Near
the completion of requirements for the M.A. degree, the student
is given an examination by an examination committee, which is
appointed by the chairperson of the Department and the graduate
director after consultation with the student. To be eligible
for the examination, the candidate must have satisfied the Departmental
foreign language requirement, virtually completed course work,
and (if following the thesis option) finished at least a first
draft of the thesis.
It
is the obligation of the candidate to advise the chairperson
of the Department or the graduate director that he or she plans
to take the examination; this must be done at least one month
before the date of the examination. The student should also
consult with his or her advisor.
The
M.A. candidate may state a preference for one member of the
graduate faculty in German to serve on the three-person examination
committee. Under the thesis option the examination committee
will normally be chaired by the thesis advisor.
The
student will be admitted to the oral examination after passing
the written examination. Under the thesis option, a defense
of the thesis will also be included as part of the oral examination.
For
the student's official University record, the examination committee
will report one of three grades: Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory.
For the Departmental file, they will report one of four categories:
(1)
Honors, highly recommended for further graduate study;
(2) Passing, recommended for further graduate study;
(3) Passing, but not recommended for further graduate study;
or
(4) Failing.
The
grade for the degree examination will be based solely on the
oral examination (Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory). The
written examination serves only as a qualifying examination
for admission to the oral examination.
The
examination committee is expected to make a recommendation regarding
admission to the Ph.D. program in the Department. The entire
Departmental graduate staff, however, is responsible for determining
whether or not a student who has passed the M.A. examination
shall be permitted to go on for the Ph.D. It will take very
seriously the committee's recommendation, but will also take
into account the student's grades and graduate instructors'
written evaluations of term papers completed in courses. Ordinarily,
a minimum 3.5 grade average (on a 4-point scale) is required
of Ph.D. aspirants.
The
M.A. exam is given three times each academic year: (1) at the
beginning of the academic year (in August); (2) at the beginning
of the Spring semester (in January); and (3) at the end of the
academic year (in March). No examinations are scheduled in the
summer. Candidates repeating the M.A. examination shall normally
be required to adhere to the regular examination schedule as
described above.
Sequence of examination parts: The written
examination for the M.A. degree will be given in one part consisting
of two sections (or one section for the thesis option). The
oral examination is scheduled as early as possible after the
written examination.
Guidelines
for the Examinations
A
graduate examination may be canceled by a student up to twenty-four
hours in advance of the scheduled time. In the event of a late
cancellation, the graduate faculty must give express permission
to reschedule the examination.
Sample
copies of an examination are available upon request from the
graduate director.
M.A.
EXAMINATION (non-thesis)
M.A.
EXAMINATION (thesis)
M.A.
THESIS
