division of music at west virginia university

Graduate Manual

General Graduate Student Information

Required Sources for Information on Graduate Study

WVU Graduate Catalog (GC)
“The WVU Graduate Catalog, in effect when a student begins work toward an advanced degree, constitutes the agreement between the student and West Virginia University. If there are major changes in the catalog during the course of a student's studies, a student, with the approval of his/her advisor, may agree to meet the conditions of the graduate catalog of a later year. An agreement to change to a later catalog is an agreement to meet all the conditions of the later edition. Students must abide by catalog changes if the changes were promulgated by the Board of Trustees or local, state, or federal law.” (GC 16)

Important: the GC pages cited in this manual are for the 1996-98 Bulletin of the WVU Graduate Catalog. As of 7/99, there have been no major changes in the conditions cited, but some of them appear on different pages in the 1998-2000 edition.

Appeals for Exceptions

Appeals for exceptions to policies and regulations or other type of special arrangement affecting a graduate student's program should be addressed in writing to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Music.

The Committee on Graduate Studies in Music ("the Graduate Committee") is the division committee that oversees admissions and degree requirements. For the 2006-07 academic year, it is chaired by Keith Jackson, Director of Graduate Studies in Music, and includes Cynthia Anderson, John Beall, Mary Ferer, James Miltenberger, Robert Thieme, Molly Weaver, and David Bess (ex officio).

Forms Used by Graduate Students in Music

(forms can be downloaded and printed)

Misc. Policies on Registration and Grading

Academic Probation and Suspension
A student whose grade-point average falls below 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. The student will be notified of the terms of probation by the Dean of the College of Creative Arts. Normally, a student on probation is required to achieve the average necessary for good standing in the next enrollment period or, in the case of a part-time student, in the next nine hours of course work.

If the terms of probation are not met, the student will be suspended, that is, not allowed to continue in a music degree program.

A student who fails one-half or more of the coursework taken during any enrollment period will be suspended without a period of probation.

Continuous Registration for Incompletes in Research Courses
Students taking certain research courses or independent project(s), ordinarily receive a grade of Satisfactory (see S-U Grading), even though the project has not yet been completed, provided adequate progress has been made. However, it is the satisfactory completion of the entire project which must be accomplished in order to meet the degree requirement.

In the event that the project has not been completed after the specified number of credits has been completed, the Division of Music requires that the student enroll further under Music 592 Directed Studies for one credit each semester, as "continuous registration" to continue to work with the research advisor until the project is finished. The "continuous registration" credit does not apply toward the curriculum total.

Independent Studies
Two courses listed in the graduate catalogue do not have specifically designated content but may be used for projects of special interest to an individual student or group of students:

Students wishing to pursue a topic of interest not covered in a regularly established course should arrange with an appropriate faculty member to supervise their work. This faculty member, in consultation with the students involved, should prepare a Request for Approval of Independent Project form. This proposal must be submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Music for approval before the beginning of the semester. If more than one faculty member is to participate in guiding the project, each should sign the form, but one should be designated to supervise continuity and uniformity of standards. This person will also be responsible for keeping records of evaluation and for submitting grades.

S-U Grading
The following courses are designated by the Committee on Graduate Studies in Music to be graded with S-U:

All students in these courses receive that grading; it is not a matter of choice by the student. Exceptions may occur only when individual students in a course are taught by different instructors; in such cases the grading method is left to the discretion of each instructor. No special indication appears on the enrollment form for "S-U" graded courses. The credit "S" is omitted in computing Grade Point averages, but credit for "U" grades is counted as "F."

2006-2007 Deadlines for Various Graduate Degree Requirements

Missing these deadlines could result in the delay of your graduation. Refer to the Division of Music Graduate Manual for additional information.

October 16, graduation applications due for December Graduation.

TBA, week of Doctoral Comprehensive Examinations.

November 10, Last day for Master's and Doctoral Recital Hearings for fall term.

November 13, Last day to confirm scheduling of DMA Final Recitals for Dec. Graduation.

November 13, Last day to distribute Master's Thesis for December Graduation.

December 8 , Last day to inform Director of Graduate Studies of intention to take DMA Comprehensive Exams in the spring.

December 8 , Last day for Master's Oral Examination.

TBA, Last day to complete ETD Submissions for December Graduation.

December 15, Last day for DMA Final Recital performances or Submission of entire DMA Composition portfolio to University Library for December graduation.

Graduate Faculty in Music

Regular Members

Associate Members

*May serve as Theory Faculty
+May serve as History Faculty



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