PROCEDURES AND MISCELLANEOUS POINTS

MA Program Form
As noted above, you are required to complete an MA program form before you can be formally classified as a graduate student in the Department of Political Science. To complete the MA program, you must meet with the MA advisor, Dr. Timothy Lim. Once the program is completed and filed with Dean’s Office in the College of Natural and Social Sciences, it becomes your degree "contract," which means that you are obligated to fulfill the specific course requirements listed on the program in order to receive your degree. It is possible, however, to make changes after your program is filed—e.g., if you are unable to take one of the "elective" classes listed on the original program, you can substitute another class. Substitutions must be approved by the MA advisor prior to enrolling in the course (see below for more information about substitutions). NOTE: Due to recent budget cuts in university funding, the processing of paperwork has slowed considerably. For this reason, it is not advisable to make any substitutions once your official program has been filed.

Registering for Graduate Seminars
A permit is required to register for graduate seminars (500-level courses). To receive a permit, you should contact the MA advisor directly (the best method is via e-mail at tclim@calstatela.edu). The advisor will check your status and the enrollment level in the course before having a permit issued. Generally, classified (non-conditional) graduate students will be automatically given a permit; however if the course is at or close to the maximum enrollment level (15 students), it will be up to the instructor of the course to issue a permit. The instructor has no obligation to do so. In cases where a graduate seminar is at or near full-enrollment, moreover, students who have completed all their elective requirements will be given priority. Otherwise, enrollment is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Early registration is also advisable in cases were class enrollment is low. In past years, seminars have been cancelled due to lack of enrollment. To help avoid this situation, you should register for seminars as early as possible.

"Normal" Course Load
Two graduate seminars is considered a normal or full course load for full-time students. For students taking upper-division electives only, 12.0-16.0 units (or three or four courses) is considered a full course load.

Substitutions
Substitutions for any of the six required graduate seminars are strongly discouraged. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis, and only with a compelling reason and an comparable replacement course. Be advised, too, that certain sections or questions in the comprehensive exam will be extremely difficult to pass if you do not take the corresponding graduate seminar. In recent years, for example, students who have not taken POLS 550 Comparative Politics have routinely failed the comparative politics section of the comprehensive examination.

Grading Standards
The department faculty adhere to high, but fair, standards of evaluation. In all classes, you are expected to demonstrate mastery of course material and an ability to communicate effectively and professionally, both orally and in writing. Inadequate mastery of the course material and/or poor communication skills—especially written skills—can easily result in a grade of B, C or lower. Understand, too, that you are as responsible for the quality and depth of your education as is the faculty. Moreover, while the faculty are sympathetic to students with competing responsibilities and outside commitments, it is still your respon-sibility to meet the standards set by the department.

Students are required to maintain a 3.0 (B) grade point average for all classes on their MA program. Students who fail to maintain an average of 3.0 or above will be placed on academic probation. Students who fail to earn a GPA above 3.0 in all of their required classes will not receive a degree. A grade of C is allowed on the program; however, any grade below C, including C-, requires that the course be repeated with both grades computed in the grade point average.

Graduation
To receive your degree, you must file for graduation. Please see Erwin Delgado, the Graduate Coordinator (tel.: 323.343.2230 or EDelgad@cslanet.calstatela.edu), for details.

Application for graduation (degree check) is made on a form that is available in the academic department/division offices, college-based advisement centers, or in Administration 146 beginning five days prior to the application filing period. A downloadable application is also available on the Graduation Office web site: www.calstatela.edu/academic/ registrar/grad_off.htm

Candidates must be granted permission to apply for graduation by their major department/division or college-based advisement center before they may submit the completed application and required fee to the Cashiers' Office for fee payment.

Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)
All CSU students must demonstrate competence in writing skills as a requirement for graduation. All Cal State L.A. graduate students who entered Cal State L.A. summer 1984 or later and who are pursuing a graduate degree or a credential are required to satisfy this requirement in one of the following ways:

• Pass the Writing Proficiency Examination (WPE) required for the Cal State L.A. baccalaureate. Postbaccalaureate students who select this option must register for the WPE (listed as UNIV 400 in the Schedule of Classes) no later than the add deadline for the first quarter they are enrolled in a graduate or credential program. Failure to register for the WPE will void enrollment for that quarter; or

• Postbaccalaureate students who have passed a writing proficiency examination or a graduation writing assessment examination in English at any accredited college or university where the primary language of instruction is English may petition to substitute such a result for passing the WPE at Cal State L.A.

Students who receive a No Credit (NC) grade on the WPE must meet with a WPE consultant in the University Writing Center to discuss deficiencies identified by the exam and receive recommendations of activities to correct these deficiencies. Based on the recommendations from the WPE consultant, students may retake the WPE or enroll in UNIV 401, the upper division writing proficiency course.