Graduate Student Resources

In close consultation with the thesis chair, graduate students in our program are required to meet several expectations, including choosing a thesis committee, devising a program of study, completing coursework, passing a comprehensive exam, defending a thesis proposal, and finally writing and defending their thesis. There are many resources available for this process, and this page provides information and links to help students on their path to graduation.

Department of Anthropology Graduate Student Handbook
The department has compiled a handbook that includes our own policies related to completing the Master’s degree. These include additional requirements and deadlines associated with Graduate Studies’ deadlines as well as instructions on how to defend the thesis prospectus and the final thesis. Each Fall and Winter semester, graduate students are to have a meeting with their committee members to assess their progress in the program. Students are required to fill out and have have their committee members sign and approve an evaluation form during this meeting: Graduate Student Evaluation Form.

BYU Graduate Studies and Policy Handbook
Graduate Studies has a website with many different resources, and graduate students will refer to this website often over their time at BYU. The information on this site includes important information such as policies that must be followed as well as deadlines. In addition to our department handbook, Graduate Studies also has a handbook with information to aid graduate students in their journey to completing their Master’s degree in our department.

GradProg
GradProg is the current online software designed to track your progress in the Anthropology Master’s program. This webpage is where you provide information regarding committee members, create your program of study, and upload your thesis prospectus and final thesis. Faculty members on your thesis committee are also able to track your progress, provide approvals, and digitally sign-off on the many benchmarks students meet over the course of their graduate career. GradProg also has some very useful information, especially deadlines for upcoming semesters.

Important Deadlines
One of the most important duties you have as a graduate student is to be fully aware of the deadlines set by both Graduate Studies and the Department of Anthropology. As stated above, the department deadlines are outlined in the Department of Anthropology Graduate Student Handbook. Deadlines for Graduate Studies can be found primarily on GradProg, but some also appear on the Graduate Studies calendar.

Master’s Thesis
Our program requires that every graduate student propose, carry out research, and write a Master’s thesis. This is the culminating experience of your studies in this program and should represent a well-designed research project that generates original data and conclusions. You will be guided in the process by your thesis chair and committee members. Near the end of the process, you will be required to format and submit your final thesis to Graduate Studies as an electronic document. These are to be formatted following very specific guidelines put forth by the department, the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences, and Graduate Studies. This process can be time consuming, so it is important that you plan ahead and thoroughly review the guidelines set by each one of these entities. Thesis formatting for each can be found on the Graduate Studies Webpage and College of Family, Home and Social Sciences Webpage.

Funding
There are a few sources of funding in the department for research and travel (primarily to conferences). Depending on availability, the graduate liaison will contact graduate students via email about travel funds for which they can apply. Students can also apply for money from three endowment funds. Applications are due annually at the end of December, and the students can request up to $1500 for thesis research or conference related travel. Follow this link to the funding page to find more information and to apply. The College of Family, Home and Social Sciences also provides funding for students participating in academic conferences. The instructions for applying for these travel grants can be found on the FHSS website.