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Texas
Tech University is in partial compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.6.3.
In
general, students are discouraged from applying graduate course credit
earned elsewhere toward a degree at Texas Tech University. In all cases,
such transfers of credit must be requested of the Graduate School by the
student’s home department.
Students may request transfer of up to six
hours of credit with a grade of B or better to apply toward
a master’s degree program, subject to the approval of the department in
which the student is enrolled. Texas Tech University master’s degree
programs require a minimum of 30 hours of coursework for graduation,
therefore, the majority of credit for those degrees will be earned in the
university awarding the degree. The exception is the Master in Engineering
degree, which allows up to half the hours in the program to be transfer
hours. This is not in compliance with this comprehensive standard. The dean
of the College of Engineering will discuss the situation with the faculty of
the college and propose changes that will bring the Master in Engineering
program into compliance. However, the administrators of the program report
that generally no more that 6 hours of credit is transferred into the
program by students to be counted toward graduation and that they have no
record of any student having taken advantage of the option to transfer as
much as 18 hours of credit toward graduation.
Texas Tech University requires a minimum of 60 hours of coursework beyond
the baccalaureate degree plus 12 hours of dissertation credit (total 72
hours) for a doctorate. Students may receive up to 30 hours of credit toward
the 60 hour minimum if they have earned a master’s degree from Texas Tech
University in a program that forms a “logical sequence” with the doctoral
program. For students with a master’s degree earned at another university
that fulfills the logical sequence rule, up to 24 hours of the 60 hour
requirement may be offset by petition of the student’s department, with the
possibility of an additional 6 hours of credit in exceptional cases
(personal communication from Dr. John Borrelli, Dean of the Graduate School,
August 2, 2004). These offsets from the 60-hour minimum requirement for a
doctorate are not course transfers, they are credit awarded toward the
minimum total of hours required for the doctorate. Under these rules, and
counting dissertation hours, it is not possible for a doctoral student to
fulfill the degree requirements with less than a majority of course work
taken at Texas Tech University.
Texas Tech University also required a minimum of one year of residency in a
doctoral program to qualify for graduation. A recent (July 2004) amendment
of this requirement leaves the question of residency at the discretion lf
the student’s major department. The specific wording of the new residency
statement is:
The purpose of residence
in a doctoral program is to ensure the intellectual immersion of students in
a research and learning environment with faculty, peers, and staff. This
intellectual immersion can take place in forms other than those of a
full-time student on campus. Recognizing that there are several ways to
acquire the benefits of residence, programs are allowed to set the residence
requirements that best fit their particular program. Students are expected
to consult their departments about specific residency requirements for their
degree. (Minutes of the Texas Tech University Graduate Council, July 1, 2004
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/gradschool/Images/Academics/minutes/min0701_04.pdf)
Action
Plan:
The
College of Engineering will amend the program requirements to bring the
Master’s of Engineering program into compliance with SACS Comprehensive
Standard 3.6.3. |
