Graduate Studies - Criminology & Law
Degrees
Social Science Methodology Graduate Certificate Program
University Wide Courses - Electives*
Other Sections
The M.A. Degree
Master's students at the University of Florida take a sequence of 5 required courses plus elective courses to complete the required 36 hours for the degree. Students may select either a Thesis or Non-thesis option. The hours taken to complete the M.A. will count toward the total of 90 hours required for the Ph.D., if admitted to that program. A detailed description of this program is available.
Procedures for the M.A. Degree
After consultation with the supervisory committee, the student must decide whether to choose the thesis or non-thesis M.A. curriculum. It is possible to change this election later on approval of the supervisory committee and subject to detailed Graduate School rules governing the timing of the change and treatment of research courses. The following apply to students choosing either option:
Supervisory Committee
The student must ask a member of the department faculty to serve as chair of the supervisory committee. This faculty member will become the student's primary academic adviser. In consultation with the supervisory committee chair, the student selects at least two other CLS faculty member(s) to serve on the committee. After obtaining the consent of all proposed members, the student writes a memo to the Graduate Coordinator listing the proposed committee so that it can be submitted to the Graduate School for approval.
Plan of Study
The student should consult with the supervisory committee chair to develop a detailed plan of courses and timing for completion of the M.A. degree. The student or the supervisory committee chair will transmit an approved copy of the plan to the Graduate Coordinator within one month of the supervisory committee's appointment.
Course Requirements
The following courses are required:
- CCJ6001 Proseminar in Criminology & Law
- CCJ6920 Seminar in Criminology
- CCJ6039 Law and Society
- CCJ6705 Research Methods in Crime, Law, & Justice
- STA6126 Statistical Methods in Social Research I
With approval of the Graduate Committee, similar graduate courses taken at other universities may be substituted for up to 6 semester credit hours of these requirements.
Credit Hour Requirements
The M.A. requires a minimum of 36 semester credit hours of courses, with the following additional restrictions:
- Ordinarily no more than three credit hours in Individual Work may be counted toward the M.A.
- No more than six semester hours of graduate sections of primarily undergraduate courses (commonly called "piggy-back" courses) may apply toward the M.A. degree.
Rule Waivers
Students may petition the Graduate Committee to waive departmental rules. Such petitions must include full justification and must have the approval of the student's supervisory committee if it has been formed. Petitions should be delivered to the Graduate Coordinator for submission to the Graduate Committee.
Course in Other Departments
Work in Criminology must be in courses numbered 5000 and above. For those selecting the thesis option, at least three hours of courses numbered 5000 or above may be taken outside Criminology provided they are part of an approved plan of study (or are approved in writing by the Graduate Coordinator and supervisory committee chair). For those selection the non-thesis option, nine hours must be taken outside of Criminology.
Joint M.A. and J.D. Program
The department will offer a joint M.A. and J.D. program in conjunction with the Law School. The student must be admitted to both the Law School and Graduate School and specify that the application is for the joint degree program. In the joint program the two degrees may be obtained in one academic year fewer than would be needed to obtain them separately. Further information is available from the Graduate Coordinator.
Admission to the Ph.D. Program
All students admitted to the graduate program are presumed to be in pursuit of the Ph.D. Degree. Those students admitted with an acceptable M.A. degree are admitted directly into the Ph.D. program. Those admitted with a bachelor's degree are admitted for the purpose of earning the M.A. degree, but with the presumption that they will continue in the program to pursue the Ph.D. However, transfer into the Ph.D. program is not automatic. Students receiving a University of Florida M.A. in Criminology must apply to transfer to the doctoral program during the semester in which the M.A. is completed. The student should inform the Graduate Coordinator of his or her desire to continue in the program and ask the supervisory committee chair to forward a recommendation to the Graduate Committee at the completion of the M.A. final examination. The Graduate Committee makes the final decision. This is an internal departmental procedure, and the student does not have to re-apply to the Graduate School or Graduate Admissions Office. Normally, all prior accepted semester credit hours completed before admission into the Ph.D. program will be credited toward the toward the total needed for the Ph.D. Find more information here.
The Final Examination
Notice of the time and place
of the final examination must be submitted to the Graduate
Coordinator and the department faculty. A copy of the thesis
or non-thesis paper must also be made available for faculty
inspection. All members of the supervisory committee must participate
in the examination. For thesis degree applicants, the final
examination is an oral defense of the thesis. For non-thesis
candidates, the form of the exam is determined by the supervisory
committee and may include a written component. Final examinations
are not ordinarily held during the summer. All faculty are
invited to attend and participate, but only supervisory committee
members may vote. All supervisory committee members must attend.
The Graduate Council also requires that candidates be examined
on their broader interdisciplinary understanding of criminology
and law and society by following this procedure.
The M.A. Thesis Option
The thesis M.A. requires 36 semester hours of course work, a thesis proposal to be submitted before research is actively undertaken, and a final examination as described above. The scope and length of the thesis proposal is determined by the supervisory committee. A final copy of the thesis proposal, initialed by the members of the supervisory committee, must be delivered to the department office. It will be placed on the office counter for 10 business days to allow faculty inspection and then will be placed in the student's file. The student must deliver one copy of the final approved M.A. thesis to the department for inclusion in its thesis library.
The M.A. Non-Thesis option
Requirements are the same for the non-thesis option with the
following exception. Instead of a thesis proposal and thesis,
the student must prepare a research paper of a scope and quality
acceptable to the supervisory committee. No proposal is required.
Determine guidelines concerning the difference between non-thesis & thesis options*:
A thesis typically has the following characteristics:
- a larger and/or broader piece of work;
- representative of the field/area;
- the final examination covers the student's more comprehensive knowledge of the field, such as mastery of various topics (e.g., theory, methods, statistics, main research areas in the area, trends in the area, etc.) in addition to the subject area of the thesis
A non-thesis typically has the following characteristics:
- a paper of high quality and/or publishable piece;
- focuses on a subject/topic within the field or research project;
- the final examination covers the student's broader knowledge of the research on that topic or specific subject; oral defense focuses more on the subject of the non-thesis than the field in general
*Note: In both options, the graduate student must meet the graduate council requirement that MA candidates have a broader interdisciplinary understanding of criminology and law and society.
Satisfactory Progress
It is important for graduate students to maintain satisfactory progress while in the CLS program. Progress is considered satisfactory if the student has:
- no more than two incompletes for longer than one semester;
- a supervisory committee at the end of the term in which s/he had accumulated 12 credit hours or by the end of the second semester in the graduate program;
- a grade point average of 3.0 or higher;
- a plan of study by the end of the first academic year, updated annually thereafter; and
- met all graduate school requirements.
While satisfactory progress is not a guarantee for funding, unsatisfactory progress may be grounds for termination from the program and/or removal of funding.
