Requirements for the Degree Plan | Selecting a Major Professor | 
Selecting a Graduate Advisory Committee |

Once admitted to graduate study in the Department of Communication Studies and prior to taking any graduate courses, a prospective graduate student must seek advice from the departmental Director of Graduate Studies, who will serve as his or her graduate advisor during the first nine hours of graduate study. During the completion of that first nine hours, graduate students are expected to select a major professor, acquire the major professor’s consent to serve, and file the appropriate paperwork with the department.

Requirements for the Degree Plan

Graduate students are responsible for seeing that a degree plan is filed immediately upon completion of 9 hours of study.

Students obtain a blank degree plan form from the department secretary or the director of graduate studies. The original and four copies of the degree plan must be signed by the major professor and the department chair and must be filed with the Toulouse School of Graduate Study. Students should follow the sample degree plan. 

Students file a single degree plan for their course of study. Amendments to the degree plan must be approved by a student’s graduate advisory committee. To amend a degree plan, the major professor must send a memo to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies indicating the changes to be made.

Selecting a Major Professor

The student selects a major professor from the faculty in the student’s primary area of emphasis prior to completing nine hours of study. The major professor is responsible primarily for:

Students secure approval for a major professor by completing and filing a “Request for Major Professor” form . Copies of the form are available from the department secretary or the Director of Graduate Studies. 

Permission should be secured from the major professor before making such designation on the degree plan. The major professor must hold a doctoral degree, and must be a Category II or Category III member of the graduate faculty. If a student wishes to change major professors, s/he should consult with the department’s Director of Graduate Studies.

Selecting a Graduate Advisory Committee

For students on a thesis track, the graduate advisory committee advises the student regarding course work, conducts the prospectus defense, makes recommendations regarding direction of the thesis, and conducts the oral defense of the thesis. For students on a non-thesis track, the graduate advisory committee advises the student regarding course work and conducts the comprehensive examination.

The graduate advisory committee consists of three members:

The student must secure the consent of each member to serve.

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Last updated: September 05, 2005.