When a student is admitted to the thesis option, a member of the graduate faculty will be appointed to serve as the student's advisor and as the chair of the master's thesis committee.

This committee consists of the chair (advisor) and at least two (2) other Indiana University graduate faculty members.

The chair of the committee must be a graduate faculty member in the department in which the student’s degree is being pursued. While students often wish to have a member of the committee from an institution other than Indiana University, such an individual may serve only as a consultant for the committee, but not as one of the three required members.

Information regarding the eligibility of faculty members to serve on the master's thesis committee is available on the University Graduate School Roster of Graduate Faculty at https://graduate.indiana.edu/faculty-staff-resources/membership.html.

A Nomination of master's Thesis Committee Form, approved by the members, must be submitted to the School for approval. The form may be found online at one.iu.edu/task/iub/current-sph-students.

The research proposal meeting may not be scheduled before the assistant dean in charge of graduate education approves the submitted master's Thesis Committee Form.

The chair/advisor will guide all phases of the thesis development. After the thesis topic has been identified, the student must prepare a detailed outline of the research proposal. The outline must then be submitted to the committee for approval. The committee is also responsible for the evaluation of the completed thesis.