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Advancement to Candidacy Requirements
for Advancement to Candidacy Approval The Advancement to Candidacy application stage gives the HUX program the opportunity to help you make sure that you are on track to complete your degree both in terms of meeting program requirements as well as having the necessary basic skills. Only after you have been accepted as a candidate for the M.A. degree will you be able to enter the final thesis/project phase of the program. We ask you to submit your Advancement to Candidacy materials as soon as you complete 16 units in the program for two important reasons: 1) we want to make sure that you are taking the correct courses for the curriculum and emphasis you are pursuing, and 2) because the approval process can several months (the process is described below). Please do not delay in submitting your materials. At the bottom of this page you will find step-by-step instructions.
Requirements for Advancement to Candidacy Approval Students in the HUX program can be "advanced to candidacy" for the M.A. degree once they meet program requirements in three areas: 1. Current Standing in the Program, 2. Program Forms, and 3. ATC Examination. Once you have been approved for advancement, you may begin Phase III of your program, the final thesis/project phase. 1. Current Standing in the Program In order to be advanced to candidacy for the degree, the following must be true at the time you file your ATC. You must have:
2. Program Forms The program forms are your formal declaration of which curriculum you are following and what courses you have taken (and will take) to fulfill the requirements in each area. We will make sure that you are properly counting the courses you have taken. If we see that you plan to take a course that will not work with your curriculum plan, we will let you know. You could still take the course if you wish, but you would not be able to count it toward graduation. See the instructions below. 3. ATC Examination The Advancement to Candidacy Examination is a mid-program check of the analytical and compositional skills you have developed up to this point. Read the instructions below on this page as well as the instructions on the ATC Exam Questions sheet.
Instructions for Submitting Your Advancement to Candidacy 1. Get the necessary forms. You can get them by clicking on the forms links above or by requesting that the HUX office mail the forms to you. 2. Complete the ATC Curriculum (A or B) form. This form indicates your specific curriculum and disciplinary emphasis (if any)Complete the Curriculum A form if you are following the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum and emphasis, or the Curriculum B form if you are pursuing an emphasis in one of the five humanities disciplines (a Discipline-Specific Emphasis). Don't attempt to complete both forms! If you aren't sure which form to use, review the descriptions of Curriculum A and Curriculum B elsewhere on this website. On both forms, be sure to give us your complete contact information, including email address is available, in part as a check in case our records are out of date. In the Phase III section, write HUX 598 and HUX 599 and, if you have a faculty mentor in mind, write his or her name. Be sure to sign and date the form.
How can you know what courses you will take in the future? You can use the Upcoming Terms Schedule (also mailed to you with every trimester registration mailing) to see which courses we plan to offer in the next three terms and to plan your curriculum accordingly. This schedule does not change much from year to year, so it will give you a good idea of what will be offered when. 3. Complete the ATC Program form (or Major Advisement Form). Be sure to fill out all the parts of this form that you can, including providing complete student information and signing the form at the bottom. In the Student Information section also indicate unofficially the term and year in which you plan to complete the program (you will still need to declare this officially by sending in the Application for Graduation once you get closer to graduation--but no later than one term before you graduate). In the Curriculum section, be sure to check Curriculum A or B. List any transfer units from accredited graduate programs that the HUX Coordinator has tentatively approved for transfer. Check the boxes of the Phase I courses you have taken or plan to take. Enter on the right the total number of Phase I units taken or to be taken. In the Phase II section, write in the course numbers of the Phase II courses that you want to count toward graduation. These should be the same courses that appeared in the Phase II section of your Curriculum A form or Curriculum B form. Circle the course numbers of any courses that you have not yet completed (including courses in which you are currently enrolled). Enter the total number of Phase II units on the right. In the Phase III section, check a box to indicate whether your final capstone product is a thesis or a creative project (Note: you must have been accepted into the Creative Track when you began your degree in order to do the Creative Project). Indicate the projected number of units of your HUX 599 thesis/project preparation course. This number must be at least 4 and no greater than 6. In all but a few cases, if you are in Curriculum A you will need to enter 4 units, and if in Curriculum B 5 units. These are the numbers necessary to bring your program to 30 units assuming you only took the necessary courses. If you are in Curriculum B and took more than 18 units of Phase II courses, you may enroll in only 4 units of 599. No matter how many extra courses you took, you must take 599 for a minimum of 4 units. Finally, indicated the term and year in which you first entered the program. 4. Take the ATC Essay Examination. Included with your ATC materials is an examination sheet. See the description above. Note that each answer should be brief--around 500 words. The exam should be typed, double-spaced, and otherwise follow the current MLA style manual. Review the examination prompts carefully to insure that your responses are appropriate. You do not need a proctor or to visit the campus to complete the examination.The examination is evaluated by the HUX Coordinator.
Evaluation of the Advancement to Candidacy Application Once we receive your materials we will quickly check them to make sure that everything appears to be there. A HUX staff member will contact you if anything is obviously incorrect or missing. We will verify that you have met the "Current Standing in the Program" criteria above. Then we review your program and curriculum forms in detail and evaluate your examination answers. If the forms are in order and your examination is acceptable, the Coordinator will sign the forms and forward them to the Deans of the two colleges that oversee our program. Once we have collected all required signatures we will notify you that you have been approved for advancement to candidacy. You will have permission to enroll in HUX 598 only at this point (even if you have already submitted an approved 598 proposal and contract and a professor has signed on as mentor). |