MFA Milestone #4 Thesis Submission

The MFA thesis must be electronically submitted and incorporated into ScholarWorks, an open-access web archive maintained through the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. The thesis must be formatted as prescribed by the Graduate School in the Guidelines for Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertations (pdf).

Visit the Graduate School website for complete information about electronic thesis submission, the Master’s Graduation Degree Eligibility Form and all other graduation-related tasks. Previously submitted theses no longer under embargo in ScholarWorks can be useful resources for examples of formatting and introductions.

ScholarWorks provides two access options for uploaded theses:

• The default option is Open Access Thesis. Open Access permits anyone with internet access to view the thesis. The second option, Campus Access, must be selected from the drop-down menu. Campus Access limits the access to only those with a UMass IT NetID username and password, or through interlibrary loan.
• An embargo period, during which the thesis will not be available, is the second option. The default is No Embargo Required. The drop-down menu also includes a One Year Embargo option. The Graduate School allows a 5 Year Embargo with a memo of support from the MFA Program. The staff of the Graduate School will set the embargo date when the memo is received.

A memo from the MFA Program requesting the 5 Year Embargo will automatically be sent to the Graduate School for all graduating MFA students. Information about the University of Massachusetts’ Intellectual Property Policy can be found on the Research Administration & Compliance site.