All of the policies and procedures of the Division of Graduate Studies stated in the university catalog apply to ISP students.
The following additional policies are specific to ISP students.
Credit Hours Required
- Minimum total of 45 graduate credit hours
- Minimum of 12 graduate credit hours in each of the two or three selected departments
- 9 credit hours of thesis or terminal project
- Of the 45 hours of course work, a minimum of 9 hours must be 600-level (excluding practicum and Terminal Project).
Open-Ended Courses
A maximum of 15 graduate credit hours of research, reading and conference, field studies, and practicum (601, 605, 606, 609: Practicum) may be used in the IS program.
Such credit hours ("open-ended" courses) shall be distributed across all three areas of the program (i.e., one area may not be composed exclusively of open-ended courses).
Transfer Credits
At least 30 of the minimum 45 credit hours for the ISP master's degree shall be completed at the University of Oregon after the student is admitted to the IS:IP.
Transfer work must be relevant to the IS degree program, shall have been graded A, B, or Pass, and shall have been taken for graduate credit and recorded on an official transcript.
Normally, the 15 credits should not be all of one component.
Joint Campus
Normally, a maximum of 10 hours of course work taken under the joint campus program may be used in an ISP master's degree.
Joint campus courses shall be courses that are not offered on the University of Oregon campus.
Under special conditions, however, an entire area (15 credits) may be taken at another Oregon university via joint campus registration.
Language Requirement
The master of arts (MA) degree requires proficiency in a language other than English.
There is no language requirement for the master of science degree (MS).
Program/Committee Changes
Changes to a student's degree proposal and/or program of study must be approved by the chair and committee members and by the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies.
Modification of committee membership must be approved by the chair, the incoming and outgoing committee members, and by the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
Satisfactory academic progress shall be determined through annual reviews of students' academic records by the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies in consultation with each student’s committee.
Failure to make satisfactory academic progress may result in termination from the ISP program.
Grade Point Average
ISP students shall maintain a B (3.0) average in graduate course work to remain in the program. Students falling below a 3.0 GPA will have two terms to restore their cumulative GPA to a 3.0.
Failure to maintain a 3.0 GPA may result in termination from the ISP.
Incompletes
A grade of incomplete shall be cleared within one calendar year if the course is to be included in the ISP degree.
ISP students having more than two incompletes on the transcript at one time (excluding research, thesis or terminal project) are considered to be making unsatisfactory academic progress toward the degree and are subject to termination from the ISP.
Time Limits and Timelines
Students take varying amounts of time to complete an ISP degree. Although some students have taken as few as four terms to complete the program, the average completion time is two academic years (i.e., six terms; 9 credits each term).
The University of Oregon is on a quarter system. The average registration for graduate students is 10 credit hours.
All work to be applied toward the requirements for the master's degree in ISP must be completed within a seven-year period.
There is a continuous enrollment requirement for graduate students at the University of Oregon.
Leave Status
Students may apply for on-leave status for a total of three terms (excluding summer session). A student who does not enroll and does not file for on-leave status has failed to comply with the Division of Graduate Studies' continuous enrollment policy and must file a petition for reinstatement.
Students who are reinstated are subject to general Division of Graduate Studies policies and the ISP requirements in effect at the time of the reinstatement (i.e., if program requirements are revised while a student is not attending and has not received official on-leave status approval, the student will have to meet all of the revised requirements in order to complete the program).
Second Master's Degree
A student who has already earned a master's degree at the University of Oregon may complete an ISP as a second master's degree program.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the program, the student must complete the full 45 credits to complete the ISP as a second master's degree.
Master's Thesis/Terminal Project Proposal
An ISP student must submit a formal proposal for the master's thesis or project to the ISP coordinator. The master's committee shall make a formal recommendation to the Division regarding the acceptability of the master's thesis or project proposal.
Research Compliance
ISP students are responsible for following the policies of the University of Oregon regarding research ethics and compliance. Proof of human or animal subjects approval must be submitted for your ISP departmental file.
Terminal Project or Thesis
The ISP master's program culminates in an integrative terminal project or thesis. The terminal project or thesis requires a minimum of nine credits, with the credits distributed between at least two advisers.
There is no maximum limit on the number of terminal project or thesis credits that a student may complete, although only 9 will be counted toward the 45-credit requirement for an ISP degree.
Thesis students register for IST 503 Thesis. Terminal Project students register for IST 609 Terminal Project. In either case, students must obtain permission from the committee member overseeing the credits.
Further information regarding the distinction between a thesis and terminal project as well as specific format requirements for ISP are available from the ISP coordinator.
Students choosing to do a terminal project shall submit one copy of the completed terminal project to the Division of Graduate Studies where it will be kept on file.
Students choosing the thesis option shall upload a PDF copy of the completed thesis to the Division. The thesis must follow the format guidelines as described in the University of Oregon Style and Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations.
Graduation
Students shall apply for the degree no later than the second week of the term of anticipated graduation and in accordance with published deadlines.
All graduate students must be registered for a minimum of three graduate credits during the term of graduation.
Students should also check with the ISP coordinator at the Division of Graduate Studies at least two terms before the anticipated term of graduation to verify that all program requirements have been completed.