Degree Plan

Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptable for degree plan credit. A graduate student must file a degree plan which includes those courses to be applied toward a particular degree. Changes in the approved degree plan may be made by petition to the Office of Graduate Studies. The student must submit the degree plan using the accepted degree plan format as it appears on the Website at vpr.tamu.edu.

Lower division undergraduate course work (100- and 200-level) may not be used for credit toward a graduate degree. Course work may not be used to satisfy requirements for more than one degree. Additional course work may be added to the approved degree plan by the student's advisory committee if such additional course work is needed to correct deficiencies in the student's academic preparation. Specific details and requirements for each degree program may be obtained from the student's academic department.

Courses listed on the degree plan are subject to degree time limits. Please refer to the Time Limits section in each degree section in which the student is presently enrolled.

Petitions

Exceptions to published rules may be requested by proper petition to the Office of Graduate Studies. Each petition will be considered on its own merit by the Dean of Graduate Studies. The signature of the student and the signatures of all members of the graduate student's advisory committee, if appointed, are required on a petition. Furthermore, the signature of the department head, or his or her designee, is required on all petitions, and petitions from graduate students working on a degree supervised by a Faculty Senate-approved intercollegiate faculty require the signature of the faculty chair, in addition to that of the department head.

Specific forms for these types of petitions are found on the Office of Graduate Studies website address at vpr.tamu.edu and must be used.

Pre-Defense Publication of
Thesis or Dissertation Material

Graduate students may publish material that subsequently will be used as part of the thesis, dissertation or record of study provided that they notify the Office of Graduate Studies in writing at the time the students submit the papers for publication. The notification should include the article title, the names of authors as they appear on the paper, the name of the journal, and the date of submission.

In addition, students should be aware of the agreement that is signed when a journal (hard copy or electronic) accepts an article for publication. At that time, the student assigns rights to the journal as publisher. The student must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to include the material in the thesis, dissertation and record of study.

Classified and Proprietary Information

Committee chairs should be cautioned about allowing students to use classified or proprietary information in theses or dissertations as these documents become available to the public upon submission to the Office of Graduate Studies. Theses and dissertations are shelved in the library shortly after graduation; in addition, dissertations are microfilmed by UMI and are available from that source.

Thesis, Dissertation and Record of Study-Thesis Office

The Thesis Office is responsible for reviewing each thesis, dissertation or record of study to ensure that the format requirements of the University are met. Guidelines for the preparation of the manuscript are available in the Thesis Manual which may be purchased at the copy centers on campus and the MSC and Galveston campus bookstores. An online copy can be accessed via the website at vpr.tamu.edu/thesis.html. Texas A&M University offers electronic submission of theses and dissertations. The Thesis Office is located on the sixth floor of Sterling C. Evans Library, (979) 845-2225.

Graduation

Graduate degrees are conferred at the close of each regular semester and the 10-week summer semester. Candidates for advanced degrees who expect to complete their work at the end of a given semester must apply for graduation by submitting the electronic application for degree to the Office of the Registrar and by paying the required graduation fee at the Fiscal Department no later than the Friday of the second week of a fall or spring semester or the Friday of the first week of the first summer term. The electronic application for degree can be accessed via the website degreeapp.tamu.edu.

Letter of Intent

Every student completing a graduate degree who wishes to continue to enroll in pursuit of another graduate degree may do so by filing an approved letter of intent with the Office of Graduate Studies. A letter of intent which has been approved by the head of the department (and chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if appropriate) in which the student intends to study will be viewed by the Office of Graduate Studies as an admission to the program specified in the letter. Students may use the letter of intent form which is available on the website at vpr.tamu.edu.

If there is a break in enrollment for one calendar year or longer following graduation, then students must apply for admission to another degree program through Graduate Admissions.

If there is no break in enrollment, or for breaks of less than one calendar year, the letter of intent may be used for admissions to a new program. This letter should be submitted prior to enrollment in additional graduate degree programs.