Change of Master's Thesis to Non-Thesis

In several majors, a master's degree may be earned without the preparation of a thesis. When changing from a thesis to a non-thesis option, a student may transfer up to four hours of credit for satisfactorily completed Course 591 (Research and Thesis for the Master's Degree) to satisfy the requirement for Course 594 (Special Projects), provided that two conditions are met: first, the student's GPA must be at least 3.0/4.0; second, the student's academic unit must permit the change to a non-thesis option after consulting with the student's adviser and must approve the transfer on the grounds that the thesis-oriented work is equivalent to work on a project. Procedures for evaluating the transfer of credits from 591 and 691 to 594 (and for evaluating the student's performance on the Special Project) must be documented and monitored by each academic unit. The Office of Academic Affairs will allow up to four credit hours of 591 or 691 to be substituted for 594 credits. Form G701 Graduate Student Petition is used to request this substitution consideration.

To initiate a request to change from a thesis to a non-thesis option, the student will complete a change of thesis option using eForms for Graduate Degree Works, which is accessed from the MyIIT portal (my.iit.edu) under the Academics tab. 

More information regarding the use of 591 and 691 credit is available in the Research Credit Use section of the Graduate Bulletin.