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Florida State University Graduate Bulletin 2007-2009

College of Social Sciences

Dean: David W. Rasmussen; Associate Deans: Robert E. Crew, Jr., Graham C. Kinloch

The University established Social Sciences as a separate college in 1973. The departments and programs that make up the college date from the earliest days of the University.

Many of the great scholars in the history of the University are associated with the social sciences. This tradition of faculty excellence continues. Today the social sciences provide the University with faculty members who serve as the Mildred and Claude Pepper Eminent Scholar Chair in Social Gerontology, Pepper Professor in Sociology, Daisy Parker Flory Professor, Raymond F. Bellamy Professor in Sociology, Charles Grigg Professor in Sociology, Charles Nam Professor in the Sociology of Population, Jerry Collins Eminent Scholar Chair in Public Administration, Reubin O'D. Askew Eminent Scholar Chair in Florida Government and Politics, Rod and Hope Brim Eminent Scholar Chair in Economics, DeVoe Moore Eminent Scholar Chair in Economics, DeVoe Moore Professors in Economics, John and Hallie Quinn Eminent Scholar Chair for the Renewal of American Heritage and American Free Enterprise, Gus Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair in Economic Education, Abba Lerner Professor in Economics, James Gapinski Professor in Economics, LeRoy Collins Eminent Scholar Chair in Civic Education, LeRoy Collins Professor in Political Science, Francis Eppes Professor in Political Science, Marian Irish Professor in Political Science, William G. and Budd Bell Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, and University Distinguished Research Professor. Its faculty also includes numerous University teaching and advising award winners and presidents of such national bodies as The American Sociological Association, The American Society for Public Administration, the Public Choice Society, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, and The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. Several have won prizes in their fields both for research and service.

The College of Social Sciences focuses upon both basic knowledge and the application of that knowledge to policy questions and public affairs. In applied policy, the college's interests center on regional, national, and international affairs, and it has a particular interest in state issues, befitting the University's location in Florida's state capital.

The college consists of the Reubin O' D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy; the departments of Economics, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, and Urban and Regional Planning; the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy; the Center for Demography and Population Health; the DeVoe L. Moore and Family Center for the Study of Critical Issues in Economic Policy and Government; the Leroy Collins Institute on Public Policy; the Florida Public Affairs Center; the Gus A. Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education; and interdisciplinary programs in Aging Studies, Asian Studies, African-American Studies, Environmental Studies, Social Sciences, International Affairs, Law and Society, Russian and East-European Studies.

The college offers programs leading to the master's degree in 13 fields, the doctor of philosophy degree in six fields, and six graduate certificates.

Master's Programs

Aging studies

Asian studies

Demography

Economics

Geography

Geographic Information Sciences

International affairs

Political science

Public administration (master of public administration)

Russian and East European studies

Social science (interdisciplinary)

Sociology

Urban and regional planning (master of science in planning)

Doctoral Programs

Economics

Geography

Political science

Public administration and policy

Sociology

Urban and regional planning

Joint-degree programs

Joint-degree programs, requiring fewer total hours than the two degrees would separately, are offered as follows:

Master of public administration (MPA) and master of science in planning (MSP)

Master of science (MS) in economics and juris doctor (JD) in law

Master of arts/master of science (MA/MS) in international affairs and juris doctor (JD) in law

Master of public administration (MPA) and juris doctor (JD) in law

Master of science in planning (MSP) and juris doctor (JD) in law

Master of public administration (MPA) and master of science in criminology (MSC)

Master of public administration (MPA) and master of social work (MSW)

Master of arts/master of science (MA/MS) in international affairs and master of science in planning (MSP)

Graduate Certificates

Graduate certificates are offered in the following disciplines:

Aging

Emergency management

Health services administration and policy

Human resource management

Public administration and policy

Public financial management

Real Estate Development

Urban Design

The graduate programs in the college produce competent and up-to-date professionals for employment in the public and private sectors, as well as non-profit organizations. The college's doctoral programs prepare students for entry-level faculty positions in colleges and universities. Doctoral students in most departments of the college have opportunities for employment as teaching assistants during their programs of study.

The college offers one health-focused interdisciplinary master's degree: the Master of Public Health (MPH).

MPH degree graduates will be trained principally as health administrators and health policy analysts. They will have a rich background in epidemiology, health economics, health behavior, health administration, health policy and policy analysis, and statistical and qualitative analytic skills. Careers are likely to include government agency or legislative staff positions, policy and consulting firms, think tanks, advocacy organizations and lobbying firms, international organizations focused on health and population issues, academic or media positions.

For additional information see the "Interdisciplinary Program in Public Health" chapter in this Graduate Bulletin.

Requirements

Master's Degree

The college's minimum requirements for master's degrees are the same as the University's (see the "Graduate Degree Requirements" chapter of this Graduate Bulletin). However, the requirements for the master of public administration, the master of science in planning and the master of science in political science degrees exceed the University minima. Some programs require a master's thesis of all candidates, others do not. Entry to joint-degree programs normally requires formal admission to both programs before registration for either. Refer to the individual program or department entries in this Graduate Bulletin for details.

Doctoral Programs

In conformity with University regulations, it is the normal expectation of the College of Social Sciences that the doctoral dissertation will require at least two semesters of full-time effort to prepare. Graduate students registering for dissertation hours only are normally expected to register for twelve (12) semester hours of dissertation credit for at least two semesters. Graduate students holding assistantships and registering for dissertation hours only normally are encouraged to register for nine (9) semester hours of dissertation credit for at least three semesters. A minimum of twenty-four (24) semester hours of dissertation credit is required by the time of the dissertation defense, including dissertation hours taken in the semester of the defense.

All doctoral students must meet the University's residence requirements. After the award of the master's degree or completion of thirty (30) semester hours of graduate credit, a doctoral student must receive from Florida State University a minimum of twenty-four (24) semester hours of graduate credit within a 12-calendar-month period. For further detail on requirements for doctoral programs, refer to the individual program or department entries in this Graduate Bulletin.

Certificate Programs

There are no college-wide requirements for graduate certificates. Each certificate has its own regulations. For details, see the relevant entry in this Graduate Bulletin: Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Institute for Health and Human Services Research, Economic Policy and Government, and Reubin O' D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, and Urban and Regional Planning.

Assistantships and Fellowships

Most of the college's departments have large undergraduate teaching programs, and the departments, institutes, centers, and programs engage in substantial outside-funded research and contract work. Accordingly, many graduate students are appointed as teaching or research assistants. Appointments to assistantships are competitive; therefore, applicants should inquire of their department or program as early as possible in the calendar year for fall appointments. Students on assistantships normally are encouraged to register for twelve (12) semester hours of credit per semester. Assistantship appointments normally carry waivers of matriculation fees and, if required, out-of-state tuition waivers, legislative appropriations permitting. Assistantships normally carry an obligation of twenty (20) hours of work per week, but some appointments with lower work hours are sometimes available. Assistantship stipends, which are taxable, are set by the departments or programs and vary from year to year and program to program, but generally exceed University minima and are competitive with stipends at comparable institutions.

Graduate students in the college are eligible for University fellowships and college teaching fellowships. University fellowships carry stipends plus waivers of matriculation and out-of-state tuition fees. No duties are required of fellows. College teaching fellowships may involve up to 10 hours of duties per week, but include waivers of matriculation and out-of-state tuition. The stipends for college teaching fellowships are made to superior candidates on a competitive basis. Applications are submitted through programs of study. The programs should be contacted for information on application procedures. Contact programs of study by December of the year prior to the academic year for which the fellowship is desired. In addition, there are a variety of fellowships and assistantships to support minority graduate students. Information and applications should be sought from intended departments or programs of study as early as possible.

In addition to having access to the University's mainframe computing facilities, the college maintains a geographic information systems laboratory, a software library, and a large data archive relevant to the social sciences. The college houses a survey research laboratory with design, survey, and analytic capability including telephone survey. Departments also have PCs and software available for use by their graduate students. The Center for Demography and Population Health has a specialist library.

Graduate students on assistantships are normally provided with office space to carry out their duties, including meetings with students if they are teaching. The college participates in joint-degree programs with the College of Law, in which students can simultaneously pursue the JD degree and either the MPA, the MSP, the MS in economics, or the MA or MS in international affairs. The Reubin O'D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy has joint-degree programs with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, the College of Social Work, and the health policy research degree, in which the student simultaneously pursues the degrees of MPA and MSP, MPA and MSC, MPA and MSW, or MPA and MS. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning has joint-degree programs with the College of Law, the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, and the master's program in International Affairs, in which the student can simultaneously pursue the MSP and JD degree, MSP and MPA, or MSP and MA or MS in international affairs. These programs enable the student to complete both degrees in less time than if they were attempted sequentially. To enter a joint-degree program, the student must be formally admitted to both programs.

Much of the college's work emphasizes international activities and linkages. Through the master's internationalist program students may earn a master's degree in urban and regional planning and secure placement in the Peace Corps to provide urban planning assistance in developing nations. The college, through the Florida–Costa Rica Institute, has a linkage arrangement with the University of Costa Rica and the Republic of Panama branch. Faculty members frequently teach at the Florida State University London Study Center and the Florence Study Center. Although these are primarily undergraduate instruction programs, it is possible for graduate students to be attached to them. Over 10 percent of the college's graduate students are international, from a wide range of countries, and most years there are visiting international faculty members.