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ADVISORY
NOTES TO GRADUATE STUDENTS FOR MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY
Admission to
the Program
Graduate
Assistantships and Tuition Scholarships
Teaching Internships
Program Requirements
The Masters
Thesis
Application
for Graduation
Summary of
Hour Requirements
Additional
Information
These advisory notes highlight or supplement
university regulations as found in the current Catalog of Courses.
Consult that document for more details. In some instances graduate
students in sociology must meet standards greater than those for the
university.
ADMISSION
TO THE PROGRAM
1. To seek admission to the program, complete
the DEPARTMENT ENTRANCE FORM and the
University APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO GRADUATE STUDY
form.
2. If an applicant’s undergraduate
work was completed at an institution other than the University of
Northern Iowa, he or she should request transcripts of all college or
university credits be sent to the Office of the Register which will
forward a copy to the graduate coordinator.
3. To be admitted to graduate program in
sociology the applicant must be recommended by the Sociology Graduate
Committee. The committee will consider the following in making its
recommendation:
a. An overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of
3.00 (B) or above.
b. Two letters of recommendation from previous instructors.
c. A written statement on planned emphasis in program and
professional goals.
d. A combined verbal and quantitative score of 1100 on the Graduate
Record Examination (GRE).
4. As indicated, an applicant’s score
on the GRE is one of several criteria considered when a decision on
admission to the program is made. Therefore, the GRE is recommended
but not required for admission to the graduate program
in sociology.
5. Applicants receive one of three possible
decisions: admission, provisional admission, or denial. A student
given provisional admission must meet certain individual requirements
prior to full admission to the program. See the current Catalog of
Courses for details.
6. Students may begin the program during the
fall or spring semester. Fall enrollment, however,
is strongly recommended. All applications submitted by June
30 for fall admission and October 31
for spring admission will be given full consideration.
7. Students seeking financial aid must apply
for fall admission and submit completed application materials by February
1. Students entering the program in the spring semester
may apply for funding for the following academic year.
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GRADUATE
ASSISTANTSHIPS AND TUTION SCHOLARSHIPS
8. A limited number of graduate assistantships
are available on a competitive basis. To apply, the student must file an
APPLICATION FOR GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP
form with the graduate coordinator.
9. A limited number of tuition scholarships are
also available on a competitive basis. To apply, the student must file
an APPLICATION FOR TUITION SCHOLARSHIP
form with the graduate coordinator.
10. Assistantships and tuition scholarships are
awarded on a yearly basis. Applications must be reactivated each year
the student seeks an award. A student must have a 3.00 GPA to be
eligible for initial receipt of an assistantship and/or tuition
scholarship and must maintain a 3.00 GPA in all graduate coursework to
continue receiving the award from one semester to the next. The
assistantship and tuition scholarship application deadline for both
new and continuing students is February 1.
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TEACHING INTERNSHIPS
11. A limited number of teaching interships are available on a competitive basis to students in the second year of the program. To apply, first-year students must submit a letter of application to the graduate coordinator by November 15.
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PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
12. Entering students who do not have
undergraduate credit in the following courses (or their equivalents) are
required to complete them. Of these courses, only 980:170g may be taken
with credit applying to the M.A. requirements.
| 980:001 |
Introduction to Sociology
|
3 hours |
| 980:080 |
Statistics for Social Research |
3 hours |
| 980:108 |
Research Methods |
3 hours |
| 980:170g |
The Development of Social Theories |
3 hours |
13. Under certain circumstances, undergraduate
seniors at the University of Northern Iowa may register for graduate
credit with approval of the department head. See the current Catalog of Courses for
details.
14. Upon admission, a standardized program of study is released online for the student to view at MyUniverse (see My Personal Records link). The program of study on the university's computer database is the official documentation of all master's degree requirements. If the student, in consultation with his or her advisor, chooses to make any changes in the program of study, the request must be made online through MyUniverse and is subject to approval at both the department and Graduate College levels.
15. As indicated above, student requests are used by students to seek appropriate approval(s) for a variety of reasons. Graduate students submit all student requests online through MyUniverse. Under the category My Personal Records, the first link on the list is Student Requests. Students click on that link and follow instructions to write, submit, and check the approval status of all their student requests.
16. A cumulative GPA of 3.00 must be earned in
all courses within the program of study attempted as a graduate
student. No more than six semester hours of C credit earned within the
program of study may be applied toward graduation. Students who attain
a cumulative GPA less than 3.00 after nine semester hours in a program
of study may be placed on probation. Students who attain a cumulative
GPA less than 3.00 after 18 semester hours may be suspended from the
program.
17. Completion of the degree requires
recency of credit. This means that courses taken more than seven years
prior to the granting of the degree cannot be used to meet degree
requirements.
18. Graduate students who have completed their
coursework but have not finished their thesis must be continuously
registered until the degree is completed. Once coursework is done,
students are automatically registered in the course 980:29C
(Continuous Graduate Student) and assessed a $50 fee. This allows
students access to university email accounts and library services
through graduation.
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THE
MASTERS THESIS
19. The student should consult with the graduate coordinator as early as possible to determine a thesis topic. The student is strongly
recommended to have at least a tentative thesis topic by the end of the
first semester of study.
20. The graduate coordinator should also be consulted for the selection of a permanent thesis advisor (chairperson). Typically the coordinator will serve as an acting
advisor for the first semester of study or until the student selects an
advisor to supervise work on the thesis. Once the chairperson is
determined, he or she becomes responsible for the student’s
progress. This means that the chairperson will take responsibility for
the academic aspects of the student’s program, while the
graduate coordinator may continue in an advisory role for the
administrative aspects of completing the degree.
21. The student must also establish a three-person thesis committee. This committee is comprised of the
student’s permanent advisor and two other faculty members.
Selection of committee members is made in consultation with the
student’s advisor and should be determined by the end of the
second semester in the program. Committee members must be on the
graduate faculty at the University of Northern Iowa and at least one of
the two other members must be a sociology faculty person. Once these members are determined, the student must submit a THESIS COMMITTEE FORM with appropriate signatures to the graduate coordinator and then "declare" his or her thesis committee by filing a student request online through MyUniverse.
22. The thesis committee requires a prospectus before approving the thesis topic. The student
will present that prospectus in an open forum and an oral defense is
required. The thesis committee may accept the prospectus, accept the
prospectus with revisions, require major revisions and another oral
defense, or reject the prospectus. A defense may be repeated only once
without approval of the graduate coordinator.
23. The prospectus itself should include an
introduction, theory section, a literature review, research questions
or focus, and a detailed plan on data collection and analysis. It also
should include a cover page with the following information: date, time,
and location of the defense, title of the presentation, name of the
presenter, and the names of the thesis committee members with the chair
identified. Further information for the completion of the prospectus is
available from the thesis committee chairperson.
24. The graduate coordinator must be notified
when the student schedules the prospectus defense. Hard copies of
the prospectus must be distributed to the thesis committee at
least two weeks before the date of the defense. A
copy of the prospectus should also be placed in the department office
(Baker 356) at least one week before the
presentation.
25. Guidelines for writing the thesis are
presented in the Graduate College Thesis Manual, which is available
online at http://www.grad.uni.edu/thesis/thesismanual.aspx .
Students should consult this manual and carefully follow the guidelines
when preparing the thesis.
26. During the semester in which students intend to graduate, they must make an appointment with the Graduate College for a thesis preview to have the format of the thesis reviewed. In order to schedule a preview meeting, the student's name and contact information must first be forwarded to the Graduate College by the coordinator.
27. An oral defense of the thesis is also
required. The procedures for this requirement are similar to those of
the prospectus. The graduate coordinator must be notified prior to
scheduling the thesis defense. Hard copies of the thesis must be
distributed to the thesis committee at least two weeks in advance of the defense. These copies should be typed, but unbound. A
copy of the thesis should be placed in the department office (Baker
356) at least one week before the
defense. The thesis should include a cover page with the following
information: date, time, and location of the defense, title of the
presentation, name of the presenter, and names of the committee members
with the chair identified.
28. Following the oral defense, the thesis
committee may accept the thesis, accept the thesis with revisions,
require major revisions and another oral defense, or reject the thesis.
A thesis defense may be repeated only once without the approval of the
graduate coordinator.
29. Four bound copies of the thesis are
required before the student is awarded the degree. Two (including the
original) are deposited with the Graduate College. If approved, they
are then forwarded to the library, which then has them hardback bound.
This requires a nominal fee that is paid to the University Office of Business Operations. The second two copies must also be bound. Students may contact
the department office (Baker 356) to arrange for this binding through
the university. One of these copies is given to the thesis chairperson and the other to the graduate coordinator. Three copies of an
abstract of the thesis are also required by the Graduate College.
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APPLICATION FOR
GRADUATION
30. An APPLICATION FOR GRADUATION form must completed on paper or electronically on MyUniverse at the time students register for their last semester of classes or at any time up to the 12th week of classes during the spring and fall semesters or July 1 for all summer sessions.
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SUMMARY
OF HOUR REQUIREMENTS
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Minimum graduate hours
required |
31 hours* |
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Minimum hours of credit at UNI |
20 hours** |
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Maximum usable hours combined in transfer
and correspondence ~ credit |
10 hours*** |
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Maximum usable hours of correspondence ~
credit
(requires Graduate College pre-approval) |
3 hours |
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Maximum usable hours of workshop credit |
6 hours |
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Minimum hours required in courses numbered
200 and above |
15 hours**** |
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* includes 6 credit hours of 980:299 (Thesis
Research)
** must include 6 or more hours in one semester or summer session
*** up to one-third of the hours on the graduate program of study
**** includes no more than 6 hours of 980:299 (Thesis Research) |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For general information about graduate study at UNI, please refer to the Graduate College website at http://www.grad.uni.edu/
Applicants with physical or mental disabilities, as defined by the American with Disabilities Act, who wish to request accommodations should contact the Office of Disability Services at 319-273-2676 (voice) or 319-273-3011 (TTY)
International students should request an application and instructions by contacting the International Services Director at 319-273-6421 or international.admissions@uni.edu. The minimum TOEFL score required for admission to graduate status is 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer based), or 79-80 (internet).
For more information about the M.A. in Sociology, contact Dr. Kristin Mack, Graduate Coordinator, at 319-273-7630 or kristin.mack@uni.edu
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