Graduate Thesis, Dissertation, and Capstone Project for SY 2024-2025 for GBSEALD, SOH, JGSOM, SOSE & SOSS (AVPGE Memo)

In the past six years, the Graduate Programs Committee and Office of the Assistant Vice President for Graduate Education in partnership with graduate students, various offices, schools, departments, and programs, have worked hard to improve our graduate research ecosystem. We have updated some of our policies and procedures based on research, benchmarking, reviews, and feedback from everyone involved.

May I direct your attention to the following changes that will be implemented beginning SY 2024-2025: 

A. TDCP I Enrollment

To allow graduate students to be formally part of the adviser's writing group or research laboratory and to facilitate early preparation for publications, the School Council approved the following policy last 24 May 2024:

1. Students are eligible to enroll in Thesis I/ Dissertation I/Capstone Project (TDCP 1) after completion of all coursework, Practicum/ Internship, and Comprehensive Exams.
2. Students are permitted to enroll in a colloquium or seminar course (cat. No. 290-291/ 390-391) whose outcomes are the production of parts of the TDCP concurrently with TDCP I provided that these courses were indicated in the approved curriculum. 

B. Grading Rubric for Master's Thesis

1. To enhance the evaluation process for the thesis, the School Council approved the new thesis grading rubric last 24 May 2024. This tool is designed to be easy-to-use, robust, and customizable, ensuring it aligns with our high standards for academic excellence. By implementing this rubric, we aim to provide a consistent and comprehensive assessment framework that supports both students and faculty in achieving their research goals.
2. As approved, the revised weight for written work is 80% while oral defense is 20%.  Please take note too that the criteria for written work and oral presentation have been revised (see table below).
   

   Criteria	*Weights (%)
   Written Work	80%
   Definition of research scope and goals
   Depth of knowledge of the topic
   Method/s and quality of argumentation
   Thesis organization and language
   Contribution to knowledge
   Oral Presentation & Defense	20%
   Quality of thesis presentation
   Ability to answer questions and defend ideas
   Final Grade for Thesis	100%

3. The School Council also approved the minimum standard in evaluating a master’s thesis.  Kindly refer to the Criteria, levels of performance, and descriptors for grading the thesis WRITTEN work and ORAL presentation & defense for the complete descriptions. The percentage for each sub-criterion for Written Work and Oral Defense shall be determined per School. Furthermore, the schools may decide to elaborate further and/or set a higher standard than the minimum required. Deans are therefore requested to submit the percentages to be used by their respective schools to the Office of the Assistant Vice President for Graduate Education and Office of the University Registrar for implementation on or before 26 September 2024. A sample computation is provided here for your reference.

   NOTE: The Grading Rubrics for Dissertations and Capstone Projects are next to be drafted for proposal to the school body.'

C. New and Revised TDCP-Related Forms

All students are expected to submit original work for their Theses, Dissertations, or Capstone Projects. The work must be written in its entirety by the student, with proper and accurate referencing for any borrowed content. Students must ensure their submissions do not contain copied, paraphrased, translated, or summarized content from any other sources, including their previous works. To ensure that all research and writing must adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity, ethical conduct, and copyright laws, students will be required to submit the following forms beginning SY 2024-2025: 

1. Declaration of Originality of TDCP - Single Authorship (new) 
2. Declaration of Originality of Capstone Project - Group Authorship (new)
3. RL License and Declaration for Graduate Thesis, Dissertation, and Capstone Project (revised)

The forms have been developed and reviewed together with the University Legal and Compliance Office, Office of the Assistant Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation, Ateneo Intellectual Property Office, and Rizal Library. These are aligned with relevant policies of Ateneo de Manila University, such as the Ateneo Intellectual Property Policy, Academic Integrity Policy, Research Ethics Policy, and the Thesis, Dissertation, and Capstone Project Guidelines for Graduate Students.

D. TDCP Deadlines

As  indicated in the Academic Calendar for SY 2024-2025, we would like to reiterate the following deadlines:

*Commencement Ceremonies for SY 2024-2025 are scheduled on 23-25 May 2025.

Schools and departments may set an earlier deadline for the oral defense and TDCP submission if deemed necessary.

These policies are also found in the 2024 Edition of the Graduate Student Handbook (GSH) and the revised TDCP Guidelines:

• For the Departments/Programs and Deans 
• For Faculty Advisers, Panel Members, and Style Readers 
• For Graduate Students

As always, we are extremely grateful for your patience and continued cooperation. We hope you do not mind if we ask for your assistance in disseminating this memo to your faculty advisers, panel members, style readers, and graduate students. 

Please be guided accordingly. Thank you.