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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.