Texas Woman’s University confers three types of master’s
degrees: the Master of Arts, the Master of Science, and various professional master’s
degrees, such as the Master of Education and the Master of Occupational Therapy. The
minimum requirements for these degrees are outlined below.
Residence
While no specific residence requirement exists for the master’s degree, the
student should plan to pursue as much full-time resident study as is possible in the
degree program.
Time Limits
No absolute time period exists within which a master’s degree must be completed,
but credit hours older than six years cannot apply toward any master’s degree. Under
extraordinary circumstances, credit hours older than six years may be reinstated with
the permission of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, upon recommendation of a
student’s advisory committee, chair of the department, and dean of the college or
school.
Limit on Course Load
The nature of graduate study is such that the graduate student load should be
lower than a normal undergraduate load. A graduate student is considered full-time if
enrolled in nine or more semester hours. Enrollment in fewer than nine hours is
considered part-time enrollment. Graduate students are encouraged to consider twelve
semester hours a maximum load and, if employed, to enroll for proportionately fewer
hours. A master’s degree student may not carry more than sixteen hours of work in
any one semester of the long session or more than seven hours in any one term of the
summer session.
Grade Requirements
Grades in courses offered for the master’s degree must average B or above in
both the major and minor fields. (Some departments of the University accept no grade
lower than B for degree work; please see the appropriate departmental sections in this
catalog.) In no case may a course with a grade below C apply to the degree.
Graduate students are expected to maintain a B average on all graduate work.
Consistent failure to do so results in dismissal from the Graduate School. When a
student’s cumulative grade average on graduate-level work falls below B or when a
student receives a grade of D or F during any one semester or full summer session of
twelve weeks, the student is automatically on academic probation and notified of this
status. Failure to restore the cumulative average to B or above during the next
enrollment results in dismissal from the Graduate School. It is not possible to
improve the grade record at Texas Woman’s University by attendance at another
university.
Major and Minor Subject
At least one-half of the credits offered for the degree shall be in a single
field of concentration. It is incumbent upon the student to elect courses with at least
three instructors, two of whom represent the field of the graduate major. In addition,
the student may select a minor closely allied to the major, to the thesis subject, or
to the interests of the student. When a minor is listed as suitable by the major
department, no special permission is necessary, but at least one-half of the minor must
be completed in residence at TWU and in a field offering a graduate degree program.
Administration of Program
Each student must meet the special requirements of the major department. Each
student must comply with all policies and legislation concerning curricula or work
leading to graduate degrees as formulated by the Graduate Council and administered by
the Dean of the Graduate Studies and Research as authorized by the Board of Regents and
the Chancellor and President of the University.
When a master’s student is accepted into a program, the program, dean, director,
or department chair will appoint an academic advisor who is responsible for the
student’s program until an advisory committee is appointed. The name of the student’s
advisor will be included in the official letter of acceptance sent to the student by
the Graduate School. The student will develop with the advisor a degree plan, subject
to final approval by the advisory committee, department chair, academic dean, and Dean
of Graduate Studies and Research.
Degree Plan
The graduate student and the advisor share the responsibility to file with the
Graduate School, on the form provided for that purpose, the complete plan of graduate
study leading to the degree. (When the student presents a minor, a faculty member from
the minor department must approve the proposed program through signature on the degree
plan.) The student should file the approved and signed degree plan upon completion of
twelve semester hours.
Thesis or Professional Paper Committee
It is the graduate student’s responsibility to recommend the membership of the
Research Committee. The Research Committee consists of not fewer than two voting
members of the graduate faculty, at least one of whom represents the major component.
If the student has a minor, one member of the committee should normally be a faculty
member from the minor area. This committee shall have authority with respect to the
student’s thesis or professional paper; and the committee chair administers this
authority. This committee also serves as the candidate’s committee to examine over
the thesis or professional paper. A person selected to serve on a master’s committee
must hold a master’s degree or higher. Exceptions to committee membership may be made
at the discretion of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
Admission to Candidacy
When the degree plan has been approved in the Graduate School and all admission
or other conditions, including any foreign language requirement, have been met, and at
least twelve hours of course work have been successfully completed, the student is
admitted to candidacy for the master’s degree.
Program Requirements
All master’s degree programs require either the writing of a thesis or
professional paper or the fulfillment of a special project or other requirement.
Each master’s program which includes the writing of a thesis requires the
completion of a minimum of twenty-four semester hours of approved courses plus a
maximum of six hours for the thesis.
Each master’s program which includes the writing of a professional paper or the
fulfillment of a special project requires a minimum of thirty-six semester hours, of
which a maximum of six hours may be included for professional paper or special project.
All courses in the program must be graduate-level (numbered 5000 or higher), and
in no case may undergraduate credit be accepted toward a master's degree.
Graduate students are not permitted to apply toward the master’s degree more
than twelve semester hours earned in workshops, in seminars, or in any combination of
these. Such courses must form part of the logical, related sequence of work leading to
the degree.
Thesis and Professional Paper
A thesis, required in many programs, is the culmination of the student’s
independent scholarship or creative achievement in some branch of learning or of the
arts. The professional paper or project may be prepared in conjunction with a research
class or seminar or with certain off-campus activities approved by the committee and
terminating in a written presentation which demonstrates the student’s ability to
prepare a bibliography, gather data, use original source material, draw conclusions,
and present the material in a form which shows adequate command of the English
language.
Before the student begins research for a thesis, the prospectus should be
approved by the Research Committee and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
However, the prospectus for a professional paper, if prepared, need not be filed in
the Graduate School.
Two copies and the original of the approved thesis must be delivered to the
Graduate School no later than the filing date listed in the Graduate School “Calendar
of Deadlines.’’ Bound at the expense of the student, one copy is placed in the
University Library and the second in the files of the college of the major. These
copies become the property of the University. Under certain conditions, usually related
to special research fellowships or programs or to continuing university, college,
foundation, or industrial research programs, it may be necessary for the student to
pay for and submit more than two copies.
All theses are microfilmed by University Microfilms. The student pays for this
microfilming at the time of filing the thesis in the Graduate School. Copyrighting,
which remains optional, may be secured through University Microfilms for an additional
fee. Details concerning the abstracts, microfilming , copyrighting, and their fees are
available in the Graduate School.
When thesis work for the degree is undertaken during summer school, the thesis
course must be elected for at least two summer terms.
To secure credit for work done on the thesis or professional paper, the student
must register for the appropriate course. When “Thesis’’ appears on the schedule, it
will be counted as three semester hours in determining both load and tuition and fees.
Although no more than six hours’ credit can be earned for the writing of the thesis,
the candidate must re-enroll in the thesis course until the writing is completed.
Graduate students are urged to use the computer and research consultant services
of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science in the preparation of professional
papers, theses, and dissertations. To use these services, students must enroll in CSCI
5921 (Research Consultation Laboratory). The course may be repeated for additional
credit as needed.
The grade of PR is assigned to indicate progress on a professional paper or
thesis. A student writing a thesis for six hours’ credit is given CR (Credit) for the
first enrollment and PR (Progress) for all subsequent enrollments until the last
enrollment. At that time CR is given again. A student writing a professional paper for
three hours’ credit is assigned the grade of PR for all enrollments except the last
one and is assigned the grade of CR for the final enrollment.
Only an officially registered student may hold conferences with faculty members
concerning the preparation of a thesis or professional paper. This rule applies both
when the student is in actual residence and when the student is not in residence but
receiving aid or criticism through conferences or correspondence. This rule does not
apply to those preliminary conferences held before the thesis subject has been selected. Registration for thesis or professional paper in one term is good for that term only and does not extend to the next term.
The Graduate School publication Guide to the Preparation and Processing of
Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Papers (available at
http://www.twu.edu/o-grad/) should be
consulted for additional information concerning the thesis or professional paper.
Final Examination
A candidate for a master’s degree must take a final examination. This
examination may be oral, written, or both, at the option of the examining committee,
and covers the candidate’s thesis, professional paper, or project. It may also cover
major and minor fields. The examining committee consists of at least two members,
approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
Formal notice of satisfactory completion of the final examination must be filed
in the Graduate School by the date specified for each session in the Graduate School
“Calendar of Deadlines.’’
Credit by Transfer
There is no automatic transfer of graduate credit. However, a student’s advisor
or committee may recommend and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research may approve
specific courses for transfer credit as a part of the student's master's degree plan.
Programs will use the following scale in determining the maximum possible number of
credits that may be transferred:
up to 6 semester hours in a program of 30-38 credit hours.
up to 9 semester hours in a program of 39-44 credit hours.
up to 12 semester hours in a program of 45 or more credit hours.
Only graduate courses in which the grade of B or better has been earned from an
accredited school may be considered for transfer credit. Transferred work is not
accepted until the student has demonstrated ability to do satisfactory work at the
Texas Woman’s University. No credit toward a graduate degree may be obtained by
correspondence, nor may credit toward a graduate degree be obtained by extension work
from another institution. All transfer credits must have been earned in residence at a
university of recognized excellence and approved at TWU by the appropriate dean or
chair and by the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. The rule governing the time
limit for master’s degree credit applies to transfer credit.
