| See
also PRR regulation(s): REG
02.25.8
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Plans of Work for Master's Students
-
Plans of Work for Doctoral Students
- Contents of Plans of Work
- Creating and Revising a Plan of Work
- Annual Progress Evaluation
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A.
Plans of Work for Master's Students |
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Master’s students are required to complete a conditional
Plan
of Work (POW) in consultation with their advisor/advisory committee
by the time they have completed half of the credits required for the degree.
The final POW submitted to the Graduate School must be approved by two
parties: 1) members of the advisory committee for programs with a required
thesis, or the major professor for Option B students 2) the Director of
the Graduate Program (DGP). The approved POW must be submitted electronically
by the DGP to the Graduate School.
The latest that the final POW may be submitted to the Graduate School
is when a student submits the Request for a Permit
to Schedule the Master's Oral Examination or Request
for Option B Graduation Checkout (see Master's
Students: Summary of Procedures, Section 3.8). Under certain circumstances,
the Graduate School may request a POW earlier. If there is anything unusual
about the POW that makes its timely approval doubtful, the DGP is strongly
advised to submit it as early as possible.
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B.
Plans of Work for Doctoral Students |
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Doctoral students are required to complete a Plan
of Work (POW) in consultation with their advisory committee by the
time they complete 18 hours of coursework. The final POW must be submitted
to the Graduate School as early as reasonably possible, but at the latest
when the student submits the Request
to Schedule Oral Preliminary Examination. The final POW must be approved
by members of the advisory committee and the Director of the Graduate
Program (DGP).
When the DGP electronically submits a POW to the Graduate School, the
Graduate School Records Unit will evaluate it and inform the program whether
or not the POW meets all Graduate School degree requirements. The Graduate
School will withhold approval of any doctoral student’s POW or Request
to Schedule Oral Examination until all documents necessary to complete
that student’s permanent file are received. If any materials are
missing, the POW will be denied with the reason for the denial communicated
to the DGP. Typical missing items include transcripts for post-secondary
work still undertaken at the time the applicant was admitted to the graduate
program.
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C.
Contents of Plans of Graduate Work |
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Whether optional or as part of the degree requirement, the POW must:
- include both a list of the course work to be undertaken (in all programs)
and the thesis or dissertation topic (except in non-thesis Master's
programs);
- be developed by the student and his/her advisory committee;
- be approved by the committee and the DGP or Department Head prior
to submission to the Graduate School for final approval; and
- be completed by the time the student has completed half of the credits required for a
Master's degree, or by the time the student has completed 18 hours of course work for a doctoral
degree.
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D.
Creating and Revising a Plan of Work |
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The POW must contain accurate information about any transfer credits
to be used for the degree. Any request to include transfer credit should
be submitted to the Graduate School prior to the start of the student’s
graduate program or no later than before the end of the first semester.
In addition, should there be any anticipated exceptions to registration
policies that could affect the POW, the student must inform the DGP and
Graduate School of these prior to the start of the graduate program, or
no later than before the end of the first semester.
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E.
Annual Progress Evaluation |
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The Graduate School requires all graduate programs to
complete an annual evaluation of progress toward degree for each graduate
student, to be completed jointly by the student, at least one academic
advisor/committee chair, and the DGP. Each evaluation must include the
following items:
- the student’s report of activities and achievements for the
preceding year (e.g., courses, honors, program milestones, and professional
development)
- the student’s own evaluation of his or her progress
- an evaluative response to the student’s progress report by at
least one faculty advisor/committee chair, and
- a conditional POW or update of the existing POW to be submitted to
the Graduate School by the DGP (see POW requirements).
As part of each annual evaluation, the student’s major advisor
should review the POW and provide guidance as appropriate.
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