(2024 Revised Credit Requirements for Graduate Degree Programs

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 1 of 7

Office/Contact: Graduate School

Source: SDBOR Policies Section 2.2.2 (Transfer), SDBOR Policies 2.3.2, 2.4.2, and 2.6.1

Link: https://sdbor.edu/policy/

OUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVER SITY

Policy and Procedure Manual

SUBJECT: Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs

NUMBER: 2:17

Purpose

This policy sets forth the guidelines establishing the minimum number of credit hours required

for

graduate programs in accordance with SDBOR policy and aids program officials when

proposing new

graduate programs or modifying existing programs.

Definitions

a. C

apstone Component: an assignment, exercise or project allowing for the assessment of

the

student’s integrated understanding of the program coursework or the discipline as a whole.

Comprehensive Exam: a two-part exam required of doctoral students. The exam is

conducted

under the supervision of the Graduate Student Advisory Committee and will

determine the

student’s integrated knowledge of the discipline. The first portion is a

written exam and the

second portion is an oral exam. The student must pass the written

portion before proceeding

to the oral portion.

c. Core Coursework: graduate courses required for all students enrolled in the credential

program

or specialization. Core coursework cannot have an x788, x789, x798, or x898

suffix.

d. Dissertation: a document prepared by the student containing the research findings gained

within x898 coursework and submitted in partial support of fulfilling the degree

requirements

of the Doctor of Philosophy.

e. Di

ssertation Defense: a public, oral examination performed at or near the end of a

doctoral

program to primarily determine the student’s integrated understanding of the

discipline and

defense of the Dissertation. The exam is conducted within x898

coursework and under the

supervision of the Graduate Student Advisory Committee.

f. F

inal Oral Exam: a public, oral examination performed at or near the end of a master’s

program to primarily determine the student’s integrated understanding of the discipline

and

defense of the thesis. The exam is conducted within x798 coursework and under the

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 2 of 7

supervision of the Graduate Student Advisory Committee.

Graduate Certificate: a self-standing graduate credential that contains a sequence, pattern,

group of academic credit courses that focus upon an area of specialized knowledge or

information and have specifically defined student learning outcomes and contains a sub-set of

curriculum offered in degree programs.

h. Graduate Credential: referring to a graduate certificate, master’s degree,

or doctoral degree.

i. G

raduate Specialization: a designated plan of study, within a master’s or doctoral

program,

which provides the student an alternative to the primary format of the degree

program.

j. G

raduate Student Advisory Committee: as described in University Policy 2:27.

k. Remediation Opportunity: a program afforded to a student who has failed an academic

exercise where the student shall: 1) be provided feedback regarding the deficiencies of their

performance; 2) be provided resources useful to remediate their deficiencies; and 3) be

allowed an appropriate length of time to prepare for the next attempt at the academic

exercise.

l. Thesis: a document prepared by the student containing the research findings gained

within

x798 coursework and submitted in partial support of fulfilling the requirements of

a master’s

degree

m. Validated Course: an expired University course that has been determined acceptable for

the

student’s plan of study by the academic unit.

3. Policy

a. Graduate Credential Programs

i. To receive a graduate credential, students must be admitted into the graduate

program.

ii. In accordance with SDBOR Policy 2.6.1, a minimum of 60% of the credits

applied

toward a graduate credential must be completed at the University. The

University

may partner, on occasion, with external entities to provide University

coursework.

i. In accordance with SDBOR Policy 2.6.1, credential programs may not require that

more than 75% of degree-granting institutional credit hours be completed at the

University, and all such courses must be clearly stated in the University’s graduate

catalog.

v. All x788, x798, and x898 courses must be completed at the University.

v. In accordance with SDBOR Policy 2.4.2, credit applied toward graduate credentials

should be at the 500-level and above.

. In accordance with SDBOR Policy 2.4.2, no more than three (3) credits in workshop

courses at the graduate level may be applied toward completion of a master’s or

doctoral degree. Graduate-level workshop courses are numbered X593, x693, x793,

and x893.

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 3 of 7

vii. No more than twelve (12) credits earned while a non-graduate credential seeking

student may be applied to a graduate credential.

viii. Validated Course credits plus credits earned while a non-graduate credential seeking

student may not constitute more than 50% of credits on a plan of study.

ix. In accordance with SDBOR Policy 2.6.1, when requirements of a specialized

accrediting agency exceed the requirement stated in this policy or in SDBOR

policy, those of the specialized accrediting agency take precedence.

Core Coursework

1. The graduate certificate curricula should require no

fewer than three (3)

credits of core coursework.

2. The master’s degree curricula should require no fewer than five (5)

credits of

core coursework.

3. The 90 credit doctoral program curricula should require no fewer than

six (6)

credits of core coursework. The 60 credit doctoral program

curricula should

require no fewer than two (2) credits of core

coursework.

Specializations offered within a master’s or doctoral program require no

fewer than nine (9) total credits which should be unique from the degree

program core coursework and core coursework required by another

specialization.

xi. Master’s Programs

Master’s Thesis Option

a. Requires no fewer than 30 total credits with no fewer

than five (5)

credits and no greater than ten (10) credits of x798

coursework. The

Final Oral exam must be completed

successfully.

b. C

oursework with an x788 suffix may not be used in satisfaction of a

Thesis Option.

2. Master’s Non-Thesis Option

a. Requires no fewer than 30 total credits

b. If completing a research project or paper, then no fewer than two (2)

credits, and no greater than five (5) credits of x788 coursework are

required.

c. Coursework with an x798 suffix may not be used in satisfaction of a

Non-Thesis Option.

Master’s programs require completion of a Capstone Component. The

Capstone Component must be conducted under the supervision of no

fewer

than two (2) graduate faculty and approved through normal

curriculum

processes. Capstone Components must be associated with

graduate

coursework.

The Capstone Component for a Thesis Option is the Final Oral

Exam. This

Exam should be conducted with a presentation of

and defense of the thesis

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 4 of 7

to the public. The Graduate Student

Advisory Committee may also conduct

an interview of the

student in executive session.

The Capstone Component for a Non-Thesis Option may include a research

paper, oral exam, portfolio of the student’s work or other suitable exercise.

xii. Doctoral Programs

Doctoral programs require completion of no fewer than 90 credits. A 60

credit program may be completed provided the student has first

completed

a master’s degree in a similar discipline. Any doctoral program less than

90 credits must be approved as an exception to this requirement.

Doctoral programs must require no fewer than 18 credits of x898

course

work.

Doctoral programs require completion of a Comprehensive Exam and a

Dissertation Defense.

a. The Comprehensive Exam is composed of written and oral

examination components. The written portion should be

successfully completed prior to attempting the oral examination

component. Each component must be successfully completed to

pass the comprehensive examination. The Comprehensive

Exam

may be structured in one of the following manners:

i. The Graduate Student Advisory Committee will supervise

the

Comprehensive Exam conducted within x898

coursework.

ii. The Comprehensive Exam will compose a course entitled

“Comprehensive Exam.” The instructor of record will be a

graduate faculty member and the examination will be

conducted and evaluated by no fewer than three (3) graduate

faculty members from the discipline.

b. Th

e Comprehensive Exam should be completed no later than

the

semester prior to, and no fewer than 60 calendar days prior

to, the

dissertation defense.

c. The Dissertation Defense is conducted under the supervision of the

Graduate Student Advisory Committee and should be

conducted

with a presentation of and defense of the dissertation to the public.

The Committee may also conduct an interview of the student in

executive session.

xiii. Students assigned failing grades for the master’s Capstone Component, for either the

written or oral

component of the Comprehensive Exam, or for the Dissertation

Defense component, as applicable,

should be provided one (1) Remediation

Opportunity for each component prior to consideration of

dismissal.

v. Awarding Specializations following Degree Issuance

Specializations may be added following issuance of the degree, provided all

specialization coursework is completed within the allowed timeframe for

completion of the degree. For example, given that a master’s degree

should

be completed in six (6) years: if Student A enrolls in a master’s degree

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 5 of 7

program

in Fall 2016 and completes the degree in Fall 2020, Student A must

complete all coursework for a specialization by Fall 2022.

xv.

Graduate Certificate programs consist of 9 to 12 credit hours.

xvi

. Graduate certificates may be paired together or serve as a stackable credential with

credits that apply to a higher level credential.

xvi

i. Time Allotments and Expired Coursework

1. Master’s and doctoral degree programs should be completed within six (6)

and eight (8) years, respectively. If a student’s program is not completed

within the allowed time, the student will be reviewed by the Director of the

Graduate School or designee.

a. The review will be conducted considering the student’s entire

academic performance and weighed against a) the necessary

research, clinical, and/or scholarly abilities to complete their chosen

graduate degree, and b) the rate of progress toward degree

completion at the time of review. The review will include input

from the student, Student Advisory Committee Chair (if applicable),

Department Head and college Dean.

b. The review will result in one of three possible outcomes: 1)

Approval of a program completion timetable which includes

succinct dates and precise milestones toward degree completion.

The program completion timetable must be approved by the student,

Graduate Student Advisory Committee, Department Head and

Director of the Graduate School or designee. Failure to meet any

milestone by the stated date will result in an immediate review of

the student’s program; 2) Placing the student on academic probation;

or 3) Dismissing the student from the program.

The time allowed to complete the degree will begin the semester of first

enrollment. If the student is not continuously enrolled and is re-admitted into

the program, the Director of the Graduate School or designee will

determine

the applicable first semester of enrollment.

3. Coursework at the time of graduation that is older than six (6) years and eight

(8) years for master’s and doctoral programs, respectively, is considered

expired and is ineligible for inclusion on the plan of study. However, expired

coursework may undergo a process of validation for use in a plan of study.

Validation is now allowed for x788, x798, and x898 coursework. Validation

requires the following conditions:

a. The coursework is issued by the University. Courses transferred from

other institutions, including other SDBOR institutions, are not

eligible for validation.

b. The coursework was completed at the graduate level.

c. The department offering the course confirms the student’s

knowledge of the course material is sufficient and current. An

explanation of the method used for this determination and the

rationale for choosing the method is required. Approval is required

from the Director of the Graduate School or designee.

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 6 of 7

xviii. Credit Sharing between University Graduate Credentials

Graduate credits used for meeting graduate credential requirements may be

shared among credentials determined by the following rules:

a. A doctoral degree using the 60-credit plan may not be paired

with a

master’s degree.

b. A single graduate certificate may be shared, in entirety, with credits

for a master’s or doctoral degree. Example: Master’s Program A and

Certificate Program B are approved for 30 and 15 credits,

respectively. A student could share all 15 certificate credits with the

master’s program. The student could complete 30 credits and receive

two (2) credentials).

c. Otherwise, the maximum allowable credit shared between graduate

credentials is 12 credits.

2. Validated credit or course credit with an x789, x888, or x889 suffix

may not

be shared between graduate credentials.

xix. Transfer Credit

Transfer credit must be a “B” or better. The issuing institution must

transcript the course using an A-F determination; that is, courses with

pass/fail designation are not eligible to transfer.

Coursework applied toward an issued graduate credential at another

institution is not eligible to apply toward a University graduate credential.

3. Transfer credit should be transferred equal to or less than the credits

awarded

by the issuing institution.

4. Transfer credit should be recognized by the issuing institution to fulfill

requirements for graduate degrees.

5. If the transcript from the issuing institution does not state the level of the

credits, the credits should be transferred at the 500 level. (SDBOR Policy

2.2.2.1)

Transfer credit should be requested at the time of filing a plan of study with

the Graduate School and supported by an original transcript from the

issuing institution.

Transfer credit must be approved by the advisor and/or Graduate Student

Advisory Committee and the Director of the Graduate School or designee.

8. Transfer credit must be issued by a United States regionally accredited

university or by a foreign institution which has standing equivalent to U.S.

regional accreditation.

Procedures

a. C

ompletion of a separate graduation application is required for each program credential.

Credit Requirements for Graduate Credential Programs Page 7 of 7

b. Graduation applications must be submitted to the Graduate School for appropriate processing.

Responsible Administrator

e Vice President for Academic Affairs, or designee, is responsible for the annual and

ad hoc review of

this policy and its procedures. The University President is responsible

for approval of this policy and

modifications to this policy.

SOURCE: Approved by President on 06/16/2015. Revised; Approved by President on 01/30/2018. Revised;

Approved by President on 04/21/2021. Revised; Approved by President on 4/21/2021. Revised; Approved

by President on 02/12/2024.