Masters Students

• Graduate Student Handbook
• Master's Student Flow Chart: Track your progress towards graduation.
• Graduate Assistantship: An appointment made by KSU to full-time graduates who display a high level of scholarship and academic excellence. The award is merit based, not need-based, and includes stipend and tuition.
  • Graduate assistant (GA) guidelines
  • Printable GA application

PLAN OF STUDY

It is the responsibility of each graduate student to make an appointment with the assigned faculty adviser and prepare a plan of study to be filed with the Office of Graduate Student Services, 418 White Hall, by the end of the second enrolled semester. The plan of study form is available in the program area department. The completed form is a comprehensive plan for the student's program. If the plan of study must be revised after submitting to the Office of Graduate Student Services, the adviser must initial the change(s) on the plan of study or submit a memo to the Office of Graduate Student Services indicating the change(s).

THESIS / MASTER'S PROJECT

The Master of Arts degree in which a student is writing a thesis includes a minimum of six hours of Thesis I 60199. Upon completion of the 6 required hours, students must register for Thesis II 60299 continually each semester until completion of degree requirements. No more than 6 hours of thesis credit may be counted toward completion of degree requirements.

NOTE: ALL THESES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY

The master's degree in which a student is completing a project requires a student to register for a total of 6 credit hours upon completion of coursework, with the exception of Hospitality and Tourism Management, which only requires 3. Registration must be from 2 to 6 credits per semester, distributed over 1 to 3 semesters as desired.

• Thesis/Project Procedure Instructions
• Thesis Project Committee and Proposal
• Report of Oral Defense of Thesis/Project
• Finalization of Thesis / Dissertation Steps
• Guidelines for Preparation of Theses and Dissertations
  IMPORTANT: Candidates writing a thesis or dissertation must use the recently released American Psychological Association, 7th ed. as their reference guide. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Luci Wymer in the Administrative Affairs and Graduate Education office at awymer@kent.edu.
• Accessibility Information
  Beginning in January 2023, All OhioLINK ETD Center PDFs must meet minimum requirements for digital accessibility. Please access the University Libraries webpage: https://www.library.kent.edu/etdaccessibility for both written and video instructions on accomplishing this.
• APA Tutorials and Tip Sheet
• Instructions for saving in PDF archival format
• ETD Submitter User Manual
• Instructions: ETD Submission Returned to you for Corrections
• Electronic Submission of Thesis

THESIS NOTE: When entering data for ETD submission of your thesis, it is very important when you reach the UMI Publication section so that you ensure the following is clicked:

• Do not upload my paper to UMI. I retain the option to submit it myself at a later date.

MAKE SURE THIS IS CLICKED - UPLOADING TO UMI IS NOT AN OPTION FOR THESIS SUBMISSION.

CHANGE OF DEGREE OR MAJOR

If students decide to change degree/major, the appropriate form must be completed. Upon approval, a new plan of study must be filed. The form should be used when students desire to change from one Master's or Ed.S. program into another. Students can not use the Change of Degree/Major form to change to a higher degree. They must formally apply again to the higher degree. Students can use the Change of Degree/Major form to drop down to a lower degree (Ed.S. to Masters, Ph.D. to Ed.S. etc). The form for the above changes can be obtained here or in the Office of Graduate Student Services in room 418 White Hall.

LICENSURE REQUIREMENT (not required for graduation)

Candidates seeking Ohio licensure are required to pass specific assessments in order to apply for licensure. Students should consult their advisors for specific program requirements and refer to the Ohio Department of Education-Educator Preparation website for more information on assessments specific to licensure type.

GRADUATION APPLICATION PROCESS

Students who are nearing completion of their course work are required to complete the online graduation application, available through FLashLine, by published deadlines (see Graduation Applications, under the Resources tab, for graduation application deadlines). The online application is used for all degree and certificate programs. To access the online graduation application, log into FlashLine, then click on the Student/Resources/Graduation tabs.

Students who submit a graduation application after the posted deadline will need to complete the Late Graduation Application form, accessible on FlashLine, under Student/Resources/Graduation.

TRANSFER OF CREDIT

A maximum of 12 semester hours may be transferred from accredited institutions if the following conditions are met: (1) work was at the graduate level; (2) "B" or  Satisfactory was earned; (3) the work fits into the program; (4) credit will be less than six years old at the time the degree is conferred at Kent; (5) student was admitted as a graduate student at the time the course was taken; and (6) the student completes the "Request for Transfer of Graduate Credit" form. The completed form must be submitted to room 418 White Hall with an original transcript with grade posted. OGSS will secure all required signatures. Course work used to fulfill requirements for a previous degree will not be transferred.

Transfer of Credit Form (Official transcripts MUST accompany this form)