THE MASTER'S DEGREE
A minimum of 45 graduate credits is required for conferral of the master's
degree. You may not have more than 12 credits with a CR grade exclusive
of research and thesis hours applied to your minimal credit requirements.
Additional credits may be required by individual departments. A program
of study approved by your advisor and by the departmental graduate committee
should be developed early in your first graduate quarter to ensure that
you satisfy all degree requirements in the most efficient manner possible.
Since graduate work implies advanced study and some degree of specialization,
a certain amount of undergraduate preparation in a subject or field of study
is presupposed before you may undertake graduate study in that subject or
field.
In most departments a minimum of 27 undergraduate credits is required in
the major area. Refer to the requirements listed by departments. The nature
of Ohio University's master's degree programs may make it appropriate for
students enrolled in certain programs to spend a given period of time in
residence on the Athens campus. It is your responsibility to ascertain whether
a period of residence is required in your major field and to plan a program
of study accordingly by consulting with your advisor and departmental graduate
committee. A comprehensive examination may be required, the nature and timing
of which is determined by the department.
Thesis Requirement
If you are in a thesis program, you will prepare the thesis under the guidance
of your thesis director on a subject in the field of your major work.* The
thesis provides an opportunity for you to formulate and express the results
of research and study. You may meet the thesis requirement by presenting
the results of a creative activity in literature, music, fine arts, or industrial
arts, together with a written essay indicating the purpose, procedure, problems,
and bibliography involved in the work. Each department will prescribe the
specific style manual to be followed by its students. You and your thesis
director are responsible for the maintenance of accepted standards of grammar,
sentence structure, punctuation, form, and scholarly style in the thesis.
A pamphlet, "Format for the Presentation of Theses and Dissertations,"
is available in the college deans' offices. This booklet contains regulations
regarding type, margins, quality of paper, and other aspects, as well as
detailed directions for submitting the finished thesis. If you are writing
a thesis, you must obtain from your dean's office the current "Format"
and the printed list of quarterly deadlines for graduation.
After the thesis has been approved by your thesis committee, thesis director,
and dean, two copies are forwarded to Alden Library. In addition, one copy
is retained in your department. The copies are bound and cataloged, then
one copy is placed in Archives and the other in the stacks. The thesis is
considered a public document and will be made available to the public in
the same manner as any other document cataloged within the university library.
If you wish, you may submit a copy of the thesis to University Microfilms
International for microfilming and entry into electronic databases.
*See "Restricted Publications of Theses or Dissertations" in this
catalog.
Oral Thesis Examination
An oral thesis examination is required of all students in a thesis program.
The examining committee is composed of the director of the thesis (as chair)
and two or more additional faculty members. You and your thesis director,
in consultation with members of the examining committee, set a time and
place for the examination. You must present final copies of the thesis to
members of your examination committee at least two weeks before the date
of your oral examination to allow adequate review of the manuscript. Results
of the examination are reported to the Office of Graduate Student Services
and the Office of Student Records as soon as final approval of the thesis
is given.
Nonthesis Option
Several departments have master's degree programs with nonthesis options.
In consultation with your advisor, you should carefully consider career
goals in deciding between a thesis or nonthesis option. Many academic areas
regard a nonthesis master's program as a terminal degree program.
Transfer of Credit
You may transfer a maximum of 12 quarter hours of graduate credit from an
accredited university to a master's degree program at Ohio University, providing
the following conditions are met: the credits to be transferred must have
been designated as graduate credit at the institution where taken; must
be letter graded B or better; must have been earned in the past five years;
must be applicable toward an advanced degree at the institution where taken;
and must have been earned in courses taught by members of that institution's
graduate faculty. Credit for courses taken by correspondence is not accepted.
Any request for transfer of credit must be recommended by your advisor and
departmental graduate committee before final review and acceptance by your
dean's office. No letter grades will appear on the transcript for transferred
courses nor will they be calculated in your grade-point average.
Time Limit for the Master's Program
The maximum time allowed between the date when you first initiate graduate
study toward a master's degree and the date when you complete the requirements
for the master's degree is six calendar years. Any master's degree program
which requires more than 60 hours may increase the six-year time limit to
seven years with the approval of the Graduate Council. Check with the Office
of Graduate Student Services or your graduate department to verify the time
limit for your graduate program. If you do not complete your requirements
within the time limit, you may be permitted to continue graduate study only
if exceptional circumstances are associated with the delay in progress.
The dean of your college may grant a one-quarter, onetime extension. If
circumstances require an extension of time beyond the one-quarter dean's
extension, you must apply for readmission to the program. The application
for readmission must be reviewed by the graduate committee of the program
and the dean of the college. The criteria for readmission should be the
currency of your courses, project, or thesis. The program may require retaking
or adding particular courses, updating the project or thesis, taking additional
practicum or internship hours, or fulfilling any degree requirements that
may have been added to the program since the initiation of your program.
If readmission is approved, the specifications for readmission must be presented
to you in writing, with a copy of those specifications placed on file in
the Office of Graduate Student Services.
Second Master's Degrees
If you wish to earn a second master's degree at Ohio University, you must
make formal application for admission to the department in which you are
seeking the second master's degree and pay an application fee of $10. In
addition, you must prepare a program of study for each master's degree by
listing the course number, name, and number of credits. You may use no more
than 12 credits from one master's degree program to satisfy degree requirements
in a second master's degree program. Each program of study must be signed
by the departmental graduate committees in both departments in which master's
degrees will be earned. You must then submit the programs of study to the
Office of Graduate Student Services for final approval. Any admission status
given in a second master's degree program must be regarded as provisional
until the programs of study are approved.
Return to 1995-1997 Graduate Catalog Table of Contents
University Publications and the Computer Services Center revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/~gcat/95-97/appadm/masters.html) April 13, 1998.
Please e-mail comments or suggestions to "gcat@www.ohiou.edu."