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Florida State University Graduate Bulletin 2007-2009

College of Arts and Sciences

Dean: Joseph Travis; Associate Deans: Sam Huckaba, Lois Hawkes, Joseph McElrath, Joseph F. Owens III

The oldest college at the University, the College of Arts and Sciences has provided generations of undergraduate students instruction in the liberal arts disciplines that are essential for intellectual development and personal growth. Graduate degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences grew organically from these strong undergraduate roots, and the contributions of the college to graduate education have been integral to the evolution of the University. The first recorded master's degree at the Florida State College for Women was awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences in 1911, and the first doctorate at Florida State University was awarded in chemistry in 1952.

The College of Arts and Sciences comprises over 30 departments, institutes, centers and interdisciplinary programs. In addition to awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees and heavily supporting the Liberal Studies Program, the College of Arts and Sciences offers an extensive array of foundation courses for pre-professional and professional programs.

Faculty within the college have earned national and international recognition for research, teaching, and distinguished service to the profession. Among the faculty are members of the National Academy of Sciences, Nobel Laureates, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and recipients of numerous other national and inter-national honors.

Graduate students within Arts and Sciences have received marks of distinction that include local, national, and international scholarship/fellowship awards.

Facilities

The College of Arts and Sciences is housed in 21 buildings on the main campus and at a number of off-campus field stations. Arts and sciences research activities are conducted at various locations literally around the world—from an archaeological site in Cetamura, Italy, to the Antarctic. Special facilities of the college include the Van de Graaff nuclear accelerator, the Proton-Induced X-Ray Emission Laboratory, the Statistical Consulting Center, and the Marine Laboratory on Apalachicola Bay. The National Park Service's Southeast Archaeological Center is a major repository of artifacts that is heavily used by anthropology majors. The college also staffs a large number of other specialized research and teaching laboratories: computer laboratories, radioisotope laboratories, a nuclear magnetic resonance lab, fluid dynamics and ocean modeling labs, language and writing labs, and other facilities. Faculty and students from several departments and programs in arts and sciences conduct research on the supercomputer and other large-scale computers at the School of Computational Science. The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Innovation Park also provides superb research experiences for faculty and students. Many departments maintain their own libraries of journals, books, and reference materials.

Opportunities

Departments in the College of Arts and Sciences work with various programs and colleges to offer cooperative and interdisciplinary degree programs at the graduate level. For example, the Institute of Molecular Biophysics, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute, and the Program in Neuroscience are important interdisciplinary research centers. Similarly, the Programs in Humanities and American and Florida Studies pool diverse faculty talent and appeal to a wide spectrum of students. Well-funded research opportunities for graduate students are extensive among the science departments.

Scholarships, Awards, and Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are available across the college. Annually, many students are supported by graduate assistantships. In addition to being eligible for the assistantships, students in the College of Arts and Sciences may apply for various types of graduate fellowships. Each year, a number of arts and sciences students receive University fellowships, College Teaching Fellowships, and fellowships awarded by national organizations. The application deadline for most fellowships is January 15th for awards beginning the following academic year.

Requirements

The College of Arts and Sciences offers the master of arts (MA), the master of fine arts (MFA), the master of science (MS), and the doctor of philosophy (PhD). In addition to reviewing the requirements highlighted below, students should consult all University-wide degree requirements and academic procedures for the master's and PhD degrees as summarized in the "Graduate Degree Requirements" chapter of this Graduate Bulletin.

Admissions Criteria

Students who wish to pursue graduate study in the College of Arts and Sciences must apply through the Office of Admissions and must be accepted for graduate study by the intended department or program. Minimally, a combined score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative section of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) or a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) at the baccalaureate or graduate school previously attended is required for admission as a regular graduate student; individual departments and programs may set higher standards. Prospective graduate students who are foreign nationals must also earn a score of 550 or better (213 or better on the computer version, or 80 or better on the Internet-based test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). For more detailed information about specific graduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, students should consult departmental or program entries of this Graduate Bulletin.

Full-Time Course Load

Full-time graduate students must take twelve (12) semester hours each fall and spring semester. A full-time load for a graduate teaching or research assistant in the sciences is nine (9) semester hours in the Fall and Spring terms. Research and teaching assistants in the humanities area should consult their college or program for the minimum full-time course load. Fellowship holders must carry twelve (12) semester hours.

Limitations on Supervised Teaching and Research Course Work

Students may be granted credit for supervised research and supervised teaching at the option of their department. A student may register for such activity more than one term, using the same numbers and, again at the option of the department, may count the hours in meeting residency requirements for the degree program. No more than three (3) semester hours of supervised research credit and three (3) semester hours of supervised teaching credit may be counted toward the master's degree. The normal limit for candidates for doctoral degrees is five (5) semester hours in each category.

Master's Degree Requirements

Master's degree students must complete their program of study within seven calendar years from the time of initial registration; master's students do not, however, have to meet a specific residency requirement. A thesis-type master's program requires a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours, six (6) of which must be thesis credits. A course-type master's program requires a minimum of thirty-two (32) semester hours. Students in the thesis program must register for thesis credits each term in which a substantial amount of work is being done on the thesis, even if the minimum of six (6) semester hours of thesis has already been met. Students who have left the campus must register for at least two (2) semester hours of thesis credit per term so long as they are receiving faculty supervision. Master's students should consult regularly with their supervising professor about progress toward the degree.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Doctoral students must complete their degree requirements within five calendar years from the time the preliminary examination is passed. No student may register for dissertation hours prior to the point of the term in which the preliminary exam was passed. After the completed admission to candidacy form has been filed with the University Registrar, the student may add dissertation hours retroactively for the term in which the exam was passed. A minimum of twenty-four (24) dissertation hours is required for completion of the doctoral degree. Students admitted to candidacy must register for dissertation hours each term in which a substantial amount of work is being done on the dissertation, even after the minimum of twenty-four (24) dissertation hours has been met. Students who are off campus must register for at least two (2) semester hours of dissertation each term in which they receive faculty supervision.

The PhD residency requirement is satisfied as follows: after completing thirty (30) graduate semester hours or being awarded the master's degree, the doctoral student must be continuously enrolled for twenty-four (24) graduate semester hours during any 12-month period.

The PhD supervisory committee must consist of a minimum of three members of the graduate faculty holding doctoral directive status, one of whom shall be designated the representative-at-large and shall be drawn from outside the student's department or program. Annually, this committee will assess in writing the progress of the student, making copies of its report available to the Dean of Graduate Studies, the department chair, and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in Arts and Sciences. Within a week of the dissertation defense, the representative-at-large must file with the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in Arts and Sciences a report on the quality of the dissertation and adherence to University procedures governing the defense.

Final Term Registration

Students must register for at least one (1) semester hour of thesis or dissertation credit in the final term in which a degree is granted. Non-thesis type master's program students who have not previously registered for the comprehensive examination must do so the final term.

Clearance for Degrees

During the first two weeks of the semester in which the candidate intends to graduate, the student must formally apply for a diploma at the Office of the University Registrar and, for those writing theses and dissertations, obtain the final term degree clearance form. The completed thesis or dissertation manuscript must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies by the official University deadline in order for the student to graduate that term.