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Yes. In the first semester of the course, specific classes (recorded) will be made available in the student area, approaching issues related to the Term Paper.
The advisor is designated by the coordination based on the field of study in which the student is interested, which is selected after the student fills out the questionnaire available via the Term Paper System;
Yes, the research project stages and preliminary results, each one of them, are equivalent to a test grade (between 0 and 10).
The preliminary results must contain the introduction; material and methods; preliminary results; and references. This stage must be elaborated using the Term Paper template and the file post must be done via MOVE-Term Paper System and within the deadline.
Yes, the presentation must be submitted to the organizing committee via MOVE-Term Paper System in the format of a .ppt or .pptx file in the period established by the course coordination. This stage must be elaborated using the MBA-ESALQ standard template and identified with the student’s full name.
Yes. The coordination of the program will appoint an advisor to assist the student in the Term Paper elaboration.
The student will have the possibility to request advisor transfer after manifesting the request justification in writing. Transfer requests may be forwarded to the program coordination via email, before the preliminary results submission. Given that the advisor transfer is an exception, the program coordination will evaluate each case, considering its characteristics, and the communication established between the student and the advisor, with the possibility of the request being approved or not. The only requests that will be analyzed are the ones made by students who had already started going through the advising process and established contact with their designated advisor.
Regarding the research project evaluation and the preliminary results, the file submitted by the student in the MOVE -Term Paper System will be the one considered.
The grade assignment will be done by the advisor. In case the student submits the mentioned stages within the stipulated deadline, a grade will be assigned to the stage, ranging from 0 (zero) to 10 (ten). In the event of the documents not being in accordance with the appropriate structure, or if the minimum expected content is not met, or in case the student does not submit the file within the specified deadline, a grade of 0.0 (zero) will be assigned to the stage.
The grade of each stage is equivalent to the test (T) of a given class.
The Term Paper final version, that is, the version that the examining board will evaluate, must be submitted as a digital file created in Word (.doc or .docx extensions), and PDF, which must be strictly formatted according to the standards, duly approved by the advisor, and identified with the student’s full name.
The file must be submitted via the Move Platform – Term Paper System, with strict accordance to the deadline.
As this is a mandatory stage, students who do not comply will fail the course automatically.
Although the student may indicate a potential advisor to supervise their Term Paper, it will be up to the program coordination to analyze the request and designate the advisor. The decision will consider the Term Paper development and knowledge field of the registered advisors to advise during the course.
The Term Paper elaboration comprises 9 (nine) stages:
The project must contain, obligatorily: title; introduction; purpose; material and methods; expected results; activity schedule; bibliographic references. This document must be elaborated according to the project model available in the MOVE – Term Paper System, within the deadline stipulated by the course coordination to perform this activity. Along with the research project, the student must also submit the ECF Result.
The scheduling of the Term Paper presentation will be performed only via MOVE-Term Paper System and will be released only after the submission of the finished Term Paper as a digital file (.doc or .docx extensions), and during the period established by the course coordination. The student must schedule the day and time of the presentation, according to the advisor and rooms availability. After the scheduling is performed, it is not possible to change the date and/or time. We recommend that the Term Paper submission be made as soon as possible if the student has any day or time restriction since the number of rooms is limited per schedule.
The Ethical Considerations Form (ECF) is a tool that assists during the decision process regarding the Research Project submission to CEP, and it is available in the MOVE – Term Paper System. Filling out the ECF is mandatory for all types of research, not only those involving human beings.
The ECF result must be evaluated by the student and their advisor, and it must be submitted obligatorily (as a PDF file) to MOVE -Term Paper System, along with the Research Project stages, Preliminary Results, and the Term Paper, given that the last two may be replaced by the Consolidated CEP Report.
The result provided by the ECF is only a reference for students. It does not replace the CEP report, and it cannot be used as a justification for the non-submission of the research to the Ethics Committee.
The Term Paper Revised Version submission is mandatory for the students who are in grade recovery (grade greater than or equal to 5.0, and less than 7.0), after the presentation or in case the examining board requests it.
In both situations, the student will have 30 consecutive days, counting from the presentation date, to adjust their Term Paper and submit the Revised Version via the Term Paper System.
No, because the use of any type of text or document without the due quotation of the author is considered plagiarism and/or violation of copyrights, which results in loss of the right of the MBA Certificate.
It is not allowed to insert charts in the Term Paper. The charts must be adapted and converted into tables or figures.
No, because it is an optional section.
No. The MBA USP/Esalq Term Paper must be obligatorily elaborated according to the institution’s standards manual, based on ISO standards. Term Papers that do not comply with this format will not be accepted.
No. The use of tables must be in accordance with the MBA USP/Esalq Term Paper elaboration standards. The tables must be generated through worksheet makers or word processors, therefore, the tables copied and pasted as images will not be accepted (jpeg. tiff, png, among others).
When the student chooses to insert the acknowledgments in their paper, the student must thank those who contributed in a relevant way to the elaboration of the paper, but who are not the authors. A maximum of three (3) lines can be used for the elaboration of this topic.
Yes, the paper must contain the topics and sub-topics (elements) described in the Standards for the Term Paper Elaboration.
Yes, mandatorily.
Yes, the submission of the economic feasibility spreadsheet (.xls or .xlsx) is mandatory only to the students who developed the Term Paper with this theme. To the students that this condition does not apply, there is no need to submit any type of file demonstrating calculations.
Economic feasibility papers use indicators such as intern rate of return (IRR), payback (return time) and net present value (NPV) or non-conventional indicators, such as contribution margin, balance point analysis and others. Papers using these indicators must submit the spreadsheet at the moment of the Term Paper submission and in a single file (excel – .xls or .xlsx), all the data and calculations used for the paper elaboration.
The MBA USP/Esalq courses last 18 months, thus the final tests and the Term Paper presentation will be held after the end of the course, at the event planned by the institution. The dates will be defined and diclosed in advance by the program coordination.
It is not necessary to sign up for the Event. In order to present the Term Paper, the student must only schedule their presentation via the MOVE – Term Paper System, after submitting the Term Paper.
The presentations will be held via the LINKA Platform, which besides being intuitive, it provides students a unique experience so that they can make the most of this experience. On the platform, virtual rooms are available so that each student can make their presentation and in this virtual room, the student and board members can interact via audio, video, share their computer screen, and communicate via chat.
The Term Paper presentation lasts for a maximum of 1 hour, and the student has up to 20 minutes to present their paper to the examining board, who has up to 40 minutes to question the student and/or make suggestions for the improvement of the presented paper, in sequence, they inform the final grade to the student.
No. The coordination of the MBA-USP/ESALQ offers a standard presentation that must be used to elaborate the presentation of the paper.
The “Professor Pedro Valentim Marques” award has been established to recognize the best Term Paper of each course, chosen among the presented and approved ones during the presentation event. All the submitted Term Papers will automatically be competing for the award.
The Term Paper presentation is held during the event planned by the program coordination, and it may be online (via the Platform indicated by the institution) and/or in person (in the city of Piracicaba – São Paulo, Brazil), which will be informed to the student in advance. The Term Paper presentations held online will be recorded, and the access to the recording will be restricted to USP.
To conclude the MBA USP/Esalq, it is mandatory for the student to take the Final Tests – (i) knowledge evaluation, and (ii) text/situation interpretation related to the programmatic content completed by the student during the course. The tests will be online, and the date will be previously informed by the coordination, they must be taken individually, and students are not allowed to consult any type of material. The Final Tests are composed of multiple-choice questions, and to be approved the grade average of the two tests must be equal to or greater than seven (7.0).
Yes, because the paper presentation is open to the public. In the LINKA Platform, there will be an area for guests and people interested in watching the presentation. The link that will be used by people who want to watch the presentations is defesas.linka.la
The examining board will be composed of two (2) members with at least a master’s degree, one of them being a USP professor.
Yes. The student may fail in case the coordination detects a high level of similarity with other Term Papers. Furthermore, the student may also fail in case the Term Paper does not meet the basic methodologies and criteria contained in the Term Paper elaboration manual, which is made available by the institution.
No. The presentations will be held only during the event, and the dates will be announced in advance for the students to prepare themselves.
Yes. In order to conclude the MBA USP/Esalq, the student must obligatorily take the Final Tests.
The tests will be online, and the date will be previously informed by the coordination, they must be taken individually, and students are not allowed to consult any type of material. The Final Tests are composed of multiple-choice questions, and in order to be approved, the grade average of the two tests must be equal to or greater than seven (7.0).
In case the guests only watch the Term Paper presentation, it will not be necessary for them to sign up for the event. However, in case they would like to participate in other activities from the event (workshops, lectures, etc.), signing up will be mandatory.
Students must present wearing business or business casual attire.
The Term Paper grade will be the average of the grades assigned by each member of the examining board. The general average of the Term Paper evaluation will be informed to the student immediately after the Term Paper presentation. Among the criteria used for the Term Paper evaluation, it will be considered if the work addresses a topic/line of research relevant to the course, and if the student has used any tools/methodology acquired throughout the course. Three situations are possible:
Situation 1 – Approved (grade equal to or greater than 7.0): the student is approved but may be requested to submit a revised version of the paper at the discretion of the examining board, incorporating the corrections and suggestions presented by the board, except for the Term Paper title;
Situation 2 – Grade recovery (grade less than 7.0 and greater than or equal to 5.0): in this situation, the student must submit a revised version of the Term Paper within 30 days after the presentation date. The changes requested by the examining board members must be incorporated in the new version, except for changes in the title. The revised Term Paper version will be re-evaluated by the advisor, who will decide whether it is suitable for approval (grade equal to 7.0). The student may fail in case the revised Term Paper version does not meet the requests made by the examining board, or in case the file is not submitted within the deadline, the grade assigned to the presentation is maintained in both cases;
Situation 3 – Failed (grade less than 5.0): the student will be considered as having failed the Term Paper, and the opportunity to make a new presentation will not be granted. In this situation, the student will be prevented from receiving the MBA Certificate.
