Students are responsible for scheduling their thesis defense on a date and time agreed upon by their thesis committee (director and second reader) prior to its final approval. Students must reserve a room that is large enough to accommodate additional attendees other than their committee, and one that has appropriate technology needed by the student to conduct the presentation. Students should also at least two weeks in advance provide a copy of the thesis to the committee for review. The defense should be scheduled at least one to two weeks prior to the first day of exams to allow time for any recommended changes or additions requested by the committee upon completion of the defense. The defense itself typically consists of a 20-30 minute presentation, but longer defenses are not unusual, particularly in the case of performances. Once the defense date is confirmed, students must email honors@appstate.edu of the time, date, building, and room number so that it can be placed on the Honors calendar found on the Honors College homepage.
Following the presentation, the committee may invite the public to ask questions, or they may ask the public to wait until the committee has completed their examination. In the case of performances, art shows, or any other non-written product, for example, the student's presentation is the performance/show, but with a short introduction explaining the performance/show to the audience and the examination by the committee following the performance/show. These theses also require a written component to explain the product (DVD of performance, graphic art product, pictures of art work) that should be a minimum of 10 pages to adequately explain the goals and accomplishments of the project.
Once the questioning and "defense" of the thesis has ended, the student and the public are excused so that the committee may deliberate on the outcome of the defense. The committee determines if the student has "passed" or "failed" the defense. The student is invited back and informed of the outcome. Assuming a "pass," the student will then be instructed as to any remaining work, corrections, changes that the committee require before they accept the thesis in its final form.
The thesis director alone is responsible for assigning a grade for the thesis, and this does not need to occur until grades are due at the end of the semester, thus allowing time for any changes the student must implement. If there are substantial changes required before a passing grade can be assigned, it is possible to assign an incomplete, though this will delay graduation.