Program Requirements
In addition to individual M.A. or Ph.D. requirements, all current students enrolled in the Department of History's graduate program are expected to fulfill several, common program requirement designed to serve as important milestones in the student’s progress toward completing the degree.
-
All incoming graduate students
should make an appointment with the Director of Graduate Studies at the
beginning of the first semester of study to discuss possible course selections
and fields of study. A tentative plan of study will be drawn up and placed in
the student’s permanent file, and a copy of the plan will be forwarded to the
student’s main faculty advisor.
-
All new graduate students must
make an appointment to meet with their main faculty advisor during the first
semester of study. The meeting should take place before registration for the
next semester begins. At the meeting, students should discuss their tentative
plan of study with their advisor and decide on course selections for the
following semester. The faculty advisor should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies before any changes are made in the tentative plan of study.
Graduate students should meet with their faculty advisor at least once every
subsequent semester to discuss their progress. The faculty advisor is
responsible for communicating to the Director of Graduate Studies any problems
or concerns they may have with the student’s academic progress. The faculty advisor
is also responsible for communicating to the student, as well as to the
student’s examination committee or thesis/dissertation committee, any
recommendations from the director of graduate studies and/or the research and graduate studies committee, or other issues related to the student’s academic
progress.
-
Each graduate student is
responsible for completing an annual graduate student activity report.
In the report, students will summarize courses taken and provide an overview of
their general academic progress. They should also describe any professional
development activities (conferences, papers, colloquium events, etc.). Students must forward their report to the Director of Graduate Studies by February 1. The report will be included
in the student’s permanent file.
-
All students must file a plan
of study by
the end of their second semester of study. Doctoral students should file the plan of study within two weeks of the completion of their first year review. The plan of study must be typed and signed by the student
and by the members of the student’s doctoral examination committee (or their
M.A. thesis committee), including the committee chair. Once completed, the plan
of study must be submitted to the department chair for signing, who will then
will forward it to the associate dean of the college for his/her signature. A
copy of the completed plan of study will be placed in the student’s permanent
file. Please note that the completed plan of study is a formal agreement
between the student and their examination committee and cannot be deviated
from without the consent of the student’s examination committee. Any changes
made to the plan of study must also be approved by the director of graduate studies. It is the main faculty advisor’s responsibility to ensure that the plan of study for each student working under them is followed once it is
approved, and that any alterations that are made subsequently to the plan of study are approved by the director of graduate studies.
-
All full-time M.A. students and
full-time Ph.D. students who have not yet taken their comprehensive examinations are expected to maintain
continued enrollment for one credit hour in Graduate
Colloquium, the professionalization course. Part-time students are
not required to register for colloquium; however, they are strongly encouraged
to attend the colloquium for at least two semesters. Graduate colloquium is a
course that involves professional development workshops on such topics as
writing successful grants applications, preparing for the comprehensive
examination or for job interviews. It also involves presentations by guest
faculty or by advanced graduate students. Colloquium meets approximately four
times per semester, usually on Friday afternoons. Credit for this course will
not count toward the degree.
In addition, students must remove all incomplete statuses in courses by the end of the following semester.
At least 60 percent of course credits counted toward meeting the M.A. requirements must be at the 600 level or above, and no courses below the 400 level can be counted for an advanced degree (M.A. or Ph.D.).
A Ph.D. student who seeks to change their major field of study and/or select a new dissertation director, or a M.A. student who wishes to change their core area and/or select a new thesis director, must have such changes approved by the department’s research and graduate studies committee.