2013-2014 Graduate Catalog Downloadable PDF (10.71MB)

294 Texas A&M University at Galvestonate and Professional Studies. The committee members’ signatures on the degree planindicate their willingness to accept the responsibility for guiding and directing the entireacademic program of the student and for initiating all academic actions concerning thestudent. Although individual committee members may be replaced by petition for validreasons, a student’s advisory committee cannot resign en masse.Degree PlanEach graduate student must submit an official degree plan to the Office of Graduateand Professional Studies (OGAPS) for approval. The degree plan formally declareshis/her degree objective, the membership of the advisory committee, and the specificcourses that she/he will be required to complete as part of the degree program. She/hewill develop their proposed degree plan in consultation with their designated advisorycommittee. The Head of the Department of Maritime Administration must approve alldegree plans. Completed degree plans must be submitted to OGAPS according to thefollowing regulation with the student meeting which ever of these deadlines falls earliest:• Following the deadline imposed by the student’s college or interdisciplinary degreeprogram.• No later than 90 days prior to the date of the final oral examination or thesis defense– thesis students only.• According to deadlines published in the OGAPS calendar each semester forgraduation that semester. The calendar may be found atogaps.tamu.edu/current-students/dates-and-deadlines/.Specific rules and limitations on coursework and committee membership can befound in the Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog. Once a degree plan is approvedby OGAPS, changes in coursework or committee membership may be requested by petitionto OGAPS. “Petition Forms” may be downloaded from the OGAPS home page.Changes of major, degree or department must be requested by submitting a petitionand/or a new degree plan/coursework petition. Additional flexibility to replace requiredcourses with courses targeted to their area of research is available to thesis option studentsupon recommendation and approval by their committee and the department head.Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other CoursesIf otherwise acceptable, certain courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirementsfor the master’s degree under the following limitations.1. The total of any combination of A and B below may not exceed the greater of either12 hours or one third (1/3) of the total hours on the degree plan. The following restrictionsapply:A. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution, or approved internationalinstitution with a final grade of B or greater, will be considered for transfercredit if, at the time the courses were completed, the student was in degree-seekingstatus at Texas A&M University, or the student was in degree-seeking statusat the institution at which the courses were taken; and if the courses would beaccepted for credit toward a similar degree for students in degree-seeking status atthe host institution. Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptablefor degree plan credit.B. A maximum of 12 credit hours of 489 and/or 689 (Special Topics).