Policies and Procedures
Guidelines for Graduate Concentrations
Approved by the Urbana-Champaign Senate April 25, 2005
Brief Description
The purpose of this proposal is to establish guidelines under which units offering graduate degrees may seek Senate approval of graduate concentrations to be acknowledged on the student's official University transcript.
Background
With the implementation of Banner, the University of Illinois graduate transcript lists degrees, majors, concentrations, and minors. At the graduate level, degree, major, and minor all have defined requirements and approval routes, but concentration has been used much more loosely, and often interchangeably with "specialization," "option," and "track." (See www.provost.uiuc.edu/programs/cps/understandingLOG.html. Last year, a proposal for establishing policies and procedures to govern graduate minors was developed by the Graduate College Executive Committee, and approved by the Senate (EP.04.12))
A formal graduate concentration may be defined as an elaboration or an extension of a graduate major. A concentration may reflect either content specialization within a particular discipline (for example, a taxation concentration in accountancy), or an interdisciplinary program (for example, an interdisciplinary concentration in cultural studies and interpretive research). In all cases, however, a graduate concentration requires review by the Senate and the Board of Trustees, and is noted on the student's transcript.
This proposal seeks to define only those concentrations at the graduate level that would be listed in the Programs of Study and recorded on the University of Illinois transcript. Although most graduate programs require students to specialize in one form or another, not all of these specializations need to be formal concentrations (i.e., represented on the student's transcript). Graduate education nearly always involves some form of specialization or interdisciplinary work, yet the need for transcript recognition varies in importance across the disciplines. Indeed, transcript recognition should be sought only when there is a clear benefit to the student and/or to the department—for example, when transcript notation is required by specialized accrediting bodies, or in response to job market demands.
Guidelines
A graduate concentration should constitute a coherent program of study requiring considerable depth of knowledge. A concentration may refer to a subfield within a discipline, or to an interdepartmental and/or interdisciplinary area of knowledge.
- A graduate concentration should consist of 24-32 graduate hours of relevant course work at the 400- and 500-level and/or thesis credit in the sponsoring department(s). For master's degrees, which require a minimum of 32 graduate hours, this would represent the majority, if not the entirety, of the degree. For doctoral degrees, which require a minimum of 96 graduate hours, this would represent 1/4 to 1/3 of the total minimum graduate hours required.
- A student who completes a graduate concentration would normally have at least one faculty member in the area of specialization serve on the student's thesis committee. In the case of interdepartmental concentrations, the thesis committee would comprise faculty members from more than one department or area of knowledge.
- The department or unit sponsoring the concentration may set additional prerequisites for eligibility for the concentration (e.g., minimum GPA). Additionally, the sponsoring department or unit may set other requirements for completion, such as a qualifying examination, practicum, etc.
- An academic department or unit (or a combination of departments or units, in the case of interdisciplinary programs) intending to propose a concentration should prepare a proposal in accordance with these guidelines, including a rationale that indicates why transcript recognition of the concentration is important, and obtain approval(s) from the disciplinary college(s) before sending to the Graduate College. Proposals should be prepared using the standard Senate format for proposals at www.senate.uiuc.edu/ep/epformat.html. Proposals should be sent to the Graduate College for review and approval by the Program Subcommittee and the Executive Committee. The Graduate College will send approved proposals to the Office of the Provost for forwarding to the Senate and Board of Trustees.
- Departments already sponsoring an approved graduate concentration will be contacted by the Graduate College to ensure that the existing concentration is in accordance with these guidelines, and to confirm that the graduate concentration should be listed on the transcript.
Process
- All graduate concentrations must receive disciplinary college, Graduate College, Senate, and Board of Trustees approval. All approved concentrations will be officially recognized by the campus and listed on the transcript. Departments may establish tracks, specializations, and options with college and Graduate College approval, but these will not result in transcript recognition.
- Any academic department or unit with the approval of the disciplinary college(s) may initiate a proposal for a graduate concentration. Concentrations approved by the Graduate College will be forwarded to the Office of the Provost for further approval. The proposal should comply with the guidelines above and follow the standard Senate format for proposals.
- The Banner system will display degree, major, concentration, and minor designations, and the University of Illinois academic transcript should reflect completion of all Senate-approved graduate degrees, majors, concentrations, and minors earned by the student. When a student indicates an intention to graduate with a concentration, the department(s) will confirm whether the requisite course of study has been completed.
- Students must contact the sponsoring department or unit offering the concentration for information about the concentration. It is up to the sponsoring department or unit to establish criteria and timelines for completion of the concentration, and to certify its successful completion. The sponsoring department or unit must make available information and consultation to inform students about requirements for the concentration.
A student's intent to pursue a graduate concentration must be approved by the student's adviser and graduate program director. As in the case of graduate minors, the student's major department will determine how many graduate hours of a concentration may count toward the degree requirements in the student's program, or toward completing other graduate concentrations.
