Requirements Summary
for M.S. in Human Development and Social Policy

Semester 1 (core courses)

      FCS 6901-1: Thesis Development Seminar (1) + allied or other hours to total 9 or 10

Two or three courses: (All three recommended, but 2 of 3 required)
      FCS 6200: Families and Social Policy (3)
      FCS 6400: Families and Economic Policy (3)
      FCS 6600: Environments and Human Behavior (3)

Semester 2 (core courses):
      FCS 6110: Graduate Multivariate Statistics (4)
      SOC 6110: Methods of Social Research (3) or Equivalent Methods Class
      FCS 6970: Thesis hours (2-5) Proposing one's thesis for methods class in consultation       with advisor is highly recommended

Semester 3 & 4 (allied courses and thesis hours)
Students supported by the FCS Department must successfully defend their thesis proposal by the end of Fall of their second year. They are encouraged to defend earlier.
Select at least two allied courses from one area. The Thesis Committee Chair needs to approve these.
FCS 6970: Thesis hours (at least 6 credit hours, no more than 10 total credit hours)

FCS 6200: Families and Social Policy (3) Relationship between the family and social environments emphasizing ecology and life-course frameworks in the dependency between the family and kin, school, neighborhood, work, class, and ethnic environments.

FCS 6400:   Families and Economic Policy (3) Prerequisite: FCS 3450. Economic and political influences on families and interest-group efforts to alter constraints imposed by these policies. Examples drawn from a variety of policies including child care, marriage, education, homeownership, and retirement.

FCS 6600: Environments and Human Behavior (3) Reviews and connects research, policies, and settings that are important contexts from behaviors of households and communities: homes, workplaces, neighborhoods. Focuses on sociophysical processes (stress, community problems, crime, privacy, transportation, place attachment). Often involves vulnerable populations (women, children, elders, the poor) and is tailored to student interests.

SOC 6110: Methods of Social Research (3) The logic of social research; methods of data collection; ethics in social research; problem formation, conceptualization, operationalization, reliability and validity, research design, and preparation or research proposals.

FCS 6110: Multivariate Statistics (4) Course covers a range of topics on regression analysis. Topics include multiple regression, conducting regression diagnostics, multicollinearity, interaction effects, repeated measures, and logistic regression. Computer assignments.

FCS 6901 Thesis Development Seminar (1) Development and refinement of thesis proposals.

Allied Courses (Descriptions available from the on-line catalogue

Students can select, in consultation with their advisor, at least two different departmental courses from either list below to provide depth of learning within an interest area. All are 3 credit hours unless indicated otherwise.

Allied Courses: Human Development and Family Studies

5150 Admin. & Supervis. of Early Childhood Programs
5170 Creativity & Cognition in Young Children
5190 Early Childhood Internship (3 hrs only)
5210 Family Life Education
5230 Adolescent Development in the Family
5240 Adult Dev. & Family Relations in Later Life
5250 Theories of Human Development
5280 Divorce & Remarriage
5311 & 5312 Childhood Healthcare I & II
5350 Family Theories
5370 Family Violence
5380 Family Problems
5390 Gender and Minorities across the Lifespan
5610 Gender, Race, Class & Community
6700 Research for Consumer & Community Needs
6120 Demographic Methods
6960 Special Topics in Human Development and Social Policy (1-3)

Allied Courses: Consumer & Community Studies

5120 Demographic Methods
5410 Consumer Protection
5430 Families, Consumers, and Health
5440 Consumers, Markets, & Government
5610 Gender, Race, Class & Community
6120 Demographic Methods
6300 Housing & Community Development
6400 Families and Economic Policy
6450 Community Nonprofit Organizations
6563 Program and Policy Evaluation
6620 Advanced Environment & Behavior
6630 Healthy Communities
6700 Research for Consumer & Community Needs
6730 Community Development & Environmental Change
6960 Special Topics in Human Development and Social Policy (1-3)

Supervisory Committee (Thesis Committee):

Students form a three-person (minimum) thesis committee. The thesis chair and at least one more member should be tenure track FCS Department faculty. The process of forming a supervisory committee is completed by filing a Request for Supervisory Committee Form with the department and sending a copy of the completed form with signatures to the Graduate Records Office for approval by the dean of The Graduate School. It is recommended that the Committee be formed by the end of first academic year for full time students. All official forms should be in the student's file in 228 AEB and filed with the graduate school.

Application for Candidacy:

Some time after the first semester of graduate work, the student should file the
Application for Admission to Candidacy for the Master's Program with the chair of the supervisory committee and department chair. Two months before the semester of graduation, the supervisory committee should review and approve a formal Application for Admission to Candidacy for the Master's Degree for the student and should then forward that form to the dean of The Graduate School for approval. The application is due in the Graduate Records Office two months before the semester before graduation (and no earlier than one year before graduation). It is recommended that the Application for Admission to Candidacy be filed after Thesis Committee selection but before thesis proposal defense.

Thesis requirements and regulations:

Grad School Deadlines to graduate in a semester are very early, so make sure you check.

Students orally defend their written thesis proposal (which serves as the Comprehensive Exam) by the end of their third semester if they are supported by the FCS Department. Defenses are also held for the completed thesis; the final thesis is submitted for approval to the thesis editor. At least three weeks before the final oral defense, the student should submit an acceptable thesis draft to the committee chair; committee members should receive copies at least two weeks before the examination date; students ease graduation by submitting a copy at this time to the thesis editor for format approval. The form and distribution for the thesis and abstract as well as the use of restricted data are determined by The Graduate School and published in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations . The thesis format must be approved by The Graduate School thesis editor, 302 Park Building. Students who wish to graduate in a specific semester must submit a defended, committee-approved thesis or dissertation that has final approval by the committee and department chairs to the thesis editor six weeks prior to the last day of the semester.

Grades:

B or higher grades are required for each core class; B average for all classes (3.0 on 4.0 scale). A grade below C- is not accepted toward a graduate degree. If a grade of B- or lower is received in any core classes, the student is automatically terminated unless a petition is filed within 40 working days from the posting of grades. The petition should be evaluated by the faculty as a whole and a decision should be made and the student notified within 15 working days after the receipt of the petition.

Time limits & residency:

Maximum is 4 consecutive calendar years (except when a leave of absence is granted). 18 credit hours of resident study in consecutive semesters are required.