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Welcome to Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Welcome to the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies’ Graduate Program. This document page is intended to give you a "big picture" of graduate studies in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies (CRS)—to set an ethic and give you an idea of what we expect of our graduate students. In addition, it is offered as an advising tool and should be used as a guide to program requirements, progress toward your degree, deadlines, and other important standards. We want you to succeed in our program and look forward to an exciting and productive adventure with you.
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- At least 24 credit hours must be CRS courses.
- At least 15 credit hours must be 600 level or above.
- A maximum of 6 six credit hours of "Independent Studies" are allowed.
All students are required to complete the following 6 credit six credit hours of core coursework:
- CRS 603 Contemporary Theories of Rhetoric
- CRS 607 Critical Media and Cultural Studies
Students may take a maximum of 9 nine credit hours from other graduate programs within the University. These courses should be clearly related to the student's individual emphasis and cannot be taken as substitutes for CRS courses.
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To complete the master's program, students can opt to either write a thesis or take comprehensive exams. Each option is described in more detail later in this handbook.
- Thesis — Students must complete 27 credit hours of coursework plus 6 six credit hours of thesis work.
- Comprehensive exams — Students must complete 33 credit hours of coursework and pass written and oral examinations in areas of the student’s choice.
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To continue in good standing in CRS, all students are expected to make appropriate progress toward completion of the degree. At the end of the second semester of studies, students receive a written evaluation of their general performance from their advisor and/or the DGS. Students will continue to receive regular input on the state of their degree progress and general professional development thereafter . (See see Form A: First-Year Assessment at the end of this document.)).
To remain in good standing in the program, students must meet the following minimum expectations:
- A grade point average in CRS courses of "B" (3.0) or better, and an overall grade point average of "B-" (2.67) or better.
- Coursework where a grade of "Incomplete" is assigned must be finished by the end of the next semester. A petition must be submitted stipulating the date when the work will be completed. The grade of "Incomplete" is assigned only in unusual circumstances (for example, protracted illness). Otherwise, it is expected that students will complete their coursework within normal deadlines.
- Full-time status (9 nine credit hours per semester) must be maintained. (6 Six thesis credit hours in the final semester is considered full-time status.)
- By April 15 of the first year, students must submit the Exit Option Declaration Form (Form B) to the DGS, indicating whether they are taking the thesis or comprehensive exams option and the name of the professor who has agreed to be the advisor of their thesis or comps committee.
- All students are required to take the core courses—CRS 603 and CRS 607—during the fall semester of their first year.
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- By April 15 of the first yearo
- Submit Exit Option Declaration Form (Form B) to Director of Graduate Studies. This form should identify the student’s advisor, the selected exit option, potential committee members, and the proposed thesis topic or comprehensive exam areas. In consultation with their advisor, the student should also designate one course (previously taken or upcoming in the fall) that provides their methodological training. Any course within or outside of CRS can be designated as the “methods” course, but it should substantially inform the student’s thesis project or comprehensive exam areas.
- By October Oct. 1 of the second year o
- Submit Thesis/Comprehensive Exam Committee Members Form (Form C) to Director of Graduate Studies. In consultation with their advisor, the student should decide on the members of their thesis or comprehensive exam committee and get permission from each member. This form can be resubmitted at any time to request changes to committee composition.
- By December Dec. 15 of the second year o
- Defend thesis proposal and submit Thesis Proposal Defense Form (Form D) to Director of Graduate Studies.
- By end of April of the second year o
- Defend Master’s Thesis or Comprehensive Exams. Note: Defense meetings generally do not take place during the summer. If extenuating circumstances require a defense after the end of spring semester, the student must obtain the explicit consent of all committee members and must abide by committee members’ scheduling constraints.
Conference and Research Travel Funding
All graduate students are encouraged to present scholarly papers at conventions or conferences. CRS offers up to $1000 $1,000 per graduate student per academic year for conference and research travel, and there is additional funding available through the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) to support this important dimension of graduate studies. Please contact the DGS for more information about how to apply.
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All graduate students have access to the Department’s department’s computer facility, kitchen, and copy/mailroom.
All graduate students will be assigned syr.edu email addresses and personal mailboxes in the CRS mailroom. Students are expected to check their email and mailboxes on a regular basis— basis — important information is frequently delivered through email and campus mail. It is your responsibility to keep apprised of deadlines and other significant events sent through email and campus mail.
All graduate students will be assigned a work space in the TA teaching assistant suite. This is a community space for graduate students to work, study, and meet with their students, and should be treated as a shared professional environment.
Future Professoriate Program
The Future Professoriate Program (FPP) is a University-wide pedagogy program for graduate students which also includes CRS-specific programming. Approximately once a month, the CRS Director of Graduate Studies plans and schedules sessions about professionalization, pedagogy, and progress in the program. The CRS sessions are required of all graduate students, regardless of whether they are enrolled in FPP.
At the end of every year, students report on the sessions they attended, both universityUniversity-wide and in the Departmentdepartment. Each student completing FPP receives a $150 stipend. There is also an optional “Certificate in University Teaching” from the Graduate School that FPP participants can receive by completing a supervised teaching experience and producing a teaching portfolio. Read more about the Future Professoriate Program.
The Thesis Option
Overview
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Format of a Master’s Thesis
A Master’s master’s thesis is like a short book with an introduction, two or three substantive chapters, and a conclusion. Theses usually range in length from 50 to 125 pages, but the shape and length of the thesis should be determined (in consultation with your advisor) by the question you address and the method you employ. There are theses on file in CRS that can give you a good idea of what a Master’s master’s thesis should look like.
The question you address in your thesis should make a modest contribution to your chosen area of specialization. This usually entails extending existing research to address a unique object of analysis. The question and methodology of the thesis should emerge from your coursework; often, the thesis is developed from a seminar paper written during the first two semesters of graduate studies , or from undergraduate or professional experience carried forward in graduate studies.
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By April 15 of your first year of graduate studies, you will choose a thesis advisor and submit the Exit Option Declaration Form (Form B). By October Oct. 1 of your second year, in consultation with your thesis advisor, you will put together a thesis committee made up of two additional CRS faculty members and one faculty member external to the department (for a total of four committee members). The external member of the committee typically serves as the oral chair of the thesis defense and should be notified that they will be asked to play this role when they are invited to join the committee.
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When the proposal is complete it must be approved by your committee at a proposal defense meeting prior to December Dec. 15 of your third semester. You will submit the Thesis Proposal Defense Form (Form D) to the DGS after your successful proposal defense. If you do not defend a thesis proposal by December Dec. 15 of your third semester, you will automatically default to the comprehensive exam option.
In your final semester, you may register for 6 six hours of thesis credit and proceed with your project. The 6 six hours of thesis credit count toward the 33 credit hours needed to complete the Master’s master’s degree. You will write your thesis in close consultation with your advisor (and with your committee members, as relevant). You must distribute your completed thesis to your committee and schedule a thesis defense according to the timeline established by the Graduate School. During the last weeks of your final semester you will defend your thesis at an oral exam and submit the thesis to the Graduate School. The Thesis Defense Checklist is a helpful guide to this process; the Graduate School’s website also includes a style manual and more instructions about submitting the final version of your thesis.
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The comprehensive examination is the second of two available exit options for M.A. master's degree candidates. Comprehensive exams are intended to be a culmination of a student’s educational experience , and may be a productive option for students not intending to continue on to a Ph.D. program or to pursue further scholarly research.
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Because there are no course credits for comprehensive exams, students must register for 6 six credits of coursework in the spring of their second year to reach a total of 33 credits to graduate.
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The decision to take comprehensive exams may occur in one of three ways:1.
- You may indicate your intention to take comps on the Exit Option Declaration Form (Form B) due by April 15 of the first year.
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- You may intend to write a thesis but decide, in subsequent consultation with your faculty advisor, that the comprehensive examination is a more fitting exit option. In this case, you can resubmit the Exit Option Declaration Form (Form B) to the DGS at any time between April 15 of your first year and
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- Dec. 15 of your second year.
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- If you do not pass an oral defense of a thesis proposal by
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- Dec. 15 of your second year, you will automatically default to the exam option.
Committee
Committee members should be declared by October Oct. 1 via the Thesis/Comprehensive Exam Committee Members Form (Form C); if you are switching from the thesis option to the exam option after October Oct. 1, the form should be resubmitted with the new committee composition. Comprehensive Exam exam committees should include:
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At the start of your final semester, each committee member will write an exam question related to the area they represent on the committee. If the faculty member represents a course, the course syllabus serves as the reading list; if you are defining an area of emphasis of your own, you and the faculty member develop a reading list together. Your advisor receives the committee members’ questions and decides on a timeline for distributing the questions to you and for collecting your written responses. Usually questions are distributed one at a time, with a period of two to three weeks to respond to each one. Responses should take the form of 12-15 page papers that answer the question by engaging extensively with the reading list. All responses are distributed to all committee members , and then defended by the student at an oral defense.
You should schedule an oral defense after completing all parts of the written exam; the defense date must allow adequate time for committee members to read your responses and occur no later than May 1.
To graduate on time, M.A. master's degree candidates must successfully pass their comprehensive examinations according to annual degree requirement dates established by the Graduate School. Upon successful completion of a student’s examinations, the advisor will notify the DGS, who will inform the Graduate School.