Master of Arts - Communication Studies

Course Requirements

Degree Requirements

• A student must complete a minimum of 26 credits of approved course work plus 6 credits of thesis credits. The classes may include six credits outside the Department of Communication Studies.
• An oral examination on the thesis is required.
• The Graduate Studies Coordinator will be the advisor for all entering students. Before completing 16 credits, the student should select a permanent advisor. The permanent advisor will work with the student through the completion of the program. The student’s advisor must approve all course work.
• Acceptable course work is defined as any class in which a student receives a grade of B- or higher. Any required course graded C+ or below will not be included in the candidate’s degree program.
• In consultation with their advisor, a student will organize a thesis committee of at least three departmental members. In addition, a fourth member from outside the department, known as the Graduate College Representative, must be appointed. An additional committee member may be added at the student and department’s discretion. Please see Graduate College policy for committee appointment guidelines.
• The defense of the thesis may result in any of three decisions: pass, pass with further edits, no pass. The most common of these three results is the pass with further edits decision. These edits may range from simple editing of style, grammatical errors, and so forth, to extensive rewrites of entire sections of the thesis. The committee may decide to either “sign off” on the thesis or not at the time of this decision depending on the extent of the edits. The committee may also want to see the final edits or not. Signing off on the thesis means that the committee agrees to sign the appropriate forms for the completion of the thesis. Again, they may do that at the time of the defense, or at a later time after edits are completed. a. If the thesis passes outright, then the student will have no further edits except those that the Graduate College may request. The committee signs off on the thesis at the time of the defense. b. In the event that the student’s thesis is not passed, the student will, at that time be severed from the program and will not be granted a Master of Arts degree.

Graduation Requirements

The student must submit and successfully defend their thesis by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public. After the thesis defense, the student must electronically submit a properly formatted pdf copy of their thesis to the Graduate College for format check.

Once the thesis format has been approved by the Graduate College, the student will submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest. Deadlines for thesis defenses, format check submissions, and the final ProQuest submission can be found here. 

Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.

Course Requirements

Degree Requirements

• The Professional Project subplan entails the completion of 29 credits of course work and 3 credits toward a culminating experience which may be one of three projects: theoretical application project, resource guide project, or curriculum project. The classes may include six credits outside the Department of Communication Studies.
• An oral examination on the professional project is required.
• Students select a four-person committee: three departmental faculty, one of whom serves as chair, and one Graduate College representative. Students prepare and defend a prospectus by end of the third semester in the program, work primarily with the committee chair through development of the paper, and meet with the full committee in their final semester for a formal presentation and defense of the project.
• The Graduate Studies Coordinator will be the advisor for all entering students. Before completing 16 credits, the student should select a permanent advisor. The permanent advisor will work with the student through the completion of the program. The student’s advisor must approve all course work.
• Acceptable course work is defined as any class in which a student receives a grade of B- or higher. Any required course graded C+ or below will not be included in the candidate’s degree program.
• Professional Projects may be assessed as Pass, Pass with revisions, or Not Pass. Revisions may include—but are not limited to—minor stylistic changes, investigating Committee members’ questions about substantive claims, revising sections of the argument, and so on. In some cases Committee members may want to see the final revisions; in other instances they may entrust the Chair to act on the Committee’s behalf. In both cases, and when the initial judgment is Pass, Committee members will sign the required Graduate College documents the day of the Presentation. In cases that require more elaborate revision, or when a performance is assessed as Not Pass, the Committee will delineate the necessary course/s of action before the student leaves the Defense.

Graduation Requirements

The student must successfully complete and defend their professional project.

Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.