Division of Graduate Studies

The ASU Division of Graduate Studies offers programs to meet the educational needs of those who already hold baccalaureate and master’s degrees. While many students prepare for careers in research, the professions, and the arts, others study for personal enrichment. Both part-time and full-time students are enrolled in a wide range of master’s and doctoral degree programs encompassing hundreds of concentrations and specialties. Other students explore new areas of interest or prepare for career advancements apart from formal degree programs.

The size, strength, and diversity of the graduate community reflect the university’s commitment to high-quality education. As a major center for graduate education, ASU supports cultural and intellectual activity as well as research in a broad range of arts, sciences, and professional disciplines; in addition, the university conducts research addressing the social, cultural, and economic growth and development of Arizona and the Southwest.

One distinctive project that magnifies the Division of Graduate Studies’ dedication to graduate students is the Preparing Future Faculty program, which is designed to educate students about faculty roles and prepare doctoral students specifically for faculty positions in colleges and universities across the nation.

This past year, a large number of ASU graduate students were awarded prestigious fellowships and scholarships funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Ford Foundation, Fulbright, and other public agencies and private foundations.

Funded programs, together with more than 30 research centers and institutes, provide assistantships and training for many graduate students; further, the centers coordinate conferences, colloquia, and special seminars to heighten the learning experience. The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs provides seed money to enable ASU faculty and students to work at the frontiers of knowledge. Such activities continually encourage the creative embrace of change and experimentation.

ASU provides numerous choices in student life, for personal enrichment as well as cultural interaction. Many internationally known speakers present lectures here, bringing together faculty, graduate students, and the community to engage in stimulating dialogue.

Intellectual Environment. More than 11,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 nations are enrolled in graduate study at the university. Such size and diversity contribute to a cosmopolitan setting that is ideal for intellectual discourse and stimulation. As a balance to this large grouping of students, individual graduate programs conduct small colloquia and seminars where students and faculty discuss their work in an intimate, intellectual environment supportive of student development. The result is a spirited, lively atmosphere in which students and faculty members get to know each other through collaborative research and intellectual exchange.

Although graduate degree programs differ in many ways, they all share two important characteristics. First, in comparison to baccalaureate programs, they demand a deeper and broader understanding of a body of knowledge in a recognized discipline or profession. Second, especially in doctoral programs, graduate students prepare to make original contributions to their fields through research and other creative activities of a high order. ASU offers several types and levels of postbaccalaureate degrees. For admission information and procedures, access the Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate/admissions.

Master’s and Doctoral Work. Many students pursue a master’s degree to satisfy their own quest for learning. In some disciplines, such as dance or architecture, the master’s degree is frequently the terminal or final degree. In other fields, students enter master’s programs as a step toward more advanced work, such as doctoral studies, that prepares students for a lifetime of intellectual inquiry and creativity or for the application of knowledge to professional practice.

Research Degrees. Students at ASU may pursue research-oriented or practice-oriented degrees. Research-oriented degree programs—including the Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)—prepare students for careers in research and scholarship in governmental, business, and industrial organizations or in university or college teaching. Students in these programs develop the ability to evaluate existing knowledge critically and to extend it into fresh areas of inquiry and scholarship.

Professional Degrees. The professional or practice-oriented degree programs have slightly different names and distinct academic missions. The names of the degrees are commonly tied to the academic unit offering the program, for example, Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Music (MM), Master of Social Work (MSW), and Doctor of Education (EdD). With the objective of preparing students for professional practice, such programs require rigorous preparation in the fundamental literature and scholarship of the field. Some degrees require demonstrated expertise through an internship, an exhibition (art), a performance, or a recital (music). Examples of ASU fields in which academic units offer professional programs include architecture and design, business, education, engineering, health services administration, law, nursing, public administration, and social work.

Many students enter postbaccalaureate studies without intending to obtain a new degree but rather to enhance personal or professional knowledge. These students may want to advance in their present career, acquire the background to make a career change, or make up academic deficiencies before entering a degree program. All postbaccalaureate students, degree or nondegree, enjoy the benefits of cultural and intellectual activities at the university, such as colloquia, seminars, and conferences focusing on the latest scholarship in the field. By consulting with appropriate academic units, students can learn which courses are suitable to their needs.

For admission information and procedures, access the Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate/admissions.

The Division of Graduate Studies spans the university in supervising graduate studies. Since more than 1,600 ASU faculty members teach graduate students in more than 100 instructional units, the Division of Graduate Studies works closely with the university’s colleges and academic units. In most cases, graduate instruction is offered by units that also provide related undergraduate programs.

Although most graduate programs are offered by academic units, diverse interdisciplinary programs cross academic disciplines. Many majors are in fields that are still emerging as recognized academic disciplines and, therefore, do not customarily form the academic basis for departments. Other fields of study are inherently interdisciplinary and do not fit well with conventional disciplines around which departments are formed. Curricula reflect intrinsically broad disciplinary affinities, and faculty are drawn from more than one academic unit.

Examples of interdisciplinary programs include

Each of these programs uses resources and faculty from several disciplines. The programs promote cooperative research and instruction among faculty who share common interests but are housed in different academic units and allow students to pursue degrees that are intellectually coherent but bring together diverse strengths of the university.

ASU continues to advance as a major research institution. The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs provides leadership in obtaining external funding and in coordinating and administering sponsored projects. Many graduate students receive financial support and gain first-hand experience as they participate with faculty members in carrying out these research projects.

Much of this work is associated with campus research centers that help to develop proposals, coordinate activities, and bring together in colloquia and conferences students and faculty with common intellectual interests. Such centers include the Center for Solid State Science, the Institute for Manufacturing Enterprise Systems, the Institute of Human Origins, the Hispanic Research Center, the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, and the Prevention Intervention Research Center. For more information, see Research Centers.

ASU lends support to research in diverse ways, including providing extensive facilities for research and instructional programs. State-of-the-art facilities include an architecture building, a fine arts complex, the Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering, an addition to the Life Sciences Center, and the Computing Commons. The Engineering Research Center, built as part of the Engineering Excellence Program, houses advanced facilities such as the Molecular Beam Epitaxy laboratory and a clean room for microelectronic device fabrication. Among other facilities supporting research on campus are the Institute for Studies in the Arts, in the Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts; the Facility for High Resolution Electron Microscopy, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and the Southwest Archaeological Collection, in the Department of Anthropology.

Library System. The ASU library system is a major research facility (see University Libraries and Collections). It contains more than 3 million volumes of books and approximately 6.6 million pieces of microforms and subscribes to more than 36,000 serials. Among the nation’s research libraries, it is in the top quarter in annual volume acquisition. It is especially strong in amassing current monographs and serials to support graduate programs. Some of the most important research collections include manuscripts and rare photographs on Arizona and Southwest topics and an excellent collection of social science materials on Southwestern and border studies topics, including materials on northwestern Mexico. In the humanities, the Hayden Library has an outstanding collection of literary works and literary criticism from small and major presses in American and English literature. The Child Drama Collection is also outstanding. A growing rare book and manuscript collection supports the research interests of academic units. The Arthur Young Tax Library emphasizes accounting and law. The Noble Science and Engineering Library is a designated U.S. Patent Depository and, as such, is one of fewer than 30 U.S. academic libraries to receive copies of all new patents. The entire collection of U.S. patents in microfilm is housed in the Noble Library.

The libraries contain extensive U.S. and Arizona government documents and selected international documents.

The Music Library contains scores and sound recordings.

The Architecture and Environmental Design Library houses a nationally recognized set of materials on solar energy and research collections on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri as well as other Arizona architects.

The libraries offer excellent support to researchers interested in electronic information sources. The online library system incorporates the usual catalog to ASU library holdings as well as several other important electronic reference databases and gateways. Bibliographic information on the library holdings can be accessed from any location in the world via a modem-equipped microcomputer.

The library system belongs to the Center for Research Libraries, permitting access to the center’s vast collections of materials for extended loan periods.

Providing academic and professional development support to graduate students is an important part of the Division of Graduate Studies mission. Services include referral, individual mentoring for disadvantaged students, financial assistance, orientation sessions, workshops, career seminars, and research conferences. Division of Graduate Studies Student Programs/Services maintains a variety of programs specifically for graduate students (degree and nondegree). For more information, access the Division of Graduate Studies Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate.

Division of Graduate Studies Financial Support Office. The Division of Graduate Studies Financial Support Office assists graduate students applying for external fellowships. The office processes tuition waivers/remission and health insurance benefits for research and teaching assistants, tuition fellowships for students who are not research or teaching assistants, travel grants, and other financial support in partnership with academic units.

For assistance with loans, access the Web site at www.asu.edu/fa, or visit Student Financial Assistance in SSV 216A.

Advising and Career/Professional Development. Many graduate students have questions and concerns about which degree to pursue; how to combine their student roles with parenting, partnering, and worker roles; and what to do with their degrees upon graduation. The Division of Graduate Studies provides the following resources.

Advising. The Division of Graduate Studies’ Advising/Referral Office offers general information about policies, procedures, requirements, and support services. Students with regular admission status should contact their academic unit for degree program advising and program of study planning.

Preparing Future Faculty. Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) is a program coordinated by the Division of Graduate Studies for doctoral students who are seeking careers in the professorate. Originally a national initiative under the Council of Graduate Schools and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, PFF encourages fresh thinking and planning in faculty preparation, identifies strategies to improve the quality of teaching and learning, and orients doctoral students to different types of higher education institutions.

Preparing Future Professionals. The Preparing Future Professionals (PFP) program, administered by the Division of Graduate Studies, assists doctoral students interested in pursuing nonacademic professions. PFP parallels the well-established and successful PFF program. Through a series of activities, PFP familiarizes doctoral students with various nonacademic career tracks to develop skills to successfully pursue a wide range of career opportunities.

Strategies for Success. The Strategies for Success series of professional development workshops is broken into three categories: teaching and instruction, career development, and enriching the graduate experience. These workshops are open to all registered graduate students.

Division of Graduate Studies. Courses with the prefix GRD numbered 791 are reserved for doctoral students participating in the PFF program. PFF students are required to take one semester hour for each of the semesters they are enrolled in the program. Students enroll for the first-year exploratory phase. Those accepted into the second-year participatory phase enroll for one semester hour each semester.

Diversity Programs. Diversity Programs are designed to increase the number of graduate students from groups underrepresented in certain professions and fields of study.

UGEM. The Division of Graduate Studies UGEM (Underrepresented Graduate Enrichment Match) program is designed to assist academic units in the recruitment and retention of excellent first-year graduate students from underrepresented groups. UGEM provides academic and financial support through assistantships. For more information, contact specific academic units.

The Social and Academic Mentor (SAM) Program. The SAM program is designed to recruit top graduate students from domestic, international, and underrepresented populations. Academic units submit nominations to the Division of Graduate Studies for a first-year student (mentee) and peer mentor match. The mentor, two or more years advanced in the program, promotes the mentee’s social and academic integration into graduate school by using a structured approach. The mentor receives hourly compensation.

Orientations. Before each fall semester, the Division of Graduate Studies hosts an orientation/reception for new graduate students. An online orientation is available on the Division of Graduate Studies’ Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate.

All new teaching assistants (TAs) are required by the university and the Arizona Board of Regents to attend the TA Orientation conducted by the Division of Graduate Studies. Additional professional development forums are held during the academic year and TAs are encouraged to participate.

Workshops for Undergraduate Students Considering Graduate Education. The Division of Graduate Studies holds workshops to address issues that students contemplating graduate study should consider. The purpose of graduate study, the choices among research and professional degrees, the selection of schools to apply to, and the types and sources of financial support are among the topics discussed.

Student Organizations. The Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) is part of the Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU), the student government for the university. The GPSA represents graduate student interests within ASASU and the Office of Student Life. It assists the Division of Graduate Studies in planning orientations, the Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, and other student-related activities. This office, with the Division of Graduate Studies, also funds small research grants to support graduate students’ thesis and dissertation projects. In addition to the GPSA, many other special interest organizations are available for graduate students, such as the Latino(a) Graduate Student Association, American Indian Graduate Student Association, Black Graduate Student Association, and Graduate Women’s Association.

Student Academic Services. The Division of Graduate Studies provides assistance to graduate students through its Student Academic Services (SAS) department in accordance with the policies and procedures set forth in this catalog. SAS offers services such as the processing of the graduate program of study, petitions, comprehensive exam results, foreign language exam results, candidacy letters, and committee changes and approvals. This office also prepares and sends defense paperwork, announces doctoral defenses in Insight, and works closely with the Office of University Ceremonies to coordinate commencement for doctoral students. SAS sponsors workshops for graduate students on graduate policies, deadlines, and an introduction to the thesis and dissertation review process. For more information, see Format Advising, on this page. Graduate students may meet with a SAS specialist by appointment or on a walk-in basis.

For questions regarding the program of study, graduate policies and procedures, or graduation deadlines, visit SAS in Wilson Hall, center lobby, or access the Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate/current/sas.htm.

Format Advising. The thesis, dissertation, or equivalent is the culmination of an important stage of graduate studies. By researching and writing this final work, graduate students are able to demonstrate acquired skills essential to a discipline. The Division of Graduate Studies publishes a Format Manual as a guide in preparing the master’s or doctoral document. The Format Manual and forms pertaining to procedures for completing all graduation requirements are available in the Division of Graduate Studies lobby in Wilson Hall or on the Web at www.asu.edu/graduate/format.

Publications Program. The Division of Graduate Studies publishes a number of brochures, fliers, and other items pertaining to academic program offerings, procedures, student financial assistance, and related topics and events in graduate education. For more information, call 480/965-3521.

The mission of the Division of Graduate Studies is to promote and support—in partnership with schools, departments, colleges, and campuses—the integrity, quality, and vitality of ASU graduate programs, including master’s degrees, professional degrees, and doctoral degrees. The Graduate Councils (East, Tempe, and West campus councils) consist of faculty from each campus who review and make recommendations regarding the quality and nature of programs, policies, and standards related to graduate education. The councils serve in an advisory capacity to the vice provost and dean of Graduate Studies. In addition to the faculty leadership of each campus, the dean and associate deans of the Division of Graduate Studies serve in ex-officio capacities to enhance and foster cross-campus collaboration and communication. For more information, access the Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate/gradcouncil.

The general offices of the division, including those of the dean, admissions, advising, financial assistance, and graduate academic services and programs, are located on the first floor of Wilson Hall. Division offices are open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call the Division of Graduate Studies at 480/965-3521, or access the Web site at www.asu.edu/graduate.