Theses, Dissertations, and Other Student Works

Students will own the copyrights to their theses, dissertations, and other student works; however, a student must, as a condition to a degree award, grant royalty-free nonexclusive permission to the University to store copies of such works for archival purposes and to reproduce and publicly distribute copies of his or her thesis or dissertation within the University education and research missions; provided however, that should the student identify any legitimate proprietary interest the student may have in the work, or should the University determine that it has an ownership interest in any patentable or otherwise protectable Intellectual Property interest in the work, the University shall then delay any public access to the work for up to one year following the presentation of the work, in order for the student to consult with the University regarding the protection of the proprietary interest. Copyright ownership of theses or dissertations generated by research that is performed in whole or in part by a student with the support of a sponsor or grant shall be determined in accordance with the terms of the sponsored research or grant agreement, or in the absence of such terms, the copyright shall be owned by the University.