Second language requirement
The second language requirement for M.A. and M.A.T. students must be met before any final exam is taken or final graduation paperwork can be approved.
The Department of World Languages and Literatures has determined that the second language requirement for M.A. and M.A.T. students can be met in the following ways:
- Equivalent coursework: Students who have passed a course equivalent to PSU level 203 or higher in a second language will be deemed to have met the language requirement. The Office of Graduate Studies will certify completion upon evaluation of the student’s academic record if the requirement was completed at PSU. If the requirement was completed at a different institution, the Department of World Languages and Literatures will issue a certificate of completion. M.A. and M.A.T. students are responsible for making their academic records available in the first term of admission and requesting evaluation and certification.
- Students who do not meet the requirement under 1. above should make an appointment with the Department of World Languages and Literatures during the first term after their admission to make an individualized plan for the completion of their language requirement. Options include preparing for and passing one of these evaluations:
- Oral proficiency interview
- A written test such as
- The Graduate Student Foreign Language Test
- The CLEP exam
- A special exam, administered by the Department of World Languages and Literatures
- Coursework after admission: taking a course at level 203 or above in residence or abroad
- Special reading courses, if available.
The Department of World Languages and Literatures will teach and test only in languages in which it has expertise. However, off-campus arrangements may be possible with the cooperation of other institutions and the approval of the chair of the PSU Department of World Languages and Literatures. Certification of having passed a second language examination from an institution other than Portland State University must be approved by the Department Chair of World Languages and Literatures at Portland State University prior to acceptance as fulfillment of the University’s master’s degree second language competency requirement.
A student whose native language is not English may meet the second language requirement in English, except for students in the M.A. in World Languages and Literatures, who are required to demonstrate fluency in two foreign languages other than English at the time of admission and are not required to demonstrate additional competency except as necessary to complete their degree requirements.
Coursework and program of study
In the first year a student should prepare a proposed program of study in consultation with the faculty adviser. The purpose of the planned program of study is to present an organized, individualized plan for coursework, practica, and research activities consistent with the requirements for the proposed degree and approved by the faculty adviser.
A student must be in Regular status in order to have a thesis committee appointed (GO-16M form) or to have any final graduation paperwork approved. University Conditional status will be automatically converted to Regular status upon the completion of 9 letter-graded graduate credits with a GPA of 3.00 or higher after admission. Department Conditional status can only be removed by the academic department via a DARS exception submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies. For detailed information about Regular, University Conditional, and Departmental Conditional statuses, see Admission statuses.
If PSU pre-admission credits or reserved credits are to be included on the program of study, the department must submit a DARS exception to the Office of Graduate Studies. If transfer credits (courses taken at any time from another regionally accredited institution) are to be included on the program of study, the Proposed Transfer Credit form (GO-21M) must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies for approval. See Pre-admission and transfer credit and Reservation of coursework for graduate credit for detailed information about pre-admission, transfer, and reserved credits.
A student must have a minimum 3.00 GPA on the courses applied to the program of study, as well as a minimum 3.00 GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at PSU. Departments may establish a more rigorous standard. Although grades of C+, C, and C- are below the graduate standard, they may be counted as credit toward a master’s degree with the specific written approval of the department if taken at PSU after the term of formal admission to the graduate program. Grades of D or F indicate clearly unacceptable work and cannot be applied to graduate degree requirements. The grades of P/NP are used by only a limited number of departments which have received special authorization and may be counted as credit toward a graduate degree in resident credit only. Audited courses cannot be used to meet any requirement for master’s degrees.
A grade of IP (In Progress) may be used for 501 Research and for 506 Project when a student is progressing in an acceptable manner toward completion of the work; final grades for 501 and 506 credits are submitted by the instructor via an online grade change. An IP grade must be used for 503 Thesis when a student is progressing in an acceptable manner; final grades for 503 credits are assigned by the instructor on the Recommendation for the Degree form (GO-17M) and posted to the student’s transcript after approval of the thesis and certification for graduation by the Office of Graduate Studies.
A student with any M (Missing) grades in PSU graduate courses that could potentially be letter graded will not be certified for graduation, even if the courses are not applied to the student's degree program.
All coursework applied to the master’s degree program must be completed within the seven years prior to the awarding of the degree (e.g., a course started in the fall term of 2008 will be beyond the seven-year limitation at the close of fall term 2015).
Degree application
Students must file an Application for Awarding of Master’s Degree, Doctoral Degree, or Graduate Certificate with the Office of Graduate Studies by the first Friday of the anticipated term of graduation; see the Graduate Candidate Deadlines for specific due dates. A $30 charge will be applied to the student’s PSU account after the application is processed by the Office of Graduate Studies.
As a one-time courtesy, students who do not complete degree requirements can have their application for graduation carried forward to a future term (typically the next term, but it could be at maximum up to one year in advance). To request that an application for graduation be carried, students must contact the Office of Graduate Studies in writing and provide an explanation for the graduation delay. If students do not graduate a second time, the application for graduation will be dropped; they will then need to reapply for graduation by the appropriate deadline (and will be assessed a new $30 fee).
Validation of out-of-date graduate credit
A PSU course more than seven years old at the time of graduation, but no more than ten years old at the time of graduation, may be used toward master’s degree requirements after a successful validation exam (for example, a course taken in fall 2005 may be validated for a graduation term no later than fall 2015). A separate validation examination must be given for each course, in accordance with the full requirements listed on the GO-15 form. Departments are expected to limit validation examinations to those courses that are current and relevant in the discipline and meet the current requirements of the master’s degree program. Validated courses are limited to one third of the program requirements (e.g., 15 credits total in a 45-credit program). Each examination attempted, regardless of result, has a fee of $50.00, which will be credited to the department giving the exam. Payment must be arranged in advance of the exam through the Office of Graduate Studies and Cashiers.
In very unusual cases, with the specific agreement of both the student’s department and the department most equivalent to the original course department, a student may validate a graduate course from another regionally accredited institution, in accordance with the full requirements listed on the GO-15 form.
Human Subjects Research Review Committee
All research involving human subjects conducted by faculty, staff, or students in any program at PSU must have prior approval of the Human Subjects Research Review Committee (HSRRC). This policy, established by the Office of the President of Portland State University, applies to all research under the auspices of the University, including surveys and questionnaires, whether supported by grant, contract, gift, University, or personal funds. Even if a student’s research is exempt from full HSRRC review, the student must still file an application with the HSRRC. The decision to waive review is made by the HSRRC chair or a designated member of that committee. HSRRC applications may be obtained from the Office of Research and Strategic Partnerships. The student should allow a minimum of six weeks for the approval process. A student cannot have a thesis committee appointed until HSRRC approval is granted.
Final examination
If a final examination is required by the student’s department, it shall be taken after successful completion of any required second language examination and after at least 30 credits have been completed. The examination is not a re-examination over coursework but rather a test of the candidate’s ability to integrate material in the major and related fields, including the work in any thesis or research project. A minimum of 1 graduate credit of registration is required when taking any final oral or written examination.
Oral examinations
In the case of a non-thesis oral examination, the committee shall consist of at least two members of the student’s department, including the student’s adviser. At the discretion of the department, a faculty member from another department may be added; that member would be selected by the adviser, the department chair, or the departmental graduate committee chair, according to department policy. For M.A.T. and M.S.T. students, one additional member of the committee is required to be a faculty member from the Graduate School of Education or a faculty member with pedagogical expertise in the student’s discipline.
Non-thesis final oral examinations (including final project presentations) can only be held during regular academic terms, i.e., not between terms. Examinations must be scheduled and completed by the Friday of finals week for graduation in that term. For Summer term graduation, the deadline applies to the regular eight-week Summer Session dates, i.e., exams must be scheduled and completed by the Friday of the eighth week of Summer term.
Passing of the final oral examination requires a majority approval. In case of failure of the final oral examination, the department has the option of disqualifying the student from the master’s program or permitting the student to appear for re-examination after a period of at least three months. The result of the second examination is final.
Written examinations
If a final written examination is required, it can only be held during regular academic terms, i.e., not between terms. Examinations must be scheduled and completed by the Friday of finals week for graduation in that term. For Summer term graduation, the deadline applies to the regular eight-week Summer Session dates, i.e., exams must be scheduled and completed by the Friday of the eighth week of Summer term.
The student must pass all sections of the examination. If the student fails the entire examination or any section thereof, the department may dismiss the student from the degree program, or permit the student to repeat the entire examination, or the section that was failed, after a minimum of three months. The result of the second examination is final.
Thesis
The presentation of a thesis as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the master’s degree is required in certain departments and is an option in others. Each school, college, and department defines the nature of research and scholarship accepted for a thesis, but in all cases a high level of resourcefulness, productivity, and mature perception of the discipline is expected. The quality of the culminating work must meet University standards and reflect those of other leading universities. Although the thesis is not required to show original results, it must reveal independent investigation, including the knowledge and application of the accepted methods of scholarship and research methodology. The thesis represents the independent work of the student and must be developed under the direction of the thesis adviser.
The thesis committee must be approved by the Office of Graduate Studies using the GO-16M form in advance of the thesis defense. The committee must consist of at least three and not more than five faculty members. The chair of the thesis committee must be regular, full-time PSU instructional faculty, tenured or tenure-track, assistant professor or higher in rank; the other committee members may be adjunct or fixed-term faculty. Two of the committee members (the committee chair and one other member) must be from the student’s department; the third member may be from the student’s department or may be PSU faculty from another department or OHSU faculty. If it is necessary to go off campus for one additional committee member with specific expertise not available among PSU faculty, a CV for that proposed member must be presented with the GO-16M form; that member must be in addition to the required three PSU faculty members. All committee members must have master’s degrees or higher.
Students must be registered for at least 1 graduate credit in every term in which they are working on any phase of their thesis, including data development or collection, writing, revision, defense, and finalization through approval by the Office of Graduate Studies. Students must register for at least 6 to 9 credits of 503 Thesis in their department. (Since students must be continuously enrolled while working on the thesis, they frequently accumulate more than 9 credits of 503 Thesis. However, a maximum of 9 credit of 503 Thesis may be applied to the program of study.) IP (In Progress) is the interim grade reported until the thesis is defended and approved by the student’s thesis committee. Final grades for thesis credits are not recorded until the thesis has been approved by the Office of Graduate Studies.
A thesis defense may be scheduled only during the regular academic terms, no later than five weeks prior to the close of the term of application for graduation in which the degree will be granted (i.e., must be completed four weeks before the beginning of finals week). For summer term graduation, deadlines apply to the regular eight-week Summer Session dates. Later completion will result in graduation in a subsequent term. The student must deliver a final draft of the thesis to all members of the approved committee no fewer than 14 days before the thesis defense.
All committee members (approved by the GO-16M form) or alternates approved in advance by the Office of Graduate Studies must be present for the thesis defense; one committee member (not the Chair) may participate via video or teleconference. The student must attend the thesis defense in person (i.e., not via video or teleconference). The student’s oral presentation should not exceed 60 minutes. The thesis defense is open to the University faculty and may be open to the public at the department’s discretion. Passing of the thesis defense requires a majority approval. In case of failure of the thesis defense, the department has the option of disqualifying the student from the master’s program or permitting the student to appear for re-examination after a period of at least three months. The result of the second defense is final.
The final thesis must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies not later than three weeks prior to the close of the term of application for graduation. See the Graduate Candidate Deadlines for specific dates. For details about thesis formatting and submission, see the Thesis and Dissertation Information available from the Office of Graduate Studies.