Prior to enrolling in thesis credit, a student must choose a thesis advisor. The thesis advisor must be a full-time tenure or tenure-track faculty member within the Economics department. If a student is having difficulty selecting a thesis advisor, the student can seek advice from the MA Director or do directed readings (ECON 896) with different faculty members to get a feel for them. Keep in mind that students are limited to 6 credit hours of ECON 896 unless the MA Director approves an exception.
The thesis committee consists of the thesis advisor, a second faculty member from the Economics Department, and a Mason faculty member who can be from the Economics Department or from outside the department. Additional members may be added to the committee, but the three core committee members must be full-time tenure or tenure-track faculty members. Any exceptions must have the approval of the MA Director and the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The thesis advisor should be able to assist in the creation of a thesis committee.
Working under the direction of the thesis advisor and the thesis committee, the student researches on the thesis topic. When the thesis committee judges the student's research ready for a defense before the committee, the student coordinates with the thesis committee a date and location for the defense of the thesis.