GUIDELINES FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Ethical Considerations:

• Researchers are committed to practice ethical and professional conduct. It is a duty to ensure that their work enhances the good name of the university. • Researchers have an obligation to achieve and maintain the highest standards of intellectual honesty in the conduct of their research. • Researchers should only participate in work which conforms to accepted ethical standards which they are competent to perform. When in doubt, the researchers must seek assistance from their advisers. • If data of a private nature are obtained, confidentiality must be observed and researchers must not use such information for their own personal advantage. • The researchers must ensure that others who have contributed to the work are recognized in the research output.

• Ensure the accuracy of all data gathered and used in the research. • Cite all sources and data included in your research. • Give proper credit and acknowledgement to people or sources utilized in the Research. RESEARCH ADVISER: The Adviser shall be chosen on the basis of the following criteria:

1. An MA or Doctoral degree holder in her/his line of expertise 2. An expert who has proven his/her ability in his/her craft 3. A full time or part-time college professor of the university 4. An experience researcher in her/his field of specialization

Duties and responsibilities of the adviser:

The College Research Coordinator with the approval of the Chair of the College Research Committee and signed by the Dean of the particular discipline appoints the Adviser from his/her roster of faculty. Duties and responsibilities of the thesis adviser:

1. Guides the student during the preparation of the thesis proposal, discusses their choice of topic who receives the appropriate advice and guidance

2. Approves the thesis proposal 3. Submits to the coordinator a copy of the approved thesis proposal 4. Monitors the progress of the research 5. Discusses the research status with the research coordinator. 6. Signs necessary forms for completion (consultation form, endorsement forms, etc.) 7. Documents the proceedings of the thesis defense and conforms with the members of

the panel. 8. Accomplish the forms pertinent to the conduct of thesis defense:

a. Adviser’s Notes b. Endorsement of the Adviser

10. Certify the readiness of the student researchers to undergo a thesis defense and endorses to the research coordinator the thesis for oral defense (forms to be accomplished: Endorsement of the Adviser).

11. Signs the consultation form to write the topics discussed during the consultation with the advisees (forms to be accomplished: Mentor- Mentee Consultation Form).

12. Meets regularly with the students to evaluate the progress of their research, to discuss the problems that inevitably arise, and to provide whatever encouragement, and

direction proves necessary. 13. Submits the list of students’ names, to the research coordinator together with the list

of research advisers, and panelist two weeks before the oral defense for honorarium purposes.

14. Approves the student’s thesis as complete and defensible prior to the review by the panel.

15. Gives grades on the written thesis of students (60% of the total grade of students in Research course)

PANELISTS: The Pan elists shall be chosen on the basis of the following criteria:

1. An MA or Doctorate degree holder in her/his line of expertise 2. An expert who has proven his/her ability in his/her craft 3. A full time or part- time college professor of the university 4. An experien ce researcher in her/his field of specialization

Duties and responsibilities of panelists: 1. Have thoroughly reviewed the thesis manuscript one week before the scheduled

defense. 2. Be in the defense venue at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time of defense 3. Ask questions and give comments after the presentation 4. Evaluate the oral defense based on the criteria of the Oral Defense Evaluation Tool 5. Write recommended revisions, suggestions, and comments after the oral presentation

on the pages concern of the thesis paper of the students. 6. Give grades based on the oral presentation of the students (40% of the total grade of

the students in Research Course). 7. Review suggested changes, suggestions and comments of the paper prior to its final

endorsement by the adviser 8. Signs in the “conforme” to attest the authenticity and entirety of the recorded

comments, suggestions and recommendations of the members of the panel of reviewers.

9. Prepare a written comments, suggestions and recommendations for the improvement of the pap er should he/she will not be able to be physically present during the defense . (Note: Panelists will not be given an honorarium if he/she fails to submit the required documents prior to thesis defense).

10. Panel chair will present the decision of the panel of reviewers at the last part of the defense.

THE COLLEGE RESEARCH COMMITTEE: Composition: 1. Chair (appointed by the President of PLMAR through the recommendation of the

Vice President for Research, Planning and Extension Services). 2. Secretary/Secretariat (functions as the liaison officer during the whole thesis defense

process). 3. Members – College Research Coordinators of each college (appointed by the

President of PLMAR through the recommendation of the Vice President for Research, Planning and Extension Services).

Duties and Responsibilities of the College Research Committee: 1. Submit to the authority of the Vice President for Research, Planning and Extension

Services 2. Propose policies and guidelines in the conduct of Undergraduate Thesis 3. Determine and commission pool of advisers, statisticians, panelists relative to the

conduct of students’ undergraduate thesis. 4. Prepare the master schedule of thesis defense every semester. 5. Coordinate with the Academic Deans on matters pertaining to the conduct of

undergraduate research 6. Monitor the proceedings of the undergraduate thesis defense 7. The committee should meet once every month depending on the availability of all

members as will agreed upon during the committee’s first meeting. 8. Submit periodic reports to the office of the Vice President for Research, Planning and

Extension Services. 9. Act as a tribunal on matters of conflict and issues raised by the students and faculty

members that may affect the quality and integrity academic research exercise of the university.

10. Release certificate of originality and completion as significant requisites for the promotion of students.

11. Manages the fiscal and material resources for the equitable compensation of the thesis/research personnel and for the integral services to the students.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Chair of the College Research Committee: 1. Reports directly to the Vice President for Research, Planning and Extension Services. 2. Supervise the College Research Coordinators on matters pertaining to the systems

and processes of executing undergraduate research. 3. Coordinate with the Dean of the College on matters pertaining to the systems and

processes of executing undergraduate research. 4. Coordinate with the members of the College Research Committee on matters

pertaining to the schedule of thesis defense, defense fees, defense panel report, etc. 5. Supervise and oversee the proceedings of the Undergraduate thesis. 6. Prepares the master schedule of the undergraduate thesis defense. 7. Schedule a twice a month meeting of the College Research Committee 8. Presides over the meeting of the College Research Committee 9. Act as chair of the all the sub-committees under the college research committee

Duties and responsibilities of the Research Coordinator: 1. Supervise and monitor the undergraduate research proceedings and other related

activities that may affect the undergraduate thesis of the students. 2. Recommends to the college research committee the candidates for membership to the

pool of advisers, editors, panelists and statisticians. 3. Prepare the college’s schedule of thesis defense 4. Coordinate with the Chair of the College Research Committee on matters pertaining

to the schedule of thesis defense, defense fees, defense panel report, etc. 5. Submit reports of the college research activities to the Chair of the College Research

Committee 6. Consolidate the grades of the students in the thesis defense and submit them to the

Dean of the college. 7. Supervise in the preparation of the defense panel report in every thesis defense. 8. Request for the honorarium of the research personnel (adviser, panelist, statistician,

etc.) for the college.

GUIDELINES BEFORE THE THESIS DEFENSE: 1. The research group should secure an adviser’s certification of readiness to undergo a

thesis defense. 2. The oral defense will proceed as scheduled. Students are expected to be in their assigned

room 30 MINUTES before the time. 3. All groups are required to use PowerPoint and Multimedia for their presentations. To

ensure that multimedia devices are available during your defense schedule, please reserve a day ahead.

4. The 30-minute grace period should be enough for the preparation and setting up of equipment.

5. The attire for the oral defense is CORPORATE. For men, slacks, long sleeve with necktie, and leather shoes. For ladies, skirt, slacks blouse (with or without blazers) and leather shoes.

6. Please make sure to wear nametags to facilitate grading of the panelist. 7. The duration for the entire exercise is for one hour only exclusive of setup time. The

breakdown of which is as follows: Presentation 15 minutes Interpellation, Question and Answer 45 minutes

4. For consistency among groups, the following parts of the thesis should be discussed or presented within the 15 minute period:

a. Proposal Defense: i. Brief introduction

ii. Statement of the Problem iii. Theoretical / Conceptual Framework iv. Methodology

b. Final Defense: i. Brief Introduction

ii. Statement of the Problem iii. Results and Discussion iv. Conclusions and Recommendations

However, this does not mean that the group will not put emphasis on other parts of the thesis not mentioned in this section.

GUIDELINES DURING THE DEFENSE:

1. The Adviser shall briefly introduce the students and their thesis topic to the panelists 2. The Chair of the Panel shall give the students the go signal to start the defense. He/She

shall keep the time and see to it that the time allocation for presentation and interpellation will be followed.

3. After the presentation, anyone of the panelists can start asking questions. The Adviser can just observe and take note of the salient points in the defense but cannot help the students, in case they find some difficulties in answering the questions of the panelists.

4. The adviser will act as a recorder in which he or she will read the summary of the proceedings at the end of the defense.

5. The Chair shall summarize/recapitulate all the suggestions of the panelists to improve the manuscript.

6. Once finished, the panelists shall give ratings using the oral defense evaluation tool. 7. The evaluation of the students’ performance will come from two (2) sources:

a. Evaluation from the adviser: 60% b. Evaluation from the panelists: 40%

8. The panelists will grade the groups based on the following criteria of the rubric or evaluation scheme:

Undergraduate Evaluation Tool PROPOSAL DEFENSE:

Chapter 1 Background and Statement of the Problem 15% Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature 15% Chapter 2 Methodology 15% Overall presentation of the Paper 5% Group Oral Presentation (Group Rating) 25% Individual Oral Presentation 25%

TOTAL: 100% FINAL DEFENSE: Chapter 1 Background of the Study/Statement of the Problem 5% Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature 5% Chapter 3 Methodology 5% Chapter 4 Presentation of Findings 15% Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusion , Recommendations 15%

Overall presentation of the Paper 5% Group Oral Presentation (Group Rating) 25% Individual Oral Presentation 25%

TOTAL: 100%

9. The panel’s decision on whether the students passed or failed the oral defense shall solely be based on the content of the manuscript using the standard oral defense rating scale. The group members, however, will not necessarily get the same score since they will be graded individually using other criteria such as knowledge/Mastery of the study, use of language and communication skills etc., Directness and correctness of response.

1. The Chair shall finally announce the result of the evaluation. 2. The panelists will certify the veracity and thoroughness of the adviser’s minutes for this

is the basis for the revision of the research paper. 3. Both thesis adviser and student should be cognizant of deadlines.

GUIDELINES AFTER THE THESIS DEFENSE:

1. Length of time allotted for revision of the manuscript: The students are given two (2) weeks to complete the revisions and suggestions of the panel.

2. Students show the corrected manuscript to the thesis adviser. 3. Adviser and students review the suggestions and revisions for further improvement of the

paper. 4. Adviser approves corrections and revisions 5. Students apply for technical editing (APA Style and Grammar editing) 6. Final typing of the research paper 7. Submission to the adviser for endorsement to the research coordinator. 8. Dean signs the final research copy. 9. Submit a soft (in CD) and hard copy (hard bound with color coded cover) to the dean’s

office as a requirement for graduation OTHER MATTERS:

As a general rule, the scope of the advisory relationship should encompass from 36 to 40 hour meetings (see Consultation Form), beginning with the initial meeting with the students in the first part of the semester and ending with the thesis defense. Both adviser and students must agree beforehand on the subject of the meeting and the issues/questions to be discussed. In the final writing phase, the subject will usually be drafts of sections of the thesis, which should be submitted to the Adviser.

APPENDICES:

Color of the cover of hardbound copies: CBA and Accountancy: Yellow Nursing: White Criminology: Red Education: Blue Hotel and Tourism Management: Orange Mass Communication: Maroon

GRADUATE SCHOOL: BLACK