About the Senior Thesis

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Course Details

Credit: 12 Credits
Prerequisite: Approval of student’s BFA advisor, successful progress towards completion of academic and studio requirements.

Course Objectives

To provide the student with specific working format and guidance during planning and preparation of the BFA thesis exhibition.

Instructor

A professor in the student’s primary emphasis area will be the official course instructor and chair of the senior thesis committee.

Course Content

The student will meet regularly with his/her BFA committee to discuss the following:
Development of a cohesive body of work
Aesthetic, conceptual and technical concerns
Planning and installation of the exhibit
Portfolio content (digital portfolio on CD, prints, resume, artist’s statement, biography)

Evaluation

Evaluation of senior thesis credits will occur throughout the senior year. Evaluation will be discussed by the committee and decided by the chair of the committee.

Evaluation criteria includes:

  • completion of 3 meetings per semester
  • completion and submission of student response form within 3 days of thesis meetings Note: submission of the student response form is documentation of the meeting, failure to submit the form will result in loss of credit for the required thesis meeting.
  • thesis progress
  • analysis of the work in the exhibition: quality, quantity, aesthetic consistency, and whether it demonstrates proficient use of materials and techniques.
  • ability to explain and defend the concept and execution of the work
  • exhibition design and installation
  • quality and completeness of the student’s portfolio and supporting materials.

Purpose

The senior thesis is intended to verify the student’s ability to conceive, plan and execute a body of work appropriate to a professional exhibition. The senior thesis exhibition should represent a cohesive, aesthetically unified, technically accomplished group of works fulfilling the senior thesis project. In some cases, works completed before the thesis year may be included in the thesis exhibition, subject to approval of the committee. In senior thesis committee meetings, culminating in the final critique, the student will explain and defend the conceptual framework and process of the senior thesis work, as well as the project outcome.

Limitations

Senior thesis coursework should be completed in two semesters unless extenuating circumstances such as ill-health or other serious verifiable matters are involved. Low productivity or delayed exploration and development of technique is not cause for thesis extension. Any extension should be agreed upon by the committee and not automatically assumed possible.
Senior thesis coursework is expected to be completed in the studios of the School of Art, Craft & Design unless express permission has been granted by the thesis committee.

BFA Committee

Immediately at the end of the student’s Junior year, two semesters prior to graduation, the student will form a thesis committee of three members, including at least two TTU full-time School of Art, Craft & Design faculty members, chaired by a TTU faculty member from the student’s major area of study. Additional members may include Craft Center artists-in-residence or professional artists/craftspeople from outside academia, subject to approval by the committee chair. The committee will be responsible for guidance and assistance in completing the senior thesis work and in planning the student’s senior thesis exhibition and for assessing whether the student has successfully completed the requirements for the senior thesis.

How to establish your senior thesis committee:

  • You are required to have 3 committee members.
  • 2 of the 3 committee members must be current full time faculty members in the School of Art, Craft & Design.
  • If you are proposing a non-faculty committee member, you must obtain prior approval from your committee chairperson.
  • Contact the prospective committee member to request their participation on your committee. You can arrange a meeting or send them a formal request via e-mail.
  • Notify the prospsective committee member why you have selected them and why you would be honored by their participation.
  • Thank them for their willingness to serve on your committee.

How to schedule your senior thesis meetings:

Thesis committee meetings occur on Fridays. Meetings will be scheduled by administrative staff in the School of Art, Craft & Design.

Requirements

Committee Formation and Meetings

End of Junior year:

Complete Senior Thesis Orientation Session and Form a BFA Committee
At the end of the semester prior to starting the Senior Thesis, the student will form a BFA committee, inviting appropriate members as stipulated above. The student will consult with the committee chair and prepare a comprehensive typewritten project proposal to include supporting narrative and sketches/images. The proposal should explain the nature of the project, how it will be implemented, and the nature of the senior thesis exhibition, and should include an approximate schedule of project execution through the course of the year. The student will work with the committee chair to determine appropriateness and feasibility.

First Semester:

Project Proposal and First Meeting
Within the first two weeks of the first semester of the senior year the student will will complete their first of three thesis meetings of the semester. At this meeting the student will distribute copies of their thesis proposal to each committee member. The proposal should explain the nature of the project, how it will be implemented, the nature of the senior thesis exhibition, and should include an approximate schedule of project execution through the course of the year.
The committee will also meet at least three times during the first semester to help determine the direction of the senior thesis project.
At the first meeting, which should take place within the first two weeks of the semester, the committee will discuss scheduling for the exhibition. Immediately after this meeting the student should meet with gallery personnel to schedule the exhibition and the student’s preference for a particular gallery space. Depending on the number of students mounting thesis exhibitions in a given semester, students may be required to share gallery space with other thesis students. At the second meeting the student should present the committee members with copies of the first draft of their exhibition statement.

Second Semester

During the final semester the committee will meet at least three times to review the student’s work and monitor progress towards the exhibition. The committee will evaluate the quality and quantity of work, assist in editing the artist’s statement, and advise the student regarding preparation and publicity for the exhibition.

Upon determining satisfactory progress towards the exhibition, the student and committee will plan specifics of the exhibition installation, including the amount of time needed for installation, lighting and other relevant details.

Final Critique and Thesis Portfolio

At the last committee meeting before the exhibition, the student must schedule a final critique to occur in the gallery during the exhibition run. At the final critique the student will report on the status of their thesis portfolio. Two copies of the thesis portfolio must be submitted to the committee chairperson by the close of the student’s thesis exhibition. A final semester grade will not be reported without completion of this requirement.

Press Release and Postcard

A press release must be submitted to the Assistant for Promotions and Events at least 30 days before the exhibition opening date. The design should include image, text, and general layout, and is subject to approval by the committee.
The student is responsible for all expenses involved in preparing and printing a black and white or color exhibition announcement card. Normal format for the announcement is a two-sided postcard. One side includes an image of the work or some other appropriate design and often the student’s name across the bottom or top. The other side of the card is text including the following:

  1. Title of exhibition
  2. Student’s name
  3. “Thesis exhibition for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in (area of concentration). Appalachian Center for Craft (if applicable), Tennessee Technological University”
  4. Opening and closing dates of the exhibition—including year
  5. Reception date and time (reception is optional)
  6. Gallery and location (address)
  7. Gallery Hours
  8. Student’s website address (if available)
  9. Leave right half of the card blank for stamp and address

Documentation of Exhibition
All of the work in the exhibition must be documented in professional-quality color digital images.

Thesis Portfolio
After the BFA thesis exhibition is mounted, and by the last day of their thesis exhibition, the student must submit to the BFA committee chair two copies of the thesis portfolio, each bound in a 1”-thick hard cover three-ring binder including:

  1. Resume
  2. Artist’s statement
  3. Short biography
  4. Exhibition announcement card
  5. Press release
  6. A CD or USB flash drive including comprehensive documentation of all thesis work and exhibition display. CD must be identified with the student’s name, area of concentration, and year of graduation. Images must be JPEG files, with the title extension “.jpg” only. Name each JPEG image with a number. (For example: JaneDoe #1. jpg). Images must be sized at the minimum pixel dimensions of approximately 2100 wide x 1500 high (for a horizontal image 2100 Wide by 1500 high, for a vertical image 1500 Wide by 2100 High, if your image dimensions vary) saved at the highest quality. Do not submit small JPEG “thumbnail” images of lesser pixel dimensions or higher compression. Full-sized TiFF archive images are also acceptable, which may exceed 4000 wide X 3000 high pixel dimensions and exceed 30 MB per image. Do not put the images in a PowerPoint file, an iPhoto library, or any other presentation or archive format.
  7. Image list. For each image give identifying number, title, size, year of completion and media.

One copy of the thesis portfolio is returned to the student and the other becomes property of the School of Art, Craft & Design.