Academic Program & Department Changes

1. In each degree field a minimum of 18 hours of graduate courses is required with a minimum of three hours of 8000-level courses.*
2. 12 hours of shared 8000-level graduate credit, which can include thesis/project research credit, as applicable.**
3. Up to eight hours of transfer credit may be applied as follows: to one of the two degree programs, or divided between the two degree programs. The eight hours of transfer credit cannot be applied to each degree program separately.
4. Students should apply for and be admitted to both degree programs at the same time using a separate application to each program. Because some students may not be aware of an approved dual master’s degree program prior to their arrival at MU, the option to participate in an approved dual master’s degree program may be postponed to no later than the end of a student’s second semester at MU.
5. There will be a separate advisor and committee for each degree program. [Dean’s Note: the option of a combined committee structure may be included in proposals for Senate consideration, e.g. co-advisors who would also serve as outside members, plus one additional member from each degree program, for a total of four committee members.]
6. There will be two separate diplomas awarded upon completion of all degree program requirements.
7. All dual degree programs require GFS approval.
8. Special dual master’s degree program forms will be used to certify programs of study, committee members, and final defense/examinations. They are available from the Graduate School.

*The 18 hours of graduate course work is to be taken for each degree program, respectively. For example, for a dual master’s degree program in Journalism and Communication, a student’s program of study must show 18 hours of Journalism graduate course work that applies only to the Journalism degree and 18 hours of Communication graduate course work that applies only to the Communication degree.

**18 + 18 + 12 = 48 hours of graduate credit which is the minimum total hours for a dual master’s degree program.

Approved by the Graduate Faculty Senate on October 23, 2001

The expectation of the Provost’s Office is that accelerated programs should be created for high-achieving and high-quality students with the ability to complete a bachelor’s and a master’s at an accelerated pace. Students being considered for an accelerated graduate program must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 or greater and have completed at least 90 hours, which includes all general education and academic program requirements. Programs cannot consider, nor admit students with a lower GPA or fewer than 90 credit hours; however, individual programs can set these eligibility requirements at a higher level (e.g., 3.8 cumulative GPA; 105 credit hours). Programs can also have additional requirements, such as being an Honor’s student or the completion of an internship prior to admission. Once a student has completed 90 credit hours, they will be admitted as provisional graduate students to accelerated graduate degree programs. Students may pursue only one accelerated master’s degree; enrollment in more than one accelerated program is not an option.

Students can take up to 15 hours of credit that will count toward both the undergraduate and the graduate degrees (shared credits). As a provisional graduate student, the student will be charged at the undergraduate rate for their coursework. Once students obtain 120 hours, the bachelor’s degree will be conferred and they will become graduate students, which gives them the rights and responsibilities of all graduate students at the University of Missouri. At this point, students will be charged at the graduate rate for their coursework. Students are required to complete a minimum of 15 graduate credits after the bachelor’s degree is conferred.

Once a student’s status changes from undergraduate to graduate, they will no longer be eligible for undergraduate aid and tuition rates, but will be eligible for graduate aid and assistantships. Students entering these programs must be aware of this issue and will be required to sign an agreement, indicating that they understand these implications. The agreement is built into the Graduate application system and is completed as part of the application submission process.

Accelerated programs must be based upon existing graduate degree programs. If all courses required for the accelerated program do not exist, a Course Proposal Form must be completed for each new course. This electronic form can be located on the Office of the Registrar’s website. New resources should not be required unless there is a significant increase in the number of students.

Instructions

Accelerated program proposals should be submitted through the CIM Programs change process. At a minimum, an accelerated graduate degree program proposal should contain the information outlined in the template. Additional information that strengthens the case for the program may be added. When you save the final proposal document, please delete all embedded instructions prior to attaching it to a CIM Programs change proposal.

Proposal Preparation and the Approval Process

When an academic program begins discussions about offering an accelerated graduate program, they should contact Graduate School for guidance on the overall process. Graduate School will first determine if the planned accelerated program is an internal program, or if it is being developed as an accelerated program with another university (external). If it is an external program, rather than completing an Accelerated Graduate Degree Proposal, the academic program must complete a memorandum of understanding with the cooperating university.

Once the program completes their proposal, the proposal should be attached to a CIM Programs change proposal. The proposal will be reviewed through the online workflow process, similar to the course approval process. When the proposal is ready for review by the Graduate Faculty Senate, representatives from the program will be invited to a GFS meeting to discuss the proposal. After review, the GFS can take one of three action steps:

• Approve and forward to the Dean of the Graduate School and then the Provost’s Office for final review
• Request the program revise and resubmit their proposal based on specific feedback from the GFS
• Conclude that the proposed accelerated graduate program should not be approved

If the proposal is forwarded to the Provost’s Office, it will be reviewed to determine if it fits the overall mission of the University and either approved or denied. The Provost’s Office also has the authority to request additional information during the review. Programs will be notified of the decision by the Provost’s Office.

If approved, programs are then free to advertise and recruit for their accelerated program. Programs will be expected to track pre-determined outcomes identified in their proposal (see section 3.C of the proposal template). Finally, the accelerated graduate program will be reviewed as an independent program via the Program Assessment process, which occurs approximately every 5 years.