Academic Calendar 2012-2013 - Office of the Registrar - Duke ...

Health Program. Full-time students who are entitled to coverage by the Student Health Program are also eligible for the
supplementary insurance policy.
All students enrolled in programs that require payment of the health fee must also have adequate medical insurance.
Students will automatically be enrolled in the Duke Student Medical Insurance Plan unless they submit a waiver
indicating that they are covered by a comparable plan. Students indicate their health insurance decision through online
student records as part of Duke’s online registration process. The University requires all students to be responsible for
health costs over and above what is covered by the student health fee. For international students holding J-1 or F-1 visas,
participation in the Duke Student Medical Insurance Plan is mandatory.
Degree Regulations—The Master’s Degrees
MASTER OF ARTS/MASTER OF SCIENCE
Prerequisites. As a prerequisite to graduate study in the major subjects, a student must have completed a minimum
of 24 undergraduate semester hours—ordinarily 12 semester hours of approved college courses in the major subject and
12 semester hours in the major or in related work. Since some departments require more than 12 semester hours in the
proposed field of study, students should read carefully the special requirements listed by their major departments in the
chapter on “Courses of Instruction.” If special master’s requirements are not specified in this chapter and there is a
question about prerequisites, prospective students should write directly to the appropriate Director of Graduate Studies.
Language Requirements. The Graduate School requires no foreign language for the master’s degree. Certain
departments, however, do have language requirements and these must be satisfied before the master’s examination can
be taken. See the departmental listings in the chapter on “Courses of Instruction.”
Major and Related Subjects. Thirty units of graduate credit at Duke constitutes minimum enrollment for the
Master of Arts and the Master of Science degrees. Students must present acceptable grades for a minimum of 24 units
of graded course work, 12 of which must be in the major subject. Six units of the required 24 is often in a minor subject
or in a related field which is approved by the student’s major department. Individual programs and departments decide
whether the MA/MS program may be completed by submission of an approved thesis or by other academic exercises
(see requirements listed in the chapter on “Courses of Instruction”). In either case, a maximum of 6 units may be earned
by the completion exercises and the final examination.
Thesis Requirements. The thesis should demonstrate the student’s ability to collect, arrange, interpret, and report
pertinent material on a research problem. The thesis must be written in an acceptable style and should exhibit the
student’s competence in scholarly procedures. Requirements of form are set forth in the Duke University Guide for
Electronic Submission of Thesis and Dissertations, which is available on the Duke University Graduate School Web site.
The disertation advisor must examine and approve the masters thesis prior to submission to the Graduate School, as
indicated by a letter stating this approval. The thesis must be submitted in an approved form to the Graduate School prior
to defense (see deadlines for submission and defense posted on the Graduate School Web site. The copies of the thesis
will be distributed by the student to the several members of the examining committee. An electronic copy of the thesis
must be uploaded to UMI/Proquest for review and approval by the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the thesis
exam. Deadlines for submission are posted on the Graduate School Web site and must be respected if the student wishes
to receive the degree in the semester when the intention to graduate had been declared. If a student misses deadlines
for completion of all requirements during a term, including submission of an approved and correctly formatted thesis
document, then the student must register and pay for a subsequent term in which s/he will receive the degree. All master’s
theses are submitted electronically to UMI/ProQuest in Ann Arbor, Michigan and to DukeSpace in the Duke Libraries,
where they are openly accessible online. See the Graduate School Web site for information about electronic submission
about procedures for obtaining a copyright.
The Examining Committee and the Examination. In consultation with a student and his/her major advisor, the
program or department's Director of Graduate Studies recommends an examining committee composed of at least three
members of the Duke Graduate Faculty, one of whom is from a department other than the major department or from
an approved minor area within the major department. The committee must be approved by the Associate Dean of the
Graduate School before the student applies for graduation. A student must be registered in the term during which he
or she takes the final examination. The examination must occur when the University is in session.
Non-thesis examinations take several forms within the Graduate School. The most common are written or oral
exams on a prescribed reading list or body of material; oral exams on a paper or a set of papers submitted by the
student; or an oral exam on a research project or memorandum. The doctoral preliminary examination may also serve
as the final examination for the master's degree.
The master's committee will conduct the examination and certify the student's success or failure by signing an
examination card provided by the Graduate School office. Each member of the approved committee must be
physically present for the examination and must sign the exam card. With the express approval of the Associate Dean
in advance of the exam, no more than one committee member may be allowed to participate via teleconference or
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