B. Residence Requirement
The minimum residence requirement for the Master’s degree is two regular semesters of approximately 16 weeks each or the equivalent in summer sessions. Three to six semester hours of work in a five-week summer session constitute a full load; nine to twelve hours of course work constitutes a full load in a regular session. The department considers six-thesis credit hours per semester to be a full load. Students on assistantships are expected to be enrolled for a minimum of nine hours of course work during the semester they hold the assistantship.
Six years is the maximum time allowed for completion of the Master’s degree. If more than six years are spent in the program, Special arrangements must be made with the Graduate School to revalidate credits in courses taken. Comprehensive examinations are valid for two years prior to completion of all degree requirements. Students who do not complete the program within the six year period become subject to changes in degree requirements adopted up to a date six years prior to his/her completion of the program.
C. Thesis
As soon as possible, normally following the second full semester of coursework, the candidate who follows the thesis option begins the thesis phase of the program. The student’s advisor serves as thesis director and, in consultation with the student, selects the second and third members of the Thesis Committee.
Proposal.
The student then submits a formal thesis proposal to the committee prior to the defense date. The proposal includes the topic to be investigated, the purpose of the study, the research design; and familiarity with literature in the area. At the proposal defense, the student, with agreement from the committee, may request either the traditional or manuscript style thesis. The request for a manuscript style thesis shall include the journal name and brief justification explaining the journal selection. Students seeking the manuscript option shall discuss their intentions with their advisor prior to the thesis proposal defense.
Students are encouraged to complete their thesis proposals as early as possible. Students are not allowed to register for GEOG 799 without the committee approval of a thesis proposal. Any student on assistantship who has not had the proposal accepted but the end of the third semester (or semester in which 25 hours of coursework are completed, if student had been part-time at some point) is not eligible for further funding by the Department. Thesis committees normally do not meet during the periods between semesters or sessions, nor during the first or last week of any semester or session. The student, therefore, should bear in mind that failure to submit an acceptable proposal well in advance of the end of a semester may lead to a serious delay in obtaining committee approval of the thesis proposal.
Thesis Format.
Theses must follow the formats defined by the Graduate School (http://gradschool.sc.edu/thesisdissertation/format.asp). The manuscript style thesis will be composed of at least one manuscript. The content of the manuscript is as typical for submission to the refereed journal article (identified in the proposal) and formatted (i.e. abstract, List of tables/illustrations, page numbering) as defined by the Graduate School. The formal requirements include required chapters in the table of contents where these ‘chapters’ may be sections of the manuscript. The student must be first author on any manuscript(s) in the thesis. A manuscript style thesis may include additional chapters (e.g. expanded literature review or appendices).
Availability of Defendable Thesis.
The thesis is distributed to the committee members at least two weeks (three weeks for the manuscript style) before the scheduled defense and is available for public review in the department office at least one week prior to the defense.
Thesis Defense.
A public defense of the thesis is required before final committee approval and it must be held at least 30 days prior to graduation. Deadlines for the deposit of approved theses at the Graduate School arc subject to University regulations, and students should consult the published University academic calendar for such deadlines. To graduate during a given semester, it is necessary for a first draft to be submitted to the thesis committee no later than about the mid-point of that semester.
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