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Graduate Academic Bulletin

The College Tradition
Application and Admission
Degree Requirements
Doctoral Advisory and Research Committees
Financial Support
Full-time Residence and Transfer of Graduate Credit
Leaves of Absence and Incompletes
Adequate Progress and Revalidation
Rights, Misconduct, and Complaints

The College Tradition

The College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington is the university’s largest, most diverse academic school, and it contains many of the university’s most accomplished scholar-teachers. A number of its departments and programs rank among the nation’s very best in terms of research, artistic achievement, and reputation, and it enrolls nearly 3,000 graduate students. The education offered by the College of Arts and Sciences is based on a liberal arts tradition, and the College is especially proud of the interdisciplinary opportunities available for graduate students.

The College collaborates with the University Graduate School to train and provide support for students working towards M.A., M.S., M.A.T., M.F.A., and Ph.D. degrees which are all conferred by the University Graduate School. The College also independently offers and confers a clinical Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree through the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences.

In addition to the below regulations and requirements, College graduate students must fulfill all of the requirements of the University Graduate School (see http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iu/grad/).

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Application and Admission

The College welcomes applications from students holding baccalaureate degrees from accredited four-year collegiate institutions. In special cases, the College may conditionally admit students who have other outstanding accomplishments but who do not meet this and other stated admissions criteria.

Prospective graduate students must apply formally, preferably through the online application system (http://www.gradapp.indiana.edu). A complete application will include three letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions (mailed directly to the program to which the student is applying). International students must also submit results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or equivalent. Individual programs often request additional information.

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Degree Requirements

All degree requirements are described in detail in the individual descriptions of each program and, except for the Au.D., in the University Graduate School Bulletin. In general, the M.A. or M.S. requires at least 30 credit hours, including 20 in the major field and at least 9 in courses numbered 500 or above. The M.A.T. degree requires 36 credit hours. The M.F.A. degree requires a minimum of 60 credit hours. The Ph.D. degree requires at least 90 credit hours, including one Ph.D. minor taken outside the major department. Ph.D. students must also complete, defend, and submit an approved dissertation. The Au.D. degree requires a minimum of 90 credit hours.

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Doctoral Advisory and Research Committees

Each College doctoral student will be assigned an advisory committee consisting of at least two faculty members from the major area and one faculty member representing the most likely Ph.D. minor. The committee composition must be submitted to and formally approved by the College Graduate Office no later than one year after the student is admitted to the graduate program. The advisory committee is responsible for approving the student’s coursework, evaluating student progress, and providing the student with advice, as needed.

After Ph.D. students advance to candidacy, the advisory committee will be replaced by a research committee consisting of a major advisor, two or more additional representatives of the major, and one representative of the doctoral minor. All members of the research committee must be members of the graduate faculty, and the composition of the research committee must be formally approved by the University Graduate School at least six months before the defense of the dissertation.

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Financial Support

Most College graduate students receive financial support during their time at Indiana University in the form of fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, fee scholarships, and health benefits. Such support is often guaranteed in a letter of admission to a specific graduate program, and is contingent on the student continuing to make adequate progress toward their degree. Stipends earned for employment or as part of fellowships may be taxable, and students are encouraged to check with the Internal Revenue Service for details.

Teaching, grading, and research assistantships (AIs, GAs, RAs) are part-time employment, and usually require 15-20 hours per week of work. Fellowships carry no specific job responsibilities, other than that students continue to make good progress toward their degree. Most assistantships and fellowships are supplemented by graduate student health insurance and a College Fee Scholarship. College Fee Scholarships can only be spent by College graduate students on coursework related to their College degrees. They cannot be applied toward second degrees or recreational coursework. College Fee Scholarships cover more than 90% of the cost of tuition and fees, but do not usually cover mandatory or special course fees.

College graduate students may apply or be nominated for several awards and fellowships funded by the College, the University Graduate School, other campus units, and private donors. For example, students wishing to present their research at national and international conferences can apply for several small awards available from the College Graduate Office, the Graduate and Professional Student Organization (GPSO), and many College departments, centers, and institutes. College graduate students may also be eligible to apply or be nominated for College Dissertation-Year fellowships, Delores Liebmann, John Edwards, Mikal Lynn Sousa, McCormick Science, and Matias Ochoada awards. Information on these and other funding opportunities is available through individual departments, the University Graduate School (http://graduate.indiana.edu/fees-and-funding.php), and the College Graduate Office (http://www.indiana.edu/~college/graduate/).

The College strongly encourages graduate students to apply for external fellowships, grants, and awards. Students who are considering applying for such awards may wish to check with the College Graduate Office to discuss fee scholarships or other benefits that may be available to supplement such awards.

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Full-time Residence and Transfer of Graduate Credit

All candidates for graduate degrees in the College must complete at least 30 credit hours of graduate work on the Bloomington campus. Of these, at least one semester or two summer sessions of full-time work must be taken in courses relevant to their degree. Candidates for the Ph.D. degree must spend two consecutive semesters during one academic year enrolled in such graduate work. Courses offered by other institutions through the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) CourseShare, Traveling Scholar, and other programs may sometimes count as resident coursework. Students should contact the College Graduate Office with specific details to be sure.

To qualify as “full-time,” most graduate students must be registered for at least 8 credit hours of work relevant to their graduate degrees, not including any audited courses. Graduate students who have completed all required coursework (30 hours for M.A. and M.S. students, 36 hours for M.A.T. students, 60 hours for M.F.A. students, 90 hours for Ph.D. students) may be considered “full-time” if they enroll in only one credit hour of thesis or dissertation research each semester, and have not yet exceeded the five-year or seven-year period allocated for completing their degree. Students holding student academicappointments (associate instructors, graduate and research assistants, fellowship holders) must enroll in a minimum of 6 hours each semester for which they hold an appointment of 0.375 FTE or greater. Graduate students wishing to enroll in more than 16 hours in any single semester or in both summer sessions must get special permission.

With the approval of the student’s advisory committee and the College Graduate Office, graduate students may request that work taken for graduate credit at other institutions be transferred in partial fulfillment of degree requirements. Only courses with a grade of B or higher will be transferred and only courses taken within the prescribed time limits (five years prior to the awarding of the degree for master’s students or seven years prior to the passing of the qualifying examination for Ph.D. students). Students working towards M.A., M.S., and M.A.T. degrees may transfer up to 8 hours of graduate credit from other institutions, except M.A.T. students who are graduates of Indiana University, who may transfer up to 12 hours. Students working toward an M.F.A. degree may request transfer of up to 20 hours, whereas Ph.D. students may be allowed to transfer up to 30 hours of graduate credit.

In general, courses taken to satisfy the requirements of a baccalaureate degree cannot be used to fulfill the requirements of a graduate degree. Moreover, courses taken to satisfy the requirements of one graduate degree cannot be used to satisfy the requirements of a second degree at the same level (e.g, master’s or doctorate). A student’s advisory committee, however, may request that work toward a master’s degree also count toward the requirements for a Ph.D.

For more information regarding residence and credit transfer policies, see the Academic Regulations section of the University Graduate School Bulletin (http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iu/grad).

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Leaves of Absence and Incompletes

Graduate students in the College are eligible to apply for a leave of absence when facing health, family, or other emergencies that interfere with their ability to work toward a degree. An approved College Graduate Leave of Absence may provide up to two years of relief from coursework and a limited extension of University Graduate School degree milestones. Students on paid academic appointments may be eligible for up to six weeks of paid leave. Students who do not return or continue their enrollment following the end of an approved leave of absence may be considered withdrawn and may have accommodations reversed. Information on College Graduate Leaves is available from the College Graduate Office.

Although grades of Incomplete are sometimes necessary, they will change into grades of F after one calendar year unless the student formally requests an extension. Extensions of Incomplete can be requested through the College Graduate Office, and require the written consent of the instructor as well as the student’s major advisor. An approved extension will last up to one calendar year. If the student does not complete the work by the end of the second calendar year, the grade of Incomplete will change to an F.

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Adequate Progress and Revalidation

Students who do not make adequate progress toward their College graduate degrees may be subject to College probation and dismissal in accordance with University Graduate School policies. Adequate progress includes maintaining a grade point average of at least a B (3.0) in all graduate coursework and no more than three grades of Incomplete. Most College programs have additional requirements such as passing preliminary examinations or completing research training in a timely way. Student progress toward fulfilling these goals is usually reviewed annually by the student’s advisory and/or research committees, and then again by the Director of Graduate Studies or an executive committee. At any time, the program may recommend that the College place a student on probation for inadequate progress, listing steps that the student must take in order to return to good standing. After one semester on College probation, the program may recommend that the student be formally dismissed from the College. Students who are on College probation may not be eligible for some types of financial aid and employment.

Master’s students are expected to complete their degrees in two to three years, whereas doctoral degrees may take more than seven years. Courses completed more than five years before the awarding of a master’s degree or seven years prior to a Ph.D. qualifying examination will not count toward degree requirements unless they are first revalidated. Revalidation of each specific course must be recommended by the graduate advisory committee, and approved formally by the University Graduate School.

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Rights, Misconduct, and Complaints

Graduate students in the College are guaranteed several rights by Indiana University and the Bloomington campus system through the “Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct” http://www.indiana.edu/~code/ (available through the Office of Student Ethics and Anti-Harassment Programs), “Academic Guide,” (http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/acadguid/),and “Academic Handbook”(http://www.indiana.edu/~vpfaa/ available through the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs). In addition, the College systems of advisory committees, annual reviews, and probation are designed to ensure that students receive regular feedback about their academic progress, specific guidance on how to improve progress, and at least one semester notice of possible academic dismissal.

Graduate students in the College who believe they have been evaluated unfairly in a course, qualifying exam, or other measure of academic progress should first attempt to address their concerns through informal resolution, calling on their director of graduate studies and the department chair for guidance and support, as needed. If the problem is not resolved and there is evidence of a clear procedural error (e.g., change in syllabus or grading procedure) or unfair bias (e.g., discrimination), the student may appeal to the College Graduate Office. Such appeals must be received within one calendar year of when the incident occurred.

Graduate students in the College who believe that their rights have been violated by specific members of the university faculty or administration should again first attempt informal resolution. If the situation is not resolved, the student may file a formal complaint of misconduct against those individuals with the College Graduate Office. Such complaints must be submitted in writing no later than 21 days after receiving unsatisfactory response to attempts at informal resolution or six months after the student learned of the incident.

Graduate students in the College must also adhere to all Indiana University rules and standards for ethical conduct, and are subject to campus and university judicial procedures and possible sanctions. Graduate students in the College who are determined to have engaged in misconduct may be subject to additional review and sanctions from their graduate program and the College, including reduction in financial aid, limitations on future College employment, and immediate dismissal from the graduate program.

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