4 April 2001

Auburn University

Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology

Overview of the Program

The Masters degree in Sociology is offered as a cooperative Interdepartmental Program between the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work (College of Liberal Arts, AU), the Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology (College of Agriculture, AU), and the Department of Sociology (AUM). The Program is administered by three Co-Directors, one from each Department. Six persons, including the Co-Directors and one faculty member from each of the three departments, make up the Program's Coordinating Committee.

Both thesis and non-thesis options are available. These two degree options are designed to serve the needs of differing types of students. The thesis option is recommended for students who might be interested in pursuing advanced graduate work and who are interested in gaining research experience. The non-thesis option is designed for individuals who are in mid-career, who wish to learn new skills in order to be more productive professionally, and have no intent on pursuing a more advanced graduate degree.

Admissions Requirements

The Graduate School at Auburn University and our Interdepartmental Program in Sociology welcome applications from serious students. Auburn University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer/equal opportunity educational institution.

Admission to our Program involves two steps: (1) application to the AU Graduate School, and (2) review of the application by the Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee. Once a completed application has been received by the AU Graduate School, the application is forwarded to one designated Program Co-Director (currently the Co-Director representing the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work on the AU-Main Campus). This individual distributes the application materials to the other two Co-Directors, who solicit input from members of their faculty regarding the acceptability of the applicant. The Program Co-Directors collectively make a recommendation regarding admission, which is passed to the Graduate School by the Program Co-Director who served as the initial point of contact for the application. The final decision on admission to the Graduate School is made by the Dean of the AU Graduate School.

In some cases, students applying to the Interdepartmental Program have had limited undergraduate course work in Sociology. Where this is so, students may be required to take certain undergraduate courses. The Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology is particularly concerned that students have appropriate grounding in our three core areas: Statistics, Methods of Social Research, and Social Theory.

Degree Requirements - Thesis Option

1. Graduate students are required to earn a minimum of 30 graduate-level semester hours, up to 6 of which may be thesis credits.

2. There are three required core courses for all graduate students in the Interdepartmental Program: SOCY 7000 (Advanced Sociological Theory), SOCY 7100 ( Statistical Applications in Sociological Research), and RSOC 7700 (Research Methods in Sociology). The remaining course work is selected by the individual student in consultation with the student's Graduate Advisory Committee.

3. A grade of B or better must be earned in each of the core courses listed above.

4. If a prospective student has not had one or more of these courses as an undergraduate (or appropriate equivalents as determined by the co-chairs of the Interdepartmental Program) they will be required to pass corresponding undergraduate course work with a grade of at least a B before being allowed to take graduate courses in any core area.

5. Undergraduate back-up courses in the three core areas do not count for graduate course credit.

6. No more than 6 credit hours of directed readings, including SOCY 7900 (Independent Study) and RSOC 7800 (Special Problems in Rural Sociology), or comparable courses in other departments, will be accepted to meet the required minimum of course hours earned.

7. Graduate students are required to develop a research proposal for their thesis research and to present this to their advisory Committee for review and approval. Research proposals typically include a statement of the problem, a set of clear research objectives, a preliminary review of the relevant literature, and a discussion of the proposed research methodology. Only when the proposal has been approved by the advisory Committee will the graduate student be considered ready to begin thesis research.

8. Graduate students are encouraged to present their proposals as part of periodically scheduled program colloquia where several students discuss their proposed research projects.

9. Once the thesis is complete and Committee members have had an opportunity to review and comment on its contents, a thesis defense is scheduled which is open to any interested person. After passing the thesis defense, final changes required by the Committee are made and the thesis is turned into the Graduate School. It is the responsibility of graduate students to meet format and other requirements of the Graduate School with regard to the final version of the thesis.

10. Graduate students are guided through their program by an advisory Committee consisting of at least four faculty members. Selection of this Committee, including the Committee Chair, is the student's responsibility. Students are strongly encouraged to form Committees which have faculty representation from at least two of the three participating departments.

11. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to form their Advisory Committee and identify a plan of study for course work by the end of their first semester of course work. Revisions to the plan of study and/or to the composition of the Advisory Committee are possible should the need arise.

Degree Requirements - Non-Thesis Option

1. Non-thesis students will be guided in their program by an Advisory Committee made up of graduate faculty from at least two of the component units of the Interdepartmental Program. The Advisory Committee is to be chosen by the student, with one member designated as the Chair. This Advisory Committee will be responsible for overseeing development of a plan of study and monitor the academic progress of the student.

2. Non-thesis students will be required to earn a total of 36 hours of graduate credit. Normally, at least 24 of these hours would be 7000-level or above courses offered in one of the three constituent departments in our program. Any exceptions to this must be approved by the co-Directors of the Interdepartmental Program.

3. The choice of courses taken will be made in consultation with the Advisory Committee, who will indicate their approval through signing a Plan of Study filed with the Graduate School by the end of the first semester in residence or before completion of 12 graduate-level semester hours.

4. Non-thesis students will be required to take the same three core courses in theory, methods, and statistics as students pursuing the thesis option.

5. No more than 6 hours of course work can be in the form of directed readings or independent studies.

6. In lieu of a thesis, non-thesis students will prepare a substantive research paper which will be presented and defended at a meeting of the Advisory Committee. This research paper could take a number of different forms, including a policy review, a program evaluation, or a paper suitable for presentation at an academic conference. The intent is for the student to provide the Advisory Committee a piece of work that reflects the students' interests and abilities to integrate elements of what they have learned in the graduate program.

7. Funding decisions are made by individual departments within the program. That said, it is the firm intent of all participating departments that students pursuing a non-thesis option are not eligible for graduate teaching assistantships and graduate research assistantships. The non-thesis option is being created primarily to serve the needs of potential graduate students who already are embarked on their professional careers and who see our program as an opportunity to expand their personal and professional horizons.

8. Students admitted into the Interdepartmental Graduate Program must declare whether they intend to follow a thesis or non-thesis option. A student who declares a thesis option may not subsequently change to a non-thesis option unless unusual and extenuating circumstances justify this change, and this change is supported by the student's Advisory Committee and approved by a majority vote of the Coordinating Committee of the Interdepartmental Graduate Program. In the event of a tie vote, the Dean of the Graduate School at Auburn University, or designee of the Dean, shall cast the deciding vote.

Deciding on a Thesis or Non-thesis option

The Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology now offers students a choice between a thesis or non-thesis degree. Both degrees will carry an MA or MS designation (choice of student), but it will be indicated on the student's transcript if a non-thesis degree.

The non-thesis option is designed primarily for students who are employed full-time and need a master's degree certification to either retain their positions or make them eligible or competitive for promotions. This degree option will normally be used by students who know that they will not be going on for a higher degree.

There are several things for a student to consider when making a decision about whether to pursue the thesis or the non-thesis option:

1. The non-thesis option requires a total of 36 hours of course work, in addition to a major paper which will be defended in the presence of one's advisory committee. The thesis option requires 30 hours, 6 of which are thesis credits, in addition to writing a major thesis. The thesis normally involves primary research and analysis by the thesis candidate.

2. A non-thesis degree is generally considered a less rigorous degree than the thesis option, despite the fact that there are more course hours involved. This is because the thesis is a much more rigorous research endeavor than is the major paper required for the non-thesis option.

3. Because the non-thesis degree is considered less rigorous, most PhD programs throughout the country will not consider a candidate with a non-thesis master's degree. Typically, such a candidate would either be rejected for admission or admitted on the master's level.

4. Non-thesis candidates will normally not be considered for funding by any of the three departments in the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology. There are several reasons for this:

a. The non-thesis option is specifically intended for students who are already working full time; hence, it would be working at cross purposes to have a policy that provided funding to non-thesis students;

b. We reserve our assistantships for what we consider the most competitive students. Given that the thesis option is the more rigorous of the two options, priority in funding will obviously go to thesis candidates;

c. We regard the assistantship as part of an academic socialization process to prepare students to teach and/or do research in preparation for advancing to the PhD degree. This is also the purpose of requiring students to write a thesis. Thus, the assistantship is intrinsically linked in purpose with the writing of the thesis.

d. In some cases, especially in the Rural Sociology department, the assistantship is designated as a GRA (Graduate Research Assistantship), and a research thesis is considered part of the contract for the assistantship.

We encourage you to think about these factors very carefully in deciding on which option that you want to take. Normally, any student who is not seeking this degree as a necessary certification for conditions of employment is urged to pursue the thesis option. There may be very good reasons for students who do not fit this category to pursue a non-thesis option, however, and we encourage you to talk with your faculty advisor and/or one of co-Directors of the Interdepartmental Program in Sociology before making such a decision.

For further information, please contact: