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Graduate Council Procedures

Graduate Admissions Standards Guidelines

The Montana Board of Regents Policy 301.3 states, “All graduate programs in the Montana University System shall establish admission and selection standards that are appropriate to the program of study.” 

The Graduate Council at The University of Montana encourages all graduate programs to develop and rigorously apply admissions standards that ensure that the highest quality students participate in our graduate programs.  All changes to admission requirements must be approved by the Graduate Council.  The admissions standards will default to existing program requirements in the absence of changes submitted to and approved by the Council.

Guidelines:  It is the expectation of  The University of Montana and Graduate Council that graduate programs require a certain level of performance on a standardized test such as the GRE or GMAT or LSAT, etc. when selecting students for admission. 

If programs elect to allow for applicants to demonstrate performance potential by means other than standardized testing, the Graduate Council recommends the program requirements follow these guidelines:

Either –

The applicant has a graduate degree in the field from an institution or program that is accredited, if applicable, along with at least one other qualification from (a), (b), or (c) below.

OR

The applicant has a GPA from an accredited undergraduate institution sufficient for success in the department’s graduate program along with at least two other qualifications from (a), (b), or (c) below.

  • (a) Experience:
    Extensive, high-level,  and relevant experience in the field of application

  • (b) Public Dissemination/ Performance:
    Record of high quality scholarly and/or artistic contributions such as:
                Publications in peer reviewed journals
                Presentations at national conferences
                Portfolio of artistic work or performances
               
  • (c) Other Application Materials:
    Demonstration of ability to function with excellence in the discipline, by means such as:

Audition
Interview
Writing samples

 

Bertha Morton Fellowships/ Scholarships

The Deadline is usually mid March. Fellowships are $3000 and Scholarships are $2000 each. To be eligible for nomination, a student must be admitted to a graduate program, and enrolled for the fall. Three copies of the nomination form & current transcript must be submitted by the deadline. No supplementary materials will be considered, and nominating documents should make no reference to or comparison with other nominees. The Council evaluates and ranks all nominations. Nomination documentation and recommendations should be grounded on the student’s academic record and accomplishments in one or more of the following areas:

  1. Honors and awards
  2. Professional certifications and credentials
  3. Evidence of research and other academic achievements
  4. Evidence of professional and community achievements
  5. Additional achievements and creative activities
  6. Evidence of contribution to society

 Graduate Increment

Graduate increments are definitions of the differences in requirements between undergraduate and graduate students when both participate in the same class. Graduate Council established a set of guidelines and examples for appropriate graduate increments in UG courses. See guidelines.

Individualized Interdisciplinary Program (IIP) Oversight Committee -recommendations

Consists of members on the Graduate Council from departments with PhD programs. Meetings are scheduled as needed and coordinated with members’ schedules. The members should elect a chair to set up meetings and assure reviews are completed. Dean Strobel will set deadlines each semester for applications.

Deadlines for applications are April 15 & November 15th. Criteria for evaluation includes:

  1. GRE General Test and if relevant TOEFL (>600) Scores
  2. Masters Degree that includes at least 30 credit hours of graduate work and a minimum of 3.5 GPA.
  3. Relevance and quality of professional work to date and potential for PhD level work.
  4. Statement that the applicant has not applied to and has not been rejected by an existing doctoral graduate program at UM.
  5. A clear indication the proposal is for a truly integrative PhD that cannot be constructed using an existing UM doctoral program.
  6. Application and Proposal
    1. Academic and professional goals including statement of research problem(s) and articulation of objectives (skills and competencies) to be developed
    2. Curriculum Plan
    3. Assessment Plan
    4. Relevant Research Plan with, at minimum, PhD level research questions
  7. CV
  8. Transcripts from all previous institutions
  9. Letters (3) of recommendation
  10. Commitment from dissertation committee members
  11. Checklist of the above completed by advisor.


Notes:
A. Incomplete applications will be returned and only re-reviewed once.
B. The Committee expects the grad school to report biannually back to the committee the following:

IIP Admissions Committee  

The IIP Admission Committee will be composed of five faculty members from any Schools or Colleges that offer graduate programs. At least three of the five must be from different doctoral-granting programs. The composition will be based on ECOS recommendation and appointed by the President for staggered three-year terms.

Program Review

“The Graduate Council proposes to resume its rightful role in the graduate program review process, and requests all program review documents be submitted to the Council for final review and comment. The appropriate subcommittee will evaluate the material and prepare a summary report for discussion and approval by the Council. Upon Council approval, the summary report will be forwarded to the Graduate School Dean and Provost.” Senate approved 3/13/03

Whereas: The Graduate Council ’s inclusion in the review procedures needs to be explicitly defined. The Graduate Council proposes that for reviews of programs and departments with a graduate component: (amended and approved by Graduate Council 4/6/05 )

  1. A copy of the basic data, faculty assessment data and self-study compiled by the program under review will be made available to Graduate Council and the Dean of the Graduate School by the Provost’s Office upon completion.
  2. The Dean of the Graduate School will meet with the external reviewer when the reviewer conducts the on-site review.
  3. The Provost will make available to the Graduate Council and the Dean of the Graduate School a copy of the report submitted by the program’s external reviewer by the end of spring semester.
  4. At the beginning of the subsequent fall semester, the appropriate subcommittee of the Graduate Council will evaluate the review material. The subcommittee will prepare a summary report of its evaluation and present it to the Graduate Council for review and possible amendment. Upon approval, the final report will be forwarded to the Provost for inclusion with material returned to the Dean responsible for the program under review.
  5. The Dean of the Graduate School will be included in the program review follow-up procedures carried out by the Provost.
  6. The Dean of the Graduate School will report back to the Graduate Council on the outcome of the review process and follow-up procedures as they pertain to the graduate component of the program review.

Program Review Guidelines

    I Graduate Curriculum and Teaching
    1. Enrollments in program and courses
    2. Assessment of program and courses (entrance requirements, graduation requirements, quality of program, etc)
    3. Rationale for program including/excluding courses (if any 300-level courses, why; if 400-level courses, why) – comparison of program to other University programs of similar nature.
    4. Student Support and Feedback (mentoring, advising, program culture, funding, etc)
    II Academic Record of Faculty
    1. Teaching (Number of classes/courses/term/year, Number of student advisees)
    2. Scholarly contributions (publications, creative works, grant generation, etc.)
    3. Service (to department, college, university and profession)
    III Facilities
    1. Office
    2. Lab/classrooms/studios
    3. Library
    4. Information technology
    5. Special needs
    IV Management
      a. Decision making and distribution of departmental resources
      b. Selection and support of Graduate Director
      c. Student participation in program governance
      d. Student recruitment

V Student Evaluation

    a. Review of overall student performance and progress
    b. Student experiences appropriate to their professional goals
    c. Timely communication of student deficiencies and an opportunity to remediate
    d. Mechanisms to promote retention and completion

    VI New Directions and Recommendations
    1. Trends in the field (How are the faculty/department keeping up with the trends in field? Are courses being revised, re-written?)
    2. Recommendations
    VII Other




Research Award criteria  

  1. Double-spaced prospectus describing the proposed research project totaling no more than 1000 words including the following: 
    • Title of study
    • Purpose: hypothesis, thesis, and/or research question(s)
    • Significance: why is the project worth doing and what contribution will it make
    • Methodology to be used
    • Feasibility: can project be completed with available resources or is additional subsidy needed
    • Name of the Chair of your master’s or doctor’s dissertation/thesis committee
    • Projected date of study (research needs to be conducted during Fall 2006, Spring 2007, and/or Summer 2007)
  2. One-page itemized budget and a narrative that includes:
    • A list of any funding you have or may have available specifically for this research project
    • Information about level of progress on your project, such as if it has been approved by your committee at this point in time
    • Signature of your supervising faculty member in support of your study/funding and verifying the information provided in the first two bullets in this section
  3. One-page letter of support from your dissertation/thesis Chair or another faculty member associated with your study that is able to attest to the quality of your study.

[Any materials received in excess of the page limits given will not be reviewed].

The Graduate Council will review applications and announce the awardees early in December. Applications will be evaluated on the basis of adherence to the guidelines, quality of study, and with consideration given to budget needs.

Graduate Council will rank each application based upon the following 5-pt rubric:

5 – excellent: purpose, significance, methodology, and feasibility clearly articulated.
4 – good:  quality and clarity of proposal somewhat less rigorous
3 – adequate: satisfactory articulation of project but qualitatively inferior
2 – inadequate: deficient in one or more of the above stated criteria
1 – unacceptable – lacking documentation and/or articulation of the above

(approved 2/14/06)

300 UG Courses

Students may count 6 credits 300 level UG courses towards a graduate degree. In terms of FTE funding 300 UG courses are counted for undergraduate credit. The University receives more money for graduate credit than undergraduate. The administration would like all UG courses to be 400 level. Departments argue inadequate resources, curricular structure, or pedagogy components. The Graduate council does not have a solution. New 300 UG courses are not allowed, unless there is proper justification. Courses previously approved with the UG designation have not been reconsidered. The Council does not wish to continue debate without additional information. The Council strongly encourages the administration to address the issue through other means.

Graduate School Credit Policies

C1.000 - Credit Requirements
Each program defines its own credit requirements and its own standards of quality and achievement. At least two years of graduate study are normally necessary for the master's degree. The following statements describe the Graduate Schools' minimum quantitative requirements for the master's degree.
C1.100 - At least 30 semester graduate credits will be presented for the thesis or professional paper option, or at least 36 semester graduate credits for the nonthesis option.
C1.200 - At least 20 semester credits, including those earned for the thesis or professional paper will be in your major discipline.
C1.300 - At least half the credits required for your degree (excluding a combined total of 10 semester credits for thesis and research) will be at the 500 or 600 level. (In no case, however, will this rule require more than 18 semester credits of 500- or 600-level work.) To apply this rule to your course of study, subtract the number of thesis and research credits you completed (up to 10 semester credits only) from the minimum number of credits required for your degree. Half of the remaining credits must be in courses at the 500-600 level.


C 1.400 - Special approval must be received from the Graduate School upon recommendation of the graduate student's program if a student wishes to count more than six (6) credits of 300 UG courses toward their graduate degree.

Complete list of Graduate School Policies

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