The M.A. Degree in Criminology,
Law and Society
Master's students at the University of Florida take a sequence of 5
required courses plus elective courses to complete the required 36
hours for the degree. Students may select either a Thesis or Non-thesis
option. The hours taken to complete the M.A. will count toward the
total of 90 hours required for the Ph.D., if admitted to that program.
A detailed description of this program is available.
Procedures for the M.A. Degree
After consultation with the supervisory committee, the student must
decide whether to choose the thesis or non-thesis M.A. curriculum. It
is possible to change this election later on approval of the
supervisory committee and subject to detailed Graduate School rules
governing the timing of the change and treatment of research courses.
The following apply to students choosing either option:
- The Supervisory Committee. The
student must ask a member of the department faculty to serve as chair
of the supervisory committee. This faculty member will become the
student's primary academic adviser. In consultation with the
supervisory committee chair, the student selects at least two other CLS
faculty member(s) to serve on the committee. After obtaining the
consent of all proposed members, the student writes a memo to the
Graduate Coordinator listing the proposed committee so that it can be
submitted to the Graduate School for approval.
- Plan of Study. The student
should consult with the supervisory committee chair to develop a
detailed plan of courses and timing for completion of the M.A. degree.
The student or the supervisory committee chair will transmit an
approved copy of the plan to the Graduate Coordinator within one month
of the supervisory committee's appointment.
- Course Requirements. The
following courses are required:
CCJ6001
Proseminar in Criminology & Law
CCJ6920 Seminar in Criminology
CCJ6039 Law and Society
CCJ6705 Research Methods in Crime, Law, & Justice
STA6126 Statistical Methods in Social Research I
With approval of the Graduate Committee, similar graduate courses taken
at other universities may be substituted for up to 6 semester credit
hours
of
these requirements.
- Credit Hour Requirements. The M.A.
requires a minimum of 36 semester credit hours of courses, with the
following additional restrictions:
- Ordinarily no more than
three credit hours in Individual Work may be counted toward the M.A.
- No more than six semester
hours of graduate sections of primarily undergraduate courses (commonly
called "piggy-back" courses) may apply toward the M.A. degree.
- Rule Waivers. Students may
petition the Graduate Committee to waive departmental rules. Such
petitions must include full justification and must have the approval of
the student's supervisory committee if it has been formed. Petitions
should be delivered to the Graduate Coordinator for submission to the
Graduate Committee.
- Courses in Other Departments. Work
in Criminology must be in courses numbered 5000 and above. For those
selecting the thesis option, at least three hours of courses numbered
5000 or above may be taken outside Criminology provided they are part
of an approved plan of study (or are approved in writing by the
Graduate Coordinator and supervisory committee chair). For those
selection the non-thesis option, nine hours must be taken outside of
Criminology.
- Joint M.A. and J.D. Program. The
department will offer a joint M.A. and J.D. program in conjunction with
the Law School. The student must be admitted to both the Law School and
Graduate School and specify that the application is for the joint
degree program. In the joint program the two degrees may be obtained in
one academic year fewer than would be needed to obtain them separately.
Further information is available from the Graduate Coordinator.
- Admission to the Ph.D. Program.
All students admitted to the graduate program are presumed to be in
pursuit of the Ph.D. Degree. Those students admitted with an acceptable
M.A. degree are admitted directly into the Ph.D. program. Those
admitted with a bachelor's degree are admitted for the purpose of
earning the M.A. degree, but with the presumption that they will
continue in the program to pursue the Ph.D. However, transfer
into the Ph.D. program is not automatic. Students receiving a
University of Florida M.A. in Criminology must apply to transfer
to the doctoral program during the semester in which the M.A. is
completed. The student should inform the Graduate Coordinator of his or
her desire to continue in the program and ask the supervisory committee
chair to forward a recommendation to the Graduate Committee at the
completion of the M.A. final examination. The Graduate Committee makes
the final decision. This is an internal departmental procedure, and the
student does not have to re-apply to the Graduate School or Graduate
Admissions Office. Normally, all prior accepted semester credit hours
completed before admission into the Ph.D. program will be credited
toward the toward the total needed for the Ph.D. Find more
information here.
- The Final Examination. Notice of
the time and place of the final examination must be submitted to the
Graduate Coordinator and the department faculty. A copy of the thesis
or non-thesis paper must also be made available for faculty inspection.
All members of the supervisory committee must participate in the
examination. For thesis degree applicants, the final examination is an
oral defense of the thesis. For non-thesis candidates, the form of the
exam is determined by the supervisory committee and may include a
written component. Final examinations are not ordinarily held during
the summer. All faculty are invited to attend and participate, but only
supervisory committee members may vote. All supervisory committee
members must attend. The Graduate Council also requires that candidates
be examined on their broader interdisciplinary understanding of
criminology and law and society by following this procedure.
The M.A. Thesis Option
The thesis M.A. requires 36 semester hours of course work, a thesis
proposal to be submitted before research is actively undertaken, and a
final examination as described above. The scope and length of the
thesis proposal is determined by the supervisory committee. A final
copy of the thesis proposal, initialed by the members of the
supervisory committee, must be delivered to the department office. It
will be placed on the office counter for 10 business days to allow
faculty inspection and then will be placed in the student's file. The
student must deliver one copy of the final approved M.A. thesis to the
department for inclusion in its thesis library.
The M.A. Non-Thesis option
Requirements are the same for the non-thesis option with the following
exception. Instead of a thesis proposal and thesis, the student must
prepare a research paper of a scope and quality acceptable to the
supervisory committee. No proposal is required.
Determine
guidelines concerning the difference between non-thesis & thesis
options*:
A thesis typically has the following characteristics:
- a larger and/or broader piece of work;
- representative of the field/area;
- the final examination covers the
student's more comprehensive knowledge of the field, such as mastery of
various topics (e.g., theory, methods, statistics, main research areas
in the area, trends in the area, etc.) in addition to the subject area
of the thesis
A non-thesis typically has the following characteristics:
- a paper of high quality and/or
publishable piece;
- focuses on a subject/topic within the
field or research project;
- the final examination covers the
student's broader knowledge of the research on that topic or specific
subject; oral defense focuses more on the subject of the non-thesis
than the field in general
*Note: In both options, the graduate student must meet the graduate
council requirement that MA candidates have a broader interdisciplinary
understanding of criminology and law and society.
Satisfactory Progress
It is important for graduate students to maintain satisfactory progress
while in the CLS program. Progress is considered satisfactory if the
student has:
- no more than two incompletes for longer
than one semester;
- a supervisory committee at the end of the
term in which s/he had accumulated 12 credit hours or by the end of the
second semester in the graduate program;
- a grade point average of 3.0 or higher;
- a plan of study by the end of the first
academic year, updated annually thereafter; and
- met all graduate school requirements.
While satisfactory progress is not a guarantee for funding,
unsatisfactory progress may be grounds for termination from the program
and/or removal of funding.
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