Thesis Instructions

Programs with a thesis component

Biology
History
Human Nutrition
Sport & Fitness Administration
Studio Art

Deadlines

Typically due one week before classes end.

Spring 2026:

April 20th

Summer 2026:

August 15th

Fall 2026:

November 30th

*M.F.A. will vary depending on Orals in gallery setting.

Approval Process

Once approved by the Thesis Advisor and Thesis Committee Members, the Thesis Advisor or Graduate Program Director, if not the same person, will email the file to the appropriate college dean:

Biology

History

Human Nutrition

College of Arts & Sciences

Assiciate Dean Oakes oakesm@winthrop.edu

Sport &

Fitness Administration

College of Education, Sport, & Human Sciences

Dean Costner costnerb@winthrop.edu

Studio Art

College of Visual & Performing Arts

Dean Oremus oremusk@winthrop.edu

Once approved at the college level, the thesis will be emailed from the college dean to Gabby Jacobsen jacobseng@winthrop.edu, Assistant to the Dean of the SGCO (School of Graduate, Continuing, & Online Education).
Gabby will review the thesis for formatting, and any necessary changed will be communicated to you asap.
Once formatting has been finalized and approved, Gabby will seek the approval of the Dean of the SGCO, Dr. McCartney, and mark you as having satisfied this aspect of your graduation requirements.

Students should not be emailing their thesis directly to the SGCO.

Thesis Guidelines

Review and review again the formatting guidelines in our Instructions for Preparation of a Master's Thesis (PDF - 174 KB).
Refer to the Thesis Style Guides in the following section.
Follow the approval process noted in the section above.
Any questions, please contact Gabby Jacobsen, Assistant to the Dean of the SGCO, jacobseng@winthrop.edu.

Following approval, your electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD) will be made available to the public in Digital Commons, Winthrop’s open access repository for the intellectual work of faculty, students, and staff. See the “Digital Supplementary Material” section below for the additional documents that will be required. With these forms, you will select how your thesis will be accessible to the public. Students may choose to embargo their work for six months or make the work available immediately.

NOTE: Graduate Studies no longer requires a printed copy of your thesis, HOWEVER, you must confirm with your advisor about whether your program will require their own printed copy.

Thesis Style Guides

Below you will find a list of thesis style guides. Please note that some of the guides only address citation formatting. When document formatting is not specifically addressed, please reference APA style guidelines.

Biology: CSE
- Additional resource: Council of Science Editors Documentation Style
History: Turabian (Chicago Style)
- Additional resource: Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition
Human Nutrition: AMA
Sport & Fitness Administration: APA
- Additional resource: APA Style and Grammar Guidelines
Studio Art: MLA

If you have any questions about formatting, please reference formatting suggestions from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Digital Supplementary Material

After your thesis is approved by the SGCO Dean, you will be asked to complete the following forms.

Student Agreement for Public Access of Thesis (PDF - 21.6 KB)
Digital Commons Mandatory Metadata Fields (PDF - 88.1 KB)

With these forms, you will select how your thesis will be accessible to the public. Beginning with May 2015 graduates, all master's theses will be uploaded to the Digital Commons page on the Dacus Library website. Students may choose to embargo their work for six months or make the work available immediately.

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding the submission of your thesis, please contact Gabby Jacobsen, jacobseng@winthrop.edu, 803/323-2377.

Printing & Binding Resources

The SGCO does NOT require a printed or bound version of any thesis, however, some programs may still require this.

Departments and students wishing to have bound copies of a thesis may order copies on their own. There are many commercial binding companies and it is strongly recommend that you research to identify the service that best meets your needs. While Graduate Studies does not endorse a particular company, we are happy to direct you to the following websites for your information:

This Binding Guide (PDF - 519 KB) refers to the pre-summer 2023 requirements for the binding of official printed submission copies. These guidelines are meant as a reference for students who are having personal copies printed and bound. You are not required to follow these instructions for your personal copies unless you want your personal copies to resemble an official submission copy.