MENU

Project Report Completion Scenarios

The amount of time it takes to complete your Project Report depends on a number of factors, including the amount of time you are able to commit to researching, writing and revising your report. MPub students frequently continue their work in the publishing industry after their professional placements are completed, which can lead to longer timelines to completion. 

What follows are two different scenarios for how your Project Report might be completed. 

Scenario A: Completion in Fall of Year 2 (4 semesters total) 

Clare secures a professional placement at Local Publisher, to run from May to August. She begins her placement on May 15, and at the end of her first week she reaches out to a Publishing faculty member who she’d like to work with. After a brief email exchange, the faculty member agrees to take Clare on as a supervisee. Over the next month, they exchange more emails to help develop a potential topic, and Clare submits the first draft of her proposal on July 1. By August 15, as her placement is winding down, Clare finishes working through revisions on the fourth draft of her proposal and is ready to start researching and writing full-time, treating this final semester as the equivalent of another course-work semester in terms of time commitment. By September 15 she has submitted a full, polished draft–as good as something she’d submit for a course assignment–and is ready to begin the process of revising multiple drafts first with her supervisor, then the rest of her committee. Here’s Clare’s timeline, at a glance: 

  • May-June: Begin approaching potential Supervisors and developing topics based on your professional placement. Sign a contract with your Supervisor to confirm both of your responsibilities.
  • July 1: Send the first draft of your report proposal to your Supervisor. 
  • July-August: Work through multiple proposal drafts with your Supervisor. 
  • August 15: Receive proposal approval and begin drafting your Project Report.
    • In conversation with your Supervisor, approach potential Readers. 
    • If you have not yet spoken with your Industry Supervisor or do not have a direct report through your professional placement, approach potential Industry Supervisors (see section “Other Relevant Process Documents and Links” for sample emails). 
  • September 15: Submit a fully completed, polished, and formatted Project Report (Submission # 1)to your Supervisor
    • September 30: Receive Supervisor feedback 
  • October 15: Submit a thoughtfully revised Project Report (Submission #2) to your Supervisor. 
    • October 30: Receive Supervisor feedback.
  • November 15: With your Supervisor’s approval, submit your Project Report (Submission #3) to your Supervisor, Reader and Industry Supervisor. 
    • November 30: Receive Reader and Industry Supervisor feedback. 
  • December 1: 
    • Confirm your Supervisory Committee with Jo-Anne so she can initiate the paperwork. She will work with you individually to ensure all of your paperwork is in order. 
    • Review the library submission guidelines (https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/publish/thesis/submission/deadlines) and contact them directly if you have questions about formatting or the library submission process as well as the copyright of images, graphs, etc. 
  • December 7: Submit a thoughtfully revised Project Report to your Reader and Industry Supervisor. 
    • December 15: Receive additional feedback or approval.
  • December 20: Deadline for submitting your Project Report to the Library. (Note that the actual final submission deadline varies year to year and should be confirmed in advance).

Scenario B: Completion in Spring of Year 2 (5 semesters total)

Maria manages to secure a professional placement with Marketing Company, running from June to September. When she first begins her placement, she gets caught up in learning the lay of the land and isn’t quite sure what she might write her project report about. By mid-July she’s ready to reach out to potential supervisors. She works to get her first proposal draft in by August 15, when Marketing Company offers to extend her contract into fall. Maria jumps at the professional opportunity, knowing that it might take her a little longer to finish her report if she’s still working. She finalizes her proposal for October 15th and spends the rest of the semester working writing a polished, submission-ready draft for her supervisor, which she sends on December 1, recognizing that she will need another semester to work through the various revision stages. She’s finding it tough to write and work full-time, so with her Industry Supervisor’s approval, she goes down to four days a week for the spring semester so that she has time to finish revising her project report. Here’s Maria’s timeline, at a glance:

  • July-August: Begin approaching potential Supervisors and developing topics based on your professional placement. Sign a contract with your Supervisor to confirm both of your responsibilities.
  • August 15: Send the first draft of your report proposal to your Supervisor. 
  • September-October: Work through multiple proposal drafts with your Supervisor. 
  • October 15: Receive proposal approval and begin drafting your Project Report. 
  • December 1: Submit a fully completed, polished, and formatted Project Report (Submission #1) to your Supervisor
    • December 15: Receive Supervisor feedback 
  • January 15: Submit a thoughtfully revised Project Report (Submission #2) to your Supervisor. 
    • January 30: Receive Supervisor feedback.
  • February 15: With your Supervisor’s approval, submit your Project Report (Submission #3) to your Supervisor, Reader and Industry Supervisor. 
    • February 28: Receive Reader and Industry Supervisor feedback. 
  • March 15: Submit a thoughtfully revised Project Report (Submission #4) to your Reader and Industry Supervisor. 
    • April 1: Receive additional feedback or approval. 
  • April 1:
    • Confirm your Supervisory Committee with Jo-Anne so she can initiate the paperwork. She will work with you individually to ensure all of your paperwork is in order. 
    • Review the library submission guidelines (https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/publish/thesis/submission/deadlines) and contact them directly if you have questions about formatting or the library submission process as well as the copyright of images, graphs, etc. 
  • April 20: Deadline for submitting your Project Report to the Library. (Note that the actual final submission deadline varies year to year and should be confirmed in advance). 

Back to Master of Publishing Project Report Guidelines