Graduate Study
Graduate study provides committed students the opportunity to complete
advanced learning or technical mastery under the direct guidance of
scholars and practitioners in full command of their individual specialty.
The purpose of graduate studies is to provide not only highly trained
individuals to meet the future needs of humanity, but also to contribute
to that knowledge base essential to address and potentially solve
societal problems. Undertaking graduate study involves not only a
dedication to complete the course of study, but also a commitment to the
principles of intellectual freedom, personal and professional integrity,
and universal respect for those same characteristics in other
individuals.
The highest standards of excellence are hallmarks to graduate
education. This commitment to excel is instilled in the best candidates
in graduate programs, along with a desire to continue learning and
developing within their discipline through self appraisal and
self-reliant study. Essentially, then, graduate study not only helps
students grow and master their academic discipline, but also motivates
and prepares them for academic independence in the creation of theory,
application of bibliographic techniques, and the development and use of
investigatory methodology to answer challenging questions – to conduct
independent research.
Graduate Instruction
Graduate courses require a greater capacity for critical analysis and
dedication toward research well beyond what is appropriate for
undergraduate or professional clinical instruction. These increased
expectations are reflected in the academic demands of the professors and
the methods they employ in conducting these courses. Graduate courses
(usually numbered 400 or above) may be taught: as advanced lecture
courses supplemented by recent publications; as seminars where students
and professors present reports of seminal investigations addressing
selected topics within a discipline; as independent directed study under
direction of a specialist in a sub-discipline or research method; or as
independent directed research supervised by a committee of graduate
faculty members and mentored specifically by one from their number. The
emphasis of graduate courses is on cooperative learning in which a
greater responsibility is assigned the student than would be the case in
a typical undergraduate course.
Unlike undergraduate curricula, graduate curricula serve not only to
provide students with advanced knowledge in a discipline, but mostly
prepare the study to undertake a specific course of independent
investigation. Therefore, within the typical 36 credit hours of
coursework, there will be few universal required courses and more
individually required courses. There are relatively few courses that all
graduate students must take, but more courses that are required to
complete a specific research investigation. In the final analysis, the
list of courses a student takes will be directly related to research they
are conducting.
Completing the coursework, however, is generally not sufficient to
qualify the student to graduate. Graduate study generally requires the
application of the academic training to an original research question.
Students must be prepared to undertake this investigation based on their
entire academic background and preparatory graduate extracurricular
(meaning outside study) experience. Before beginning the investigation,
it is important that the preparedness is evaluated by those professors
that will mentor the work. This evaluation process generally involves
some form of examination of preparedness. The examination may be a formal
written examination, a less formal oral examination or an open
presentation by the student. These examinations may be called
“comprehensives,” “qualifying exams,” or “preliminary examinations” for
the degree. Regardless of their name, the ultimate arbitrator in these
examinations is the supervising graduate committee. Based upon their
appraisal of the examination, a student may be admitted to candidacy for
the degree and begin the research, asked additional questions to the
satisfaction of the committee, asked to retake the examination following
some specific study, or be barred from beginning the research and
dismissed from the program. These recommendations made to the Division of
Graduate Studies via the Graduate Council may be made regardless of an
otherwise excellent grade point average, and take precedence over the
academic status of the student.
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