THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Revised October 2005
INTRODUCTION
The Master of Arts program in the Department of Political Science prepares students for research and teaching careers in higher education and for research-based careers in other fields. It offers a broad range of options in political science and international studies. The Department regularly teaches courses in the following subfields: political philosophy and empirical theory, U.S. Political institutions and processes, comparative politics, international law and relations, and public policy. These guidelines will supersede information found in the Graduate Catalog.
ADMISSION : Admission to graduate programs in the Department of Political Science is based primarily on the applicant's undergraduate and/or graduate record. Completion of a bachelor's degree is required of all applicants. Graduate Record Examination scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections of the GRE and references from instructors are required of all applicants. International applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit TOEFL scores. All international applicants must register with the Applied English Center upon arrival at the University and pass an English proficiency test. International students may request a waiver of this exam if their TOEFL scores are exceptional.
Complete instructions for application to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs may be obtained by writing to the Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Political Science, 504 Blake Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045. Interested students may also access our Internet Home Page at http://www.ku.edu/~kups/ .
Full graduate standing in the program requires at least 15 previous semester hours in political science. Provisional admission may be granted to applicants who have not completed 15 hours. The Director of Graduate Studies will design a remedial program that will supplement the normal 30 hour degree.
Minority group members and women are encouraged to apply. The Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS: All candidates for the M.A. degree are required to complete, at a satisfactory level, the following:
(1) Research Methods through POLS 706 (unless equivalent material has been covered satisfactorily);
(2) 30 semester hours of graduate credit (including Political Science research methods courses, but excluding courses taken in fulfillment of an undergraduate major or its equivalent);
(3) all requirements for either the thesis or non-thesis option; and
(4) a comprehensive oral examination which is administered by a committee that includes the student's principal advisor and two other members of the graduate faculty.
OTHER OPTIONS: Unless otherwise approved by the student's advisor and the Graduate Director, no more than nine hours of course work at the 500 and 600 level will be counted toward the M.A. Students entering the program with full graduate standing may take up to six (6) graduate hours outside the Department. These hours include courses taken at another institution. Directed reading courses supplement, but do not replace, the core graduate curriculum. Up to five (5) credit hours of reading courses can be counted toward the 30-credit hours requirement for the master's degree.
THESIS OPTION: Upon completion and certification of an acceptable thesis, candidates may count six (6) credit hours of thesis enrollment toward the 30 credit hours required for the M.A. degree. The thesis must be presented to the student's faculty advisory committee and its completion will qualify the student to proceed to the final oral master's examination. Thesis enrollment should receive a grade notation of "P" (for participation) until thesis is complete and approved by the oral examination. After that, the advisor assigns a letter grade. Thesis hours should never receive an "I" for incomplete.
A student who wishes to write a thesis should select a thesis advisor and in consultation with the advisor, select two other graduate faculty members for the thesis committee. Students must notify the Director of Graduate Studies in writing of the composition of the thesis committee. Unless special arrangements are made, at least two of the committee members should be Political Science Department faculty. Students must meet with the Graduate Coordinator to verify that all other requirements have been fulfilled.
Students writing an M.A. thesis should prepare at least three copies of the final draft for submission to his/her committee (after it has been approved by the advisor) prior to the final oral examination. After the thesis defense is completed, a final copy must be prepared and presented electronically to the Graduate School. Instructions for precise requirements of the proper form of the final thesis copy may be obtained from the Electronic Theses and Dissertation page of the Graduate School website, at http://www.graduate.ku.edu/~etd/#Manuscript. Final copies of the thesis must meet these standards or they will not be accepted. Students will submit a paper signature form to the Graduate School, but paper copies of the thesis will not be accepted by the Graduate School.
Copies of the thesis for the department and advisor must be bound in cloth (regular book binding style) with the title and the author's full name on the cover. The year, title, and last name of the author should be on the spine. These two copies will be turned in to the Graduate Coordinator with the original signatures of the advisor and the two committee members on the title page within one semester of graduation. If the student is unable to provide copies of the thesis within one semester, the Graduate Director can grant an extension. Recent thesis copies are available for perusal in 512 Blake.
NON-THESIS OPTION: Instead of a thesis (six credit hours), candidates may substitute a minimum of two, 800-900 level research seminars as part of the 30 hours required for the degree. In addition, students must pass a final master's written examination that is based on coursework. The student's principal faculty advisor, who serves as chair of the examining committee, prepares the examination. Each of the three examining committee members should prepare at least two questions, and the student must answer one question from each committee member. Students must notify the Director of Graduate Studies in writing of the composition of the examining committee. Unless special arrangement are made, at least two of the committee members should be Political Science Department faculty.
Students select the date for the written exam, keeping in mind availability of testing space and the deadlines for notification to the Graduate School to ensure graduation. Students must meet with the Graduate Coordinator to verify that all other requirements have been fulfilled. The Graduate Coordinator will administer the examination. The student will be allowed no more than four (4) hours to complete the written examination. The members of the committee should evaluate the written exam and if a majority considers the exam to be of passing quality, then the comprehensive oral examination may be scheduled.
A student may attempt the written examination a maximum of two (2) times. Failure on the second attempt results in termination from the program. A second attempt at the written examination must occur during the semester following the first attempt, and the faculty advisory committee administering the first examination should also prepare the second examination. Students may appeal a negative evaluation of the written examination to the Graduate Studies Committee. Once a student has possession of a copy of an examination, it shall constitute one attempt at writing that examination. The student's principal faculty advisor informs the student and the Director of Graduate Studies of the outcome of each attempt at the written examination. Satisfactory completion of the written examination is a prerequisite for the final oral master's examination.
FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION FOR THE M.A. DEGREE: Satisfactory completion of a comprehensive oral examination is required of all candidates for the M.A. degree in Political Science. Permission to schedule the oral examination must be received from the Graduate School before the examination is given. Students should submit a request to schedule the oral examination to the Graduate Program Coordinator at least two (2) weeks before the desired examination date. The student's faculty advisory committee conducts the oral examination. The final master's examination is a requirement of the Graduate School.
Students taking the thesis option qualify for the oral examination by the submission of an acceptable draft of the thesis. For students taking the non-thesis option, the oral examination should be scheduled within two weeks of satisfactory completion of the written examination. A student may attempt the oral examination for the M.A. degree a maximum of two (2) times. Failure on the second attempt results in termination from the program. A second attempt at the oral examination should occur within one month following the first attempt. The faculty committee for the first oral examination also administers the second oral examination. Students may appeal a negative decision on the oral examination to the Department's Graduate Studies Committee. Beginning an oral examination constitutes an attempt at the examination, even if the student chooses to abort the session. The student's principal advisor shall inform the student and the Director of Graduate Studies of the outcome of each attempt at the oral examination.
APPLICATION FOR DEGREE: An Application for Degree should be completed online at least three months prior to the granting of the degree. It is usually submitted during the enrollment period for the semester in which requirements for the degree will be completed. The submission of the Application for Degree is part of the degree requirements.
STUDENT ADVISING FOR THE M.A. DEGREE: During the first semester of enrollment the Graduate Director will advise students. Each student should choose a principal faculty advisor by the end of the first year in the graduate program and inform the Director of Graduate Studies in writing of the student's selection. A committee composed of the principal faculty advisor and two other members of the graduate faculty will administer the final oral examination.
COURSE LOAD: The normal, full-time enrollment for graduate students is nine (9) hours for the semester and six (6) hours for the summer session. Either a part-time teaching assistantship or research assistantship permits a proportionate reduction in the required course loads. International students are required by immigration laws to be enrolled full-time unless they are in the final semester of the degree program. Full-time enrollment for foreign students holding student visas means that students must complete nine (9) hours each semester, unless it is the final semester of the program.
GRADES OF INCOMPLETE: A grade of incomplete (I) requires special attention. Note that the Department will not permit a student who has six (6) or more semester hours of the incomplete grade to enroll in further coursework. A graduate student should not take an incomplete grade unless it is an unavoidable emergency (serious illness, accident, etc.). Enrollment in thesis hours is always given a "P" (meaning "participation") grade until work is completed, never an incomplete grade.
TIME LIMITS FOR COMPLETING THE M.A. DEGREE: Graduate courses that have been taken more than seven (7) years prior to the time when all requirements have been met for the Master of Arts degree may not be used for the degree. No more than seven (7) years may lapse between the initial enrollment and completion of all requirements for the degree. For example, if a student begins the program in the Fall 2006 semester, all the requirements for the degree must be completed before the first day of classes for the Fall 2013 semester.
Academic Misconduct
General : The Department follows the university policy on academic misconduct as cited in Rules and Regulations of the University Senate (Article 2, sec. 6):
2.6.l. Academic misconduct by the student shall include giving or receiving of unauthorized aid on examinations or in the preparation of notebooks, themes, reports or other assignments, or knowingly misrepresenting the source of any academic work . . .
2.6.2. An instructor may, with due notice to the student, treat as unsatisfactory any student work which is the product of academic misconduct . . .
Plagiarism : Any attempt to pass off the work of someone else as your own is plagiarism and is viewed as a serious breach of academic integrity. Plagiarism may be unintentional. It is therefore advisable to note and adhere to the following rules.
Academic Documentation. Acknowledgment of sources by footnotes, endnotes or textnotes is mandatory in the following two cases:
l. Any direct quotation from another author, whether an entire paragraph or a single but unusual word from a passage, must be acknowledged both with quotation marks and a note.
2. Any citation, paraphrase, or restatement of another author's works or ideas, even if such are not repeated verbatim, must be acknowledged. In this case, only a footnote is used to refer the reader to the original source or sources.
Everything must be noted with only two exceptions:
First, writing need not be noted when it is one's own interpretation of the research materials; or, second, information may be included without a note when it meets all four of the following conditions:
The maximum penalty for academic misconduct is termination from the program.
Grievance Any student wishing to make a complaint involving either a Department of Political Science faculty or staff member or concerning Department policies or decisions may seek redress of his or her grievances in the following manner:
l. Present grievances in writing to the Director of Graduate Studies.
2. Refer to Article IV of the Department of Political Science Bylaws.