Program Approval Form (PDF file)

Academic departments have established procedures for monitoring and advising students. A student must be unconditionally admitted to graduate degree status prior to program of study approval. Student must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 for courses taken as a graduate student.

To monitor and guide the progress of the student, a departmental representative (e.g. advisor), or committee, conducts a formal interview with the student. This interview should be conducted during the first semester in which a student is enrolled in a degree program. No more than fifteen (15) semester hours of credit completed before this interview is conducted can be applied toward the degree being sought. This includes transfer and correspondence course work as well as credit earned as a senior.

At the departmental interview, the student's program of study will be planned and an Application for Program Approval (GF-1) completed. This form must indicate how all requirements for the master's degree will be met. The thesis or non-thesis option should be designated. For students following the thesis option, thesis committee members should be identified. It should be signed by the student and then approved by the departmental representative or committee, the department head, the dean of the appropriate college and filed with the Graduate College. The Dean of the Graduate College may approve the Application for Program Approval form at once (and then notify the student), delay action until additional data is available, or return it to the department with comments. The Dean of the Graduate College is in general charge of each graduate student's program.

Official transcripts for transfer courses taken prior to degree admission are ineligible for application for degree requirements, unless they are filed at the time of admission to graduate study. Transfer courses taken after degree admission will not be processed for inclusion in the program of study until official transcripts are filed with the Registrar's Office. Approval of transfer course work assumes the Office of the Registrar has recieved an official graduate transcript indicating that: the course work was graduate level; meets the recency requirement; and the grade(s) recieved are B- or above. Academic departments are not obliged to count toward their degree programs any credit for course work undertaken without specific advice provided by the department, either through an advisor assigned to the student prior to the formal interview or in the course of the interview itself.

Thesis Committee. The committee usually consists of the student's advisor as chairperson and two additional graduate faculty members. The committee assists the student in further defining the student's course work, in supervising her/his research and writing, and eventually accepts or rejects the thesis.

Selection of Thesis Topic. The student following the thesis plan of study is urged to make at least a tentative selection of a topic by the end of her/his first semester. The delineation of an exact topic is not necessary before completing a Program Approval form.