All work for a master's degree or a specialist must be completed within a six-year
period. The time limit is calculated similar to the following example: credits
completed fall semester 2006 will no longer apply or be counted towards your
degree at the end of summer session 2012. This six year limit includes all previous
credit transferred to an Minnesota State Mankato program.
Students receiving financial aid (excluding non-federally funded University
graduate assistantships) must abide by federal, state, and institutional policies,
including but not limited to, satisfactory academic progress standards. Eligibility
includes a maximum time frame component limiting the number of attempted credits
to 150 % of the total number of credits required for completion. For additional
please see the web page of the Student Financial Services Office.
Students wishing to use University resources must be enrolled for at least one graduate credit. Graduate students must also register for at least one credit during the semester that they plan to graduate.
The Examining Committee supervises a student's program, comprehensive examinations and the writing of a dissertation, thesis, alternate plan paper, or other capstone experience. Students should ask faculty to serve on their examining committee after consulting their advisor. Faculty are then appointed with their consent by the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research.
Each graduate student will have an examining committee of at least two members of the graduate faculty. Individual programs may require that students include more than two committee members. Some departments may also require that one of the committee members be a faculty member of a department other than the advisor's. The committee chairperson shall be the student's advisor, a regular member of the graduate faculty and in the student's area of concentration. Other members of the examining committee must be members of the graduate faculty. Doctoral programs have additional requirements concerning who is eligible to serve on a student's committee. Please consult the University's policies concerning graduate and research faculty appointments.
Faculty from other institutions may serve (without compensation) as a member on a student's examining committee. These external members must be approved by the student's advisor and must obtain Graduate Faculty Status at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
The Plan of Study is defined as an official listing of the student's total graduate degree program by department, course number, course title, semester of completion or anticipated completion, and the number of semester hours. The Plan of Study must be endorsed by the student, major advisor, examining committee members, and the Graduate Program Coordinator. The student and the department should keep a copy of this form. The Plan of Study does not have to be submitted to or approved by the College of Graduate Studies and Research. Programs will be responsible for creating their own Plan of Study forms.
