STUDENT HANDBOOK 2007-2008

Special Majors (also known as Special Masters Program)

Note: See also the separate policy statement regarding programs for students specifically interested in gerontology and public policy.

1. BACKGROUND

From time to time, a student will consult PPA faculty about the possibility of developing a masters program in Special Major, (hereafter referred to as a "special masters program"), combining PPA courses (inevitably including only a portion of our core curriculum) with graduate level courses from other departments. Usually such a special masters program is designed to address specific interests of the student (e.g., in policy communication) that are not seen to fall neatly within the confines of a single department.

Special masters programs have created concerns for PPA faculty, related both to student preparation and integrity of the curriculum. For instance, there may be a tendency to design such programs so as to avoid core courses that students see as especially challenging (e.g., quantitative methods courses). And even if such is not the intention, we are concerned that students may not benefit from the careful blending of disciplinary perspectives that characterizes our core curriculum, although such blending may be possible through mixing courses from different departments. Students may also suffer from not having a clear cohort with whom they can regularly interact.

Special masters programs can be appropriate. For example, we have recognized that some students have a deep interest in gerontology issues which currently can only be accommodated through a special masters program, given that the University does not now offer a gerontology graduate degree. However, we believe the special masters is appropriate only under exceptional circumstances.

2. POLICY

Requests for approval of a special masters petition require the signature of the department chair. The chair will sign such a petition only if the student can make a compelling case for both the educational desirability of such an approach and the student's capacity to undertake the project. More specifically, in addition to any requirements set forth by the Graduate Division, the following conditions must be met:

• In the judgment of the chair, the special masters petition student would have been admitted to the PPA program if he or she had applied during the prior admission cycle;
• The student has satisfactorily completed all the PPA program prerequisites;
• The student has demonstrated how the courses chosen for the proposed special masters program fit together in a coherent manner; and
• The student provides a written statement that offers compelling reasons for pursuing the special major approach rather than the traditional masters degree approach.

The department chair will send a written explanation to any student whose petition for a special masters program is denied, explaining the specific reasons for that decision.

3. APPLICATION MATERIALS

In addition to submitting the Graduate Division's Special Major Application, a candidate for a special master's program is required to submit the following materials to the PPA department:

• Three letters of recommendation; and
• Copies of transcripts for all previous college level work.
4. ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

Special masters students generally are bound by the same academic requirements that apply to regular PPA students. In particular, this means that special masters students must:

• obtain a grade of "B-" or better in all of their required PPA courses and
• maintain an overall grade point average of 3.0 or better in their PPA courses.
5. EXAMPLES OF INAPPROPRIATE USES OF THE SPECIAL MASTERS PROGRAMS

Inappropriate uses of special masters programs include but are not limited to the following.

• Constructing a masters program that closely parallels the PPA curriculum but leaves out one set of courses (e.g., a proposed "public administration" masters that includes the management and politics courses but leaves out the economics and statistics classes);
• Constructing a masters program from courses from a disparate set of departments without a clear sense of the unique skills and/or learning outcomes each will provide.
6. QUESTIONS

Students should consult the department chair with questions about the appropriateness of a proposed special masters program