Options

Students enrolled in the MA program can select one of two options to complete their degree requirements: the Thesis option or the Professional Paper option. The thesis option requires fewer courses and a more in-depth scholarly project; the professional paper option requires more courses and a shorter final project.

Requirements

Total Credits

• Thesis: 24 credits of coursework + 9 credits of Thesis (COMX 599)
• Professional Paper: 30 credits of coursework + 6 credits of Pro-Paper (COMX 593)

Graduate School Requirements

• A full 70% or more of the student's required course work (excluding research and thesis credits) must be at the 500-600 level
• To maintain continuous registration, students must be enrolled in at least 3 credits per semester.
• To be considered full time, graduate students must enroll in 9 credits per semester.
• At least 20 semester credits (including thesis or professional paper credits) must be taken in Communication Studies.
• Students must maintain a B average in courses take for graduate credit. No grade below a C will be accepted toward any degree requirement.

Department Requirements

Core Courses

Complete at least two of the following courses:

• COMX 460/461: Communication Research Methods/Lab
• COMX 561: Qualitative Methods
• COMX 555: Rhetorical Criticism and Theory

(We encourage students to take all three methods courses.)

Additional COMX Coursework

• Complete at least 12 credit hours of other COMX courses at the 400 or 500 level.
• A full 70% or more of the student's required course work (excluding research and thesis credits) must be at the 500-600 level. Advisor permission is required to take 400 level courses.
• A full 70% or more of the student's required course work (excluding research and thesis credits) must be taken in COMX. Advisor permission is required to take courses outside of the department that may add to your program of study.
• Students who did not earn an undergraduate major in communication may be required to take additional COMX coursework (not including thesis or pro-paper) to ensure sufficient knowledge of the discipline.

Statistics

Students who did not complete a statistics course during their undergraduate career are required to take one during their first year in the program, preferably prior to or concurrently with COMX 460/461. The credits for any undergraduate statistics course do not count toward the credit requirements for the MA.

Proseminar

All graduate students are expected to attend Proseminar meetings, usually held Mondays 3:30-4:30 pm. This Proseminar meeting is required for students during their first two semesters in the program. The Proseminar supports scholarly and professional development through discussion and workshops (e.g., history of the discipline; CV preparation; submitting papers to conferences and journals; thesis and pro-paper preparation; applying for jobs and Ph.D programs.)