College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. N. Jane McCandless, Transitional Dean
678-839-6405
Degrees Offered
The Master of Arts degree is offered with majors in Criminology, English, History, Psychology, and Sociology. The Master of Science degree is offered with majors in Biology, Applied Computer Science, Mathematics, Nursing and Rural and Small Town Planning. The Master of Music and the Master of Public Administration degrees are also offered. Satisfactory scores on the verbal, quantitative and analytical writing sections of the Graduate Record Exam are required. Some programs may accept the Miller Analogies Test (MAT). Contact the Graduate School for more information.
Two options are offered in the Master of Arts degree and Master of Science degree programs: Plan I (with thesis) and Plan II (without thesis).
Language Requirement
Students seeking the Master of Arts degree or the Master of Science degree must satisfy the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures and their major department with a reading knowledge of an approved language. Alternately, students may secure approval from their major professor, department chair, and the Dean of the Graduate School for the substitution of a working knowledge of computer science. The language requirement may be satisfied by testing (passing a standardized test administered by the campus Testing Office) or by completion of specified courses under the direction of the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures. A student receiving credit as an undergraduate at West Georgia in a language 2002 course with a grade of B or better within five years of admission to the Graduate School at the University of West Georgia shall be deemed to have fulfilled this requirement. Students may also satisfy the requirement by passing an approved graduate level special topics course offered by the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures with a grade of B or better. No course taken to satisfy the foreign language requirement will count as one of the 27, 36, or 45 hours of course work in the student's program of study.
Students who wish to substitute computer science for the foreign language requirement must have their proficiency certified by the Department of Computer Science. Proficiency in computer science will be certified when a student makes a grade of A or B in CS 1301, Computer Science I, or a student can be certified by earning CLEP credit for "Information Systems and Computer Application." A student who has earned proficiency in Computer Science with an undergraduate degree at West Georgia will be given certification of proficiency if a written request for exemption is received by the Department of Computer Science within five years of the date in which credit was earned. With departmental approval, students may also satisfy the language requirement by passing Sociology 5003 (Statistics for the Social Sciences) with a grade of "B" or better.
Students may also satisfy the language requirement in psychology by way of a supervised foreign cultural experience or a supervised subcultural experience or the substitution of a course established by the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures in conjunction with the Department of Psychology, which would be more suited to cultural experience. Students who intend to satisfy the foreign language requirement by way of a supervised cultural experience must obtain the approval of the chair of the Department of Psychology and the Dean of the Graduate School before undertaking the cultural experience. In some cases, with the concurrence of the major professor, the department chair, and the Dean of the Graduate School, the language requirement may be waived.
Thesis Requirement
Every thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master's degree must involve independent study and investigation, explore a definite topic related to the major field, and conform to the format for research writing approved by the Graduate School.
The following regulations apply regarding the completion of the thesis: the subject must be approved by the major professor and the department chair and submitted to the Graduate Office prior to admission to candidacy; two weeks prior to graduation, three copies (original and two copies) of the thesis (signed by the thesis advisor, and the Dean of the Graduate School) with abstracts attached to each must be filed in the Graduate Office. Following approval, three copies of the thesis will be bound as specified by the Graduate School at the expense of the student. A copy will be placed on microfilm. Students must adhere to the appropriate discipline style manual and the "Rules of Form for Preparation of a Master's Thesis" of the Graduate School. Where conflicts between the "Rules of Form" and a style manual exist, the "Rules of Form" must be followed. Students must also comply with all institutional policies involving research.
Other Topics
For courses on the following topics, see Course Descriptions: Anthropology, Chemistry, Educational Research, Foreign Languages, Geology, Mathematics, Natural Science, P-12 Education, Philosophy, Physics, Science, and Sports Management. For Art Education, see the College of Education section.
