying exam; or a dissertation prospectus; or a preliminary paper or prospectus. Oversight and assessment of the candidacy qualification process is limited to members of the UB Graduate Faculty. Only students who successfully pass or complete the qualifying milestone and who have an approved PhD Application to Candidacy through the Graduate School may refer to themselves as a "doctoral candidate."

Before degree conferral is possible, all PhD candidates must:

1. Maintain continuous registration until the PhD degree is conferred.
2. Complete a minimum of 72 credit hours of graduate study. A minimum of 50 percent of the PhD program must consist of courses completed at UB and uniquely applied to that degree program (see the policy on course sharing).
3. Complete UB's Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirement.
4. Successfully complete an oral and/or written comprehensive or preliminary qualifying exam; or a dissertation prospectus; or a preliminary paper or prospectus.
5. Submit a PhD Application to Candidacy form within the proper deadline dates for approval at the department, decanal, divisional committee (where required) and Graduate School levels.
6. Complete and orally defend an acceptable doctoral dissertation; electronically submit the dissertation to the Graduate School for final approval and filing in the UB Institutional Repository.
   
7. Complete the M-form for PhD degrees and submit it to the Graduate School.
8. Fulfill the doctoral degree recipient survey requirement.
   
9. Complete additional requirements as the department or program might duly specify.

All students admitted to a PhD program for the fall 2009 semester or thereafter are required to document successful completion of "Responsible Conduct of Research" (RCR) training when they submit their PhD Application to Candidacy form for their PhD degree. This training requirement may be fulfilled by either (1.) enrolling in and passing with a grade of B (3.00) or better LAI 648 Research Ethics or RPG 504 Responsible Conduct of Research or BMS 514 Intro to Scientific Investigation and Responsible Conduct or RSC 602 Research Ethics for the Health Sciences or (2.) completing a Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) online Responsible Conduct of Research course with an average score of 80 percent or higher, or (3.) successfully completing UB’s Responsible Research Micro-Credential. Students opting to complete the CITI online course or the Responsible Research Micro-Credential must supply proof of completion with their PhD Application to Candidacy.

The University at Buffalo has an institutional membership in the CITI online RCR program. That online program can be accessed through the CITI Program website.

There are four versions of the basic CITI online RCR course from which students should choose the version most appropriate for their area of doctoral study: biomedical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, physical sciences or humanities. The RCR program is comprised of a series of modules, each of which consists of readings and case studies and ends with a quiz covering the material. The program allows the student to enter and exit at any point and to re-take the quiz associated with each section. A minimum total score of 80 percent is required to pass the online course. Assistance is available online at the CITI website if any technical difficulties are encountered.

Once the student has successfully completed the appropriate version of the CITI RCR program, they must print the "Completion Report" from within the CITI program and submit it with the PhD degree Application to Candidacy.

The dissertation must be examined and approved by the candidate's PhD dissertation committee and if required by the student’s home department, by an outside reader.