There are four degree completetion options available for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree.

1. Thesis
2. Research Project
3. Internship
4. Coursework

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LSTD 5980 - RESEARCH FOR THE MASTER’S THESIS

Prospectus

• Identify your thesis topic and provide the College with two-paragraph description.
•  Meet with your Thesis Director as appointed through the College.
• Develop the final version of your prospectus.

Admission to Candidacy form:

The Admission to Candidacy form will be sent to you by the  masters program staff after you have completed 18 hours of coursework. You will complete the form listing all your program courses – whether you have taken the course or not; the form must show 33 hours of coursework. It should not list any “I” grades. Once you have completed the form and emailed it back to the masters program staff they will review the form for accuracy and email it back to you, You will then print the form out  sign on the second page , and mail it to the College for signatures and submission to the Graduate College.

Researching and Writing the Thesis

Be sure to establish the correct format as described in the Thesis Option information from the Graduate College web page. Download that section so you will have the requirements in front of you as you proceed.

With your Committee Chair, establish a level of communication between him/her and you; identifying those points in your research at which he/she will want to see your work. If, for example, you are to send in each chapter for review, you send in the first chapter while continuing to work on your paper. Once your Chair returns that chapter with comments, you incorporate those comments into that chapter as well as into the current work you are doing. Be aware that in this phase, your Chair is seeing your work piecemeal. When the final paper is complete, your Chair will see the entire work for the first time and will likely identify certain problems that were not previously apparent. As you schedule your plan of work, allow time for revision at this stage.

• Committee – early in your research, the College will find two faculty members (with suggestions from you and your Thesis Committee Chair) to serve on your committee. These individuals can be resources for you, although they usually do not become actively involved until later in the process.
• Once your Thesis Chair has approved a final reading copy of your thesis, you send it to your committee members for their comments.

Application for Thesis Topic and Committee Membership form:

The Graduate College requires that this form be on file at least two weeks prior to the date of your defense but should be submitted with your Admission to Candidacy Form. This form will also be sent to you by the masters program staff.
It will require:

• Your name and student ID number
• Title/topic of your thesis
• Names of your Thesis Committee Chair and Members
• For any research that includes human or animal subject involvement of any kind, approval must be attained from the Office of Research Administration and must accompany the Application for Approval of the Master’s Thesis Topic and Committee Membership form. If you have any questions of obtaining this information, please contact The Office of Research Administration at 405/325-8110. The IRB Web site can be accessed at http://research.ou.edu/irb/
• Once you complete the form and have your committee members sign the form, return it to the College for the Deans signature and submission to the Graduate College. This form must be on file in the Graduate College at least two weeks before the date of your defense. There is no exception to this two-week requirement.

Thesis Defense

This is the final step in the process and is a meeting between you and your committee members where you present your thesis, answer questions and discuss your research and conclusions. All four people are to be present at the defense on the Norman campus and it is your responsibility to schedule the defense at a time convenient for everyone. You then notify the College so that we can reserve a room for the defense in the CLS offices in McCarter Hall if that is the most convenient place.

Authority for the Thesis Defense or Comprehensive Examination Form:

The Graduate College issues this form prior to the defense and the signed form must be returned to the Graduate College within 72 hours of the defense.

You must take a reading copy of your thesis to the Graduate College (Robertson Hall, 731 Elm Ave.) before your defense; a representative will check it for format and measure your margins (http://gradweb.ou.edu/docs/info/master/thesispkt.htm). At that time, the representative will issue you the Authority form, which you take with you to your defense for your committee signatures after your defense. You must provide a copy of the signed Authority to the College of Liberal Studies before returning the completed form to the Graduate College.

Final Step – You have 60 calendar days after your defense in which to complete any revisions, print three copies of your thesis on 20 pound, watermarked 100% cotton bond paper, and deposit it in the library after the Graduate College has approved the final copy. If you defend close to the end of the semester, the deadlines for thesis defense and deposit take priority as far as graduation is concerned. There is no exception to the 60-day rule. If you deposit the thesis after the end of the semester, you will need to be enrolled in at least two hours in order to deposit your thesis. If your defense is toward the end of the OU semester, the deadlines that apply to graduation take priority and all above requirements must meet those deadlines. (See OU Academic Calendar online at http://admissions.ou.edu/calendar.html.)

• Take three final copies of your thesis to the Graduate College.
• The representative will check for format. If everything is correct, she will give you your Thesis Topic and Committee Membership form.
• Take the three copies and the form to Bizzell Library, Lower Level II, Acquisitions Department. You will complete two short forms there and they will acknowledge receipt by completing your Thesis Topic and Committee Membership form.
• Make a copy of the Thesis Topic and Committee Membership form for the College of Liberal Studies and then take the original back to the Graduate College. You will not receive a grade for LSTD 5980, Research for the Master’s Thesis, until a copy of that form is in your CLS file.

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LSTD 5940 - RESEARCH PROJECT IN LIBERAL STUDIES

Prospectus

• Identify your thesis topic and provide the College with two-paragraph description.
•  Meet with your Thesis Director as appointed through the College.
• Develop the final version of your prospectus.

Admission to Candidacy form:

The Admission to Candidacy form will be sent to you by the  masters program staff after you have completed 18 hours of coursework. You will complete the form listing all your program courses – whether you have taken the course or not; the form must show 33 hours of coursework. It should not list any “I” grades. Once you have completed the form and emailed it back to the masters program staff they will review the form for accuracy and email it back to you, You will then print the form out  sign on the second page , and mail it to the College for signatures and submission to the Graduate College.

Researching and Writing the Paper

Be sure to establish the correct format as described in the Thesis Option on the Graduate College web page at http://gradweb.ou.edu

With your Committee Chair, establish a level of communication between him/her and you; identifying those points in your research at which he/she will want to see your work. If, for example, you are to send in each chapter for review, you send in the first chapter while continuing to work on your paper. Once your Chair returns that chapter with comments, you incorporate those comments into that chapter as well as into the current work you are doing. Be aware that in this phase, your Chair is seeing your work piecemeal. When the final paper is complete, your Chair will see the entire work for the first time and will likely identify certain problems that were not previously apparent. As you schedule your plan of work, allow time for revision at this stage.

• Committee – as you progress in your research, the College will find two faculty members (with suggestions from you and your research director) to serve as members of your committee. These individuals can be resources for you, although they usually do not become actively involved until later in the process.
• Once your research director has approved a final reading copy of your research project, you send it to your committee members for their comments.

Comprehensive Examination

This is the final step in the process and is a meeting between you and your committee members where you present your research, answer questions, and discuss your research and conclusions. All four people are to be present and it is your responsibility to schedule the comprehensive examination at a time convenient for everyone. You then notify the College. We can reserve a room for your comprehensive examination in the CLS offices in McCarter Hall if that is the most convenient place for everyone.

Authority for the Thesis Defense or Comprehensive Examination form: The Graduate College issues this form prior to the comprehensive examination and only releases it to the College of Liberal Studies; thus, you must contact the College at least two weeks before the scheduled examination so we can order the form and send it to your research chair. This form must be returned to the Graduate College within one week of the examination and you must provide a copy of the signed Authority to the College of Liberal Studies.

Final Step

Your final project, whatever form it takes, must have a written component. This report should follow all of the requirements listed in the Graduate College bulletin for the thesis with the exception that you do not have to prepare your report on 100% cotton bond paper; however, it should be on a high quality paper and must be placed in a three-ring notebook.

You have 60 calendar days after your comprehensive examination in which to complete any revisions to your final research project and provide the College with a copy of the written work and any accompanying materials. There is no exception to the 60-day rule. You will not receive a grade for LSTD 5940, Research Project in Liberal Studies, until you have submitted a copy of the bound research project to the College. If you take your comprehensive examination toward the end of the OU semester, the deadlines that apply to graduation take priority and all above requirements must meet those deadlines. (See OU Academic Calendar online at http://admissions.ou.edu/calendar.html.)

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LSTD 5950 – INTERNSHIP IN LIBERAL STUDIES

Students who select the Internship as a completion option are responsible for finding the agency and for making all arrangements with the agency in accordance with the Internship contract. The Internship requires 450 hours of work with an agency. The agency may be one by which you are employed but the internship tasks may not be the same as those in your regular duties for which you are paid.

Prospectus

• Identify Internship objectives and provide College with a two-paragraph description to facilitate the appointment of your Internship Director.
• Meet with your Internship Director as appointed through the College.  
• Develop final version of the prospectus that will identify the agency and the agency representative who will be your on-site supervisor.

Admission to Candidacy form:

The Admission to Candidacy form will be sent to you by the masters program staff after you have completed 18 hours of coursework. You will complete the form listing all your program courses – whether you have taken the course or not; the form must show 33 hours of coursework. It should not list any “I” grades. Once you have completed the form and emailed it back to the masters program staff they will review the form for accuracy and email it back to you, You will then print the form out, sign on the second page , and mail it to the College for signatures and submission to the Graduate College.

Completing the Internship

With the guidance of your faculty Internship Director, complete all of the required paperwork and carry out each step as described in the packet. Report to your Internship Director as required for each phase of the program. Keep the College informed of each step.

Final Requirements and Comprehensive Examination

During the course of your internship, the College will appoint two additional committee members (with suggestions from you and your Internship Director). This committee functions in the same way as the committees for the thesis and research project students.
The College requires submission of a written report describing the internship. The final Internship Report will include:

• Title page
• Table of contents
• Abstract (half page summary)
• Introduction to the report of the internship that includes a rationale for the selection of that particular internship and a discussion of the process. Include the beginning and ending dates, and any major mile stones that you consider important. This introductory chapter should be two-four pages.
• Treat each of the weekly reports as individual chapters. The second to last chapter should be the final academic paper of at least 15 pages that is required for the internship. Normally, this section should include referencing to department documents, policies, literature, or other experiences. Try to contrast and compare your experience with other published materials. Be objective in this discussion.
• The last chapter, approximately three to five pages, should be a summary chapter talking about what the experience of the internship has meant to you and all that you have learned. Include your time sheet in this section.
• Follow the Graduate College guidelines in the format of the report. You can find these on the Graduate College web site, http://gradweb.ou.edu, and following the links to the thesis option. You will pay particular attention to margins, organization of information on the introductory page, page numbering, etc.
• Send a copy to each committee member and to the College.

Comprehensive Examination

The Comprehensive Examination is the final step in the process and is a meeting with your committee to present and discuss your internship. Contact all three committee members and arrange a minimum of a one-hour meeting for your comprehensive examination.
Online students will have to take a written comprehensive examination if they cannot come to campus for an oral examination. You should provide the masters program staff and your committee chair with your needs as soon as they are clear to you.

Admission to Candidacy form:

The Admission to Candidacy form will be sent to you by the  masters program staff after you have completed 18 hours of coursework. You will complete the form listing all your program courses – whether you have taken the course or not; the form must show 33 hours of coursework. It should not list any “I” grades. Once you have completed the form and emailed it back to the masters program staff they will review the form for accuracy and email it back to you, You will then print the form out, sign on the second page , and mail it to the College for signatures and submission to the Graduate College. The Authority for the Thesis Defense or Comprehensive Examination form: The Graduate College issues this form prior to the comprehensive examination and only releases it to the College of Liberal Studies; thus, you must contact the College at least one month before the scheduled examination so we can order the form and send it to your research chair. This form must be returned to the Graduate College within one week after the examination; you must provide a copy of the signed Authority to the College of Liberal Studies.

You will begin by telling the committee what you experienced in the internship (compare what you expected with what you got). Note any surprises and things that you learned. Discuss how the internship changed your approach and/or performance in your regular assignment as well as what you would have done differently. Also discuss your research paper (what you found and how it is the same/different from what others have said). This part of the examination should take about 25 minutes and then each committee member will ask you a question about the project and about what you have written and presented during the discussion.

Your committee members will sign the Authority for the Comprehensive Examination and you return the original to the Graduate College within one week of the examination and a copy to the College of Liberal Studies. If you take a written examination, the master’s program staff will circulate the form for committee signatures and submit it to the Graduate College.

Final Step

You have 60 calendar days after your comprehensive examination in which to complete any revisions to your Internship report and provide the College with a copy. There is no exception to the 60-day rule. You will not receive a grade for LSTD 5950, Internship in Liberal Studies, until you have submitted a copy of your Internship Report to the College. If you are completing your work toward the end of the OU semester, those deadlines for submission of work to clear for graduation have priority. (See OU Academic Calendar online at http://admissions.ou.edu/calendar.html.)

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Coursework Comprehensive Examination

The College of Liberal Studies delivers Master’s level degree programs to students around the world. Students often spend little, or in the case of the online program, no time on the Norman campus. Under these circumstances, the normal MA final research requirement of a thesis defense, or a comprehensive examination of a research project, or internship is not the most appropriate method for degree completion. Therefore, the College offers an alternative completion requirement based on a broad, program-based Comprehensive Examination as described below. For this completion option the student completes 6 hours of coursework, instead of the 6 hours of Thesis, Research Project or Internship. The expectation is that students will demonstrate full mastery and competency to function in the domain of their studies.

REQUIREMENTS

Students will complete the 33-credit hour MA program including courses in interdisciplinary studies, research preparation, specialization courses based on their individual interest within the MA Degree Program as well as seminars and/or electives.

Interdisciplinary Studies:

LSTD 5003 Introduction to Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies
LSTD 5013 Interdisciplinary Foundations

Research Preparation:

LSTD 5903 Research Methods in Interdisciplinary Studies

Specialized Study:

A minimum of 15 credit hours of specialized study according to area of interest is required of every student. This fulfills the graduate college expectation of a focus of study.
The Comprehensive Examination will be administered only when the student has completed the Interdisciplinary Studies, Research Preparation courses, and 75% of all coursework.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

The take-home examination will consist of four questions approved by the College for each student. Such an exam would consist of the following:

• One question covering the content in the Interdisciplinary Studies portion of the MA program.
• One question covering the content in the Research Preparation portion of the MA program.
• One question covering the content in the Specialized Study portion of the MA program.
• One question related to a critical analysis of the readings required in the MA program.

Students receive two opportunities to successfully pass the comprehensive exam. A failure on any part of the exam results in failure on the entire exam. During the rewrite, a student only need repeat the area of failure, unless one fails more than two areas, which then results in a total failure. New question(s) are provided for the rewrite. A student who rewrites one or two questions will only have one week in which to respond with an essay.

PROCEDURES

• When the student has completed the requirements to take the Comprehensive Examination, and at least one month prior to the proposed date of the Examination, the student will present to the College in writing a request to write the Comprehensive Examination. The master’s program staff will contact a committee to review the procedures and prepare for the examination.
• The student must have completed the Admission to Candidacy form, meeting the Graduate College deadline requirements; the master’s program staff will correspondingly request permission for the exam to occur, and will send the exam to the student according to agreed upon dates.
• After the Examination the student will send copies of the examination to the three faculty members for evaluation and to the College master’s program staff.
• The master’s program staff will obtain the Authority for the Comprehensive Examination from the Graduate College before the date of the Examination, obtain the signatures and evaluation scores from the three faculty members, and return the signed Authority for the Comprehensive Examination to the Graduate College within one week of the date of the Examination.
• When all course work has been satisfactorily completed, the Comprehensive Examination passed, and the Graduate College requirements met, the student will be eligible for graduation.