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 ALL 4TH YEAR LAW STUDENTS

 
 THESIS COMMITTEE


 REVISED THESIS RULES
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 August 25, 2000

Upon the recommendation of the Thesis Committee, the following amendments to the existing
regulations on the Theses Program are hereby promulgated. The amendments are underscored
for your easy reference.

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The administration of, and the implementation of regulations, including the monitoring and
coordination of all activities relating to, the Thesis Program shall be lodged with a Thesis
Committee:
a. A Thesis Committee is hereby created composed of the Director as Chairman, and
two (2) members designated by the Thesis Director who must be members of the
Law School faculty.
b. The functions of the Thesis Committee shall include the administration, supervision
and coordination of all activities to, and compliance with, all regulations affecting the
Program, specifically:
i. Fixing of deadlines for the submission of thesis, nomination of adviser,
submission of ready-for-defense (the ³Final Draft´) of theses, designating
the members of Oral Defense Panel, and the monitoring compliance with
such;
ii. Setting schedules for oral defense, including date, time and place;
iii. Designating two (2) of the three (3) members of the Oral Defense Panel;
iv. Sending of notices and ensuring the presence of all the members of the
Oral Defense Panel at the scheduled defense; and
v. General administrative work related to the Thesis Program, including the
computation of final grades based on grades given by the thesis adviser,
the Oral Defense Panel and the Thesis Committee.
c. The Thesis Committee shall have the authority to reject a thesis proposal prior to
the submission of the same to the thesis adviser. Thereafter, it is the thesis adviser
who shall have the authority to reject or accept a thesis topic.
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a. A thesis proponent is entitled to nominate his/her thesis adviser who must be a

member of the Law School faculty or a teaching assistant/understudy. The deadline
for nomination shall be fixed by the Thesis Committee. In the event that a proponent
fails to submit his/her nomination on or before the deadline, the Dean shall
designate the thesis adviser, subject to acceptance by the latter.
b. The appointment of a thesis adviser shall be effective from the moment of
acceptance by the faculty member of the proponent¶s nomination, subject to the
following:
i. To allow thesis advisers to spend more time with students under their
supervision, a faculty member shall not act as adviser to more than five
(5) thesis proponents. In excess of this number, the Dean shall have the
discretion to assign another faculty member willing to supervise the work
of the thesis proponent.
ii. To enable the members of the Thesis Committee to concentrate on the
functions of the Committee, a member of the Thesis Committee shall not
act as thesis adviser.
iii. Faculty members with recognized expertise and experience in the subject
matter covered by the thesis proposal shall be preferred in the
appointment as thesis adviser. Faculty members knowledgeable in the
field are strongly urged to accept the nomination by the thesis proponent
or the designation by the Dean.
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Thesis advisers should work closely with the students under their supervision. They
shall have the authority to require amendment or revision of the thesis before they
certify the thesis as ready for defense. They may fix their own deadlines for
submission of drafts prior to the deadline set by the Thesis Committee for
submission of the Final Draft. Thesis advisers should however be given sufficient
time to review the drafts of thesis prior to deadline dates. Thesis proponents cannot
use as defense for failure to meet the deadline for submission of the Final Draft the
fact that the thesis advisers have required revisions and/or amendments to their
draft theses.
d. When the thesis adviser is satisfied that the thesis is complete and meets academic
standards, he shall certify the thesis as ready for defense on a form prescribed by
the Thesis Committee. The certification by the Thesis Adviser shall be accompanied
by a grade in a sealed envelope expressed in numerical form, which, together with
the grade received in the oral defense and the grade given by the Thesis
Committee, shall constitute the final grade of the thesis proponent. The standards
for grading, the weight and the Oral Defense Panel are prescribed in Section 3
hereof.
e. When a thesis has been certified by the thesis adviser as ready for defense, the
Thesis Committee shall have not more than five (5) days from receipt of the
certification, to review the thesis and determine whether it meets the prescribed
format. The Thesis Committee may require revisions only with respect to form.
3. ÖÖ

Except as provided in f., the Thesis Committee may require revisions of the thesis only
as to form. No revisions shall be allowed if the purpose of the same is for the
proponent to obtain a higher grade.

a. The certification to be issued by the thesis adviser shall be accompanied by a duly

accomplished grading sheet. The grade to be given by the thesis adviser shall be
broken down as follows:
å Substance & Content: 50%
å Form & Presentation (including language used, logical flow, footnoting,
order of presentation of legal issues and clarity of expression): 30%
å Novelty of Issue (including difficulty of issues presented, strength of
conclusion and recommendations): 20%

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The thesis adviser shall not certify the thesis as ready for defense if the grade
obtained, taking into account the components under Sec. 3.1, is below 75%. The
thesis adviser shall instead require revision of the thesis.
Each member of the Oral Defense Panel shall likewise grade the work of the
proponent at the termination of the oral defense. Grading sheets shall be provided
by the Thesis Committee where grades shall be recorded by each member of the
panel. The grade to be given by each member of the panel shall be broken down as
follows:
å Oral Argumentation (including defense of positions taken, accuracy and
relevance of cited authorities and application of doctrines cited): 60%
å Form & written presentation: 30%
å Oral Articulation of thesis summary and recommendations: 10%

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The Thesis Committee shall likewise grade the proponent based on form,
substance and content.
 The Thesis Committee shall total the grades given by the members of the Oral
Defense Panel and divide the same by the number of members of the panel present
during the defense. The average grade obtained in the defense shall be allotted 1/3
of the final grade, the grade given by the adviser shall likewise be allotted 1/3 and
the remaining 1/3 being that of the grade given by the thesis committee.
If the average grade in the oral defense is below 75%, Thesis Committee shall
require revisions as suggested by the panel. The Thesis Committee shall schedule
the proponent for another defense within a period not later than one week before the
Seniors Final Examinations. The proponent shall consult with his/her thesis adviser
in the preparation of the required revision. The re-defense panel shall be composed
of the same comprising the original defense panel. If the proponent refuses or fails
to satisfactorily revise the thesis as required, or refuses or fails to submit to re-
defense, the grade for the defense shall be withheld until the requirements are
satisfactorily met.
The schedule for oral defense shall be given a week after the deadline for
submission of the Final Draft. The schedule for oral defense shall be set not earlier
than the first month of the second semester of each school year and shall end on
the second month of the following year.
A thesis proponent must submit his ready-for-defense thesis in four clean copies,
thesis adviser certification form and the thesis adviser grade on the first day of the
2nd semester. After the deadline for submission, no thesis shall be accepted for
defense and the proponent shall get a grade of Incomplete and shall only be
allowed to defend his/her thesis on the next school year.



The Oral Defense Panel shall be composed of three (3) members, one to be
designated by the Dean, and two (2) by the Thesis Committee. At least two (2)
members of the oral defense panel must be members of the law school faculty or a
teaching assistant/understudy.
The presence of at least two (2) members of the Oral Defense Panel shall be
sufficient for purposes of proceeding with the oral defense. Should only one (1)
member appear, the Thesis Committee shall have the option to re-schedule the
defense to a later date, or designate another Law School faculty member or a
member of the Thesis Committee to act as a member of the Oral Defense Panel. In
the latter case, the oral defense shall be at a later hour, to allow the new member to
prepare for the defense. Except as herein provided, a member of the Thesis shall
not act as member of the Oral Defense Panel.
In case there is no faculty member in the oral defense, a member of the
Committee shall sit in the defense.
In case of re-defense or revisions, the deadline for submission shall be one week
after the last day of the regular defense.



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The Thesis Committee shall ask the advisers and the members of the oral
defense panel to assess the thesis whether the same can be nominated for Best
Thesis.
Copies of theses obtaining the most number of nominations, shall be forwarded
to the Law School Awards Committee which shall decide on the award for the first,
second and third Best Thesis.
Copies of theses awarded first, second and third Best Thesis shall be published
in the next issue of the Law Journal
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Effective the first semester of SY 2001-2002, the Thesis Writing course shall be
offered in the junior year. The course outline or syllabus shall be adjusted to include,
in addition to instructional guides for the preparation and writing of a thesis, actual
training in the preparation of the thesis proponent¶s chosen topic. As a minimum
requirement for passing, students enrolled in this course must have an approved
thesis title and proposal. Thus, the nomination of, and the acceptance by, the thesis
 adviser must be completed before the end of the semester. The approval of the
thesis proposal by the thesis adviser must also be completed as a condition for
passing the course.
Junior students are strongly encouraged to conduct research and commence
writing of their theses while enrolled in the Thesis Writing course. Professors
handling this course should encourage each student enrolled to actually start writing
his/her thesis, and to provide incentives to those who can submit at least a first draft
of their theses before the end of the semester.
Grades for this course shall likewise be expressed in numerical form.

The above amended regulations shall take effect at the start of SY 2000-2001. The
administration of, and the implementation of regulations, including the monitoring and
coordination of all activities relating to, the Thesis Program shall be lodged with a Thesis
Committee: The above amended regulations shall take effect at the start of SY 2000-2001.

FR. JOAQUIN G. BERNAS, S.J.

Dean
ATENEO SCHOOL OF LAW

 

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OF 25 AUGUST 2000

v There shall be formal notice published that Thesis Writing shall be offered to Junior students ONLY during
the First Semester, starting School Year 2001-2002.

2. The Second Semester will be used by Junior students to finalize their thesis and schedule their defense for
the First Semester of their Senior year. Formal notice of schedule of thesis defenses shall be published
before the end of the Second Semester of the Junior year. Each Junior student shall acknowledge in writing
that he or she has received written notice of the final date of thesis defense.
3. Thesis defenses shall be scheduled only within the First Semester for Senior students; summer defense
may be scheduled but only upon meritorious grounds, such as the availability of the members of the thesis
panel who may not be available during the First Semester of the following school year. Only on justifiable
grounds, duly approved in writing by the Dean, shall a Senior student be allowed to defend his thesis during
the Second semester.
4. The Thesis Panel shall be encouraged to formally discuss among themselves the final grade of the student
presentor, including the issue on whether the thesis should be recommended for citation.
5. A student who fails to make a scheduled or rescheduled thesis defense shall, at the end of the First
Semester of the Senior year, automatically receive a final grade of 60%, unless the Thesis Committee
allows a defense to be made during the Second Semester of such Senior year, in accordance with Rule 3
above.
6. A student presentor who is made to effect a thesis re-defense by his or her Thesis Panel due to major
revisions required of his or her thesis shall receive as the highest possible panel grade of 75% if the Thesis
Panel approves of his or her thesis defense. If such student presentor fails to effect a re-defense within the
period provided by the Thesis Panel, the student presentor shall automatically receive a panel grade of 60%.
7. When the Thesis Panel does not require a re-defense, but mandates that the student presentor shall effect a
revision(s) on his or her thesis, then the following rules shall apply:
8. If the Thesis Panel considers the revision only ³minor´ in category, it shall then give a final grade at the end
of the defense;
9. If the Thesis Panel considers the revision as ³major´, then the Panel shall choose to grant a final grade,
which cannot be higher than 75% at the end of the defense subject to release only upon submission of the
thesis duly revised; or the Thesis Panel shall issue the final grade, which cannot be higher than 75% only
upon submission of the thesis as revised without need of further re-defense.
10. In selecting the Best Thesis in a School Year, aside from forwarding to the Selection Committee the ten (10)
thesis with the highest final grades, the Thesis Committee may, using its best discretion, submit to the
Selection Committee such other thesis which they consider of very good quality for consideration.