Program Questions
What are your required courses?
We have total course hour requirements for both the master’s degrees (with thesis (24 course hours) and with report (30 course hours)) and for the doctoral degree (45 course hours). We have only one required course for all degrees and that is the 081M Introduction to Graduate Studies in Human Communication taken in the Fall of your first year. Within the required course hours, both master’s and doctoral students are required to take 6 hours outside the department and 6 hours within the department and outside their area of study. The courses that you take within the required course work depend on what you and your advisor think are the courses you need to take to write the report/thesis/dissertation that you want to write.
Can I transfer hours from another institution?
You can transfer up to 6 graduate hours (two courses) from another institution if these courses are approved by your advisor and the departmental Graduate Studies Committee.
You will be assigned a “first semester mentor” to help you choose your first semester’s course work. In February of your first Spring semester, doctoral students choose a faculty advisor and two Comm. Studies faculty committee members. Master’s students choose an advisor and one reader.
Are students required to attend graduate school full time?
Students who take nine hours (three classes) are considered full time students. If you are offered funding through the department, you must be a full time student. If you are not offered funding through the department, then you are not required to be a full time student. We do, however, strongly suggest it. You will complete your degree in a much more timely fashion and get to know your fellow graduate students better. It is possible to work full time and get a graduate degree if your work schedule is flexible enough to take graduate courses when they are offered. Our program is not structured for students who work full time, but it can be done and has been done.
Does the Department specialize in qualitative or quantitative research?
Our department is fairly balanced in how our faculty chooses to do research. There are faculty members in all three areas of research who use qualitative methods and others who use quantitative methods.
