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Degree Completion
Master's Degree Course Work
Requirements
Students in a master's program must complete a minimum of 24 hours of course work other than thesis credit. A minimum of 30 total hours is also considered standard.
Master's Degree Time Limit
Graduate work planned with the student's advisory committee (e.g., Plan of Study) must be satisfactorily completed within a period of eight years immediately preceding the conferring of the degree. A course taken more than eight years previously must be revalidated if it is to be used towards meeting degree requirements. Revalidation can be accomplished by submitting the following information for approval to the Office of Graduate Education:
- A letter from the course instructor listing the criteria used to revalidate the course materia
- A copy of the student's performance on the student's revalidation examination
- A letter from the college/school graduate coordinator and/or dean supporting the revalidation
Doctoral Degree Course Work Requirements
Conferring of the doctoral degree symbolizes the ability of the recipient to undertake original research and scholarly work at the highest levels without supervision. The degree is, therefore, not granted simply upon completion of a stated amount of course work, but rather upon demonstration of a comprehensive knowledge and high attainment in scholarship in a specialized field of study. The three principal requirements of the degree are: admission to candidacy, residency (i.e., one year in residence in full-time graduate study), and completion (and defense) of a dissertation.
Doctoral Degree Time Limit
The number of years involved in attaining or retaining competency cannot be readily specified. Rather, it is important that the doctoral student's competency be assessed and verified in a reasonable period of time prior to conferral of the degree, generally five years. Because the qualifying examination attests to the academic competence of the student (and is the formal mechanism for admitting the student to candidacy), it cannot precede the conferring of the degree by too long a period of time. In summary, doctoral candidates are allowed no more than five years in which to complete the remaining requirements after being admitted to candidacy.
In the event a student fails to complete the doctorate within five years after admission to candidacy, an extension of time generally can be obtained only by repeating the qualifying examination and meeting any other requirements specified by the student's committee. Exceptions to this time limit must be approved by the Director of Graduate Education. The Director will consider and evaluate the specific nature of the circumstances and compelling reasons that prompted the advisory committee and program to make the request for exception to policy. A request for an extension of time in order to complete degree requirements should include the following:
- A statement documenting the circumstances that justify the request
- A statement of the impact the proposed extension would have on the validity of the student's course work and program; and
- Evidence of endorsement of the request from the student's advisory committee and the office of the dean.
Doctoral Candidacy
A student will be given a comprehensive examination (may be oral, written or both) to demonstrate knowledge of the important phases and problems of the field of major study, their relationship to other fields, and the student's ability to employ the instruments of research. The examination should cover all areas specified in the Plan of Study and should be administered after most formal studies have been completed. Successful passage of this examination is the University-wide minimal determination of acceptance to candidacy, and it is at this point that the five-year to competion rule begins. Individual degree programs may specify additional requirements such as the acceptance of a prospectus, a grant exercise, or other forms of student evaluation.
Final Examination
The final oral examination on the dissertation is not given until the term in which all other requirements for the degree are met. At the option of the faculty responsible for the degree program, a comprehensive written final examination also may be required. The student's committee chairperson must indicate in advance the time, place, and recommended examining committee members, and receive clearance from the office of the school/college dean before the examination can be given. Such notifications of doctoral examinations must be received at least three weeks before the examination date. All doctoral final oral examinations are open examinations.
All committee members must be present for the final examination. If an examination cannot be scheduled at a time convenient to all committee members, the dean or his/her designee may permit another faculty member to substitute for the original committee member, provided that the original committee member was not the chair. There can be no substitute for the chair, and only one substitute is allowed. The request for a substitute must be made in writing prior to the examination and be signed by the committee chair, the student, and both the original faculty member and the substitute faculty member. A substitute faculty member must have the same or higher graduate faculty status as the original faculty member and represent the same academic discipline or specialization.
Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
Format - The Office of Academic Affairs and Research and the University Libraries have combined their efforts to create "The West Virginia University Guide to the Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations". The guide describes the regulations under which master's theses and doctoral dissertations are to be submitted to WVU. It gives the general requirements applicable to all fields of study and provides guidance on the arrangement and format of the student's manuscript. Since practices vary greatly in different disciplines, students should learn the styles of their respective field and are advised to follow the recommendations of their advisor and committee members on all matters not covered in the guide. A master's thesis and a doctoral dissertation checklist is provided in the guide to aid students in properly depositing material in the university libraries.
Electronic Submission - Since West Virginia University is a charter member of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, it has been agreed that all dissertations written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for any doctorate degree conferred by the University as well as all theses written in partial fulfillment of the requirements of an master's degree must be filed electronically with the WVU Library system according to its procedures for such filing. These procedures may be found on the WVU Libraries web page and is titled West Virginia University Guide to the Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. Exceptions to filing electronically must be approved by; the Office of the Provost. Copyright of electronic theses and dissertations is subject to the appropriate provisions of the WVU copyright policy.
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