Masters Program Policies and Procedures

Each academic unit authorized to offer a graduate degree has a Graduate Studies Committee. This committee oversees and administers the graduate programs offered by the academic unit. The dean of the college appoints the members.

The responsibilities of the Graduate Studies Committee are enumerated in the Graduate School Handbook, Section 13. The committee is responsible for enforcement (and waiver) of stated rules and required procedures.

In the event that special circumstances warrant an exception to any of the guidelines set forth in the Glenn College Handbook, you may petition the Graduate Studies Committee in writing for a waiver of the relevant guideline. The decision of the committee will be binding.

As a student at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, you are a member of the larger Ohio State University community. As such, you are subject to the rules of the university as a whole, which are broadly laid out in the Code of Student Conduct. These rules are designed to foster and protect the scholarly and civic development of the university’s students in a safe and secure learning environment, and to protect the people, properties and processes that support the university and its missions. The rules deal with items like academic misconduct, prohibited behavior that endangers the health and safety of others, use of property, and sexual harassment.

Regular Graduate Students

Students who meet all the Graduate School and Graduate Studies Committee admission criteria and are approved by the Graduate Studies Committee to pursue work toward graduate degrees at The Ohio State University are designated as regular students.

Conditional Graduate Students

Students are admitted in this category for one or more of the following reasons:

• The student holds a bachelor’s degree from a non-accredited institution;
• The student must complete prerequisite work;
• The student has less than a 3.0 GPA in undergraduate or graduate work; or
• The Graduate Studies Committee or the Graduate School has some reservation about the student’s probability of success.

Any conditional admission requirement placed upon the student must be satisfied within the specified time limit. See the Graduate School Handbook for specific information regarding conditional admission.

Students can visit the Glenn College Graduate Advising page to access both advising sheets and sample program plans for their degrees. Please contact the Student Services 110 Desk (614-292-9633 or glenn-110desk@osu.edu) if you would like to schedule an appointment with an advisor.

Any changes in schedule (i.e., add/drop, section changes, etc.) should be reported to your advisor to avoid any financial repercussions or adding time to degree. Students are encouraged to contact their advisor, a faculty member or a staff member in the Student Services Office (Suite 110) for assistance with situations that may interfere with your academic studies. The Student Services Office provides assistance with degree planning, university policies and deadlines, campus resources, petitions and appeals and graduation requirements. Although it is the student’s responsibility to know of university policies, procedures and deadlines, advisors can answer questions and clarify.

The course load is determined by the nature of the courses taken, the student’s academic record and employment plans. Course loads for full-time students generally range from eight to 18 semester hours for Autumn and Spring semesters. The course loads for full-time students generally range from eight to 12 semester hours in the Summer semester. A student may not enroll for more than 18 credit hours per semester (for autumn or spring semester) or 12 credit hours (for summer), including audited courses, without special permission and additional fees. There are some additional criteria for summer enrollment.

Withdrawal early in the semester is done by officially dropping all courses. Requests to withdraw after a certain point in the semester are by petition basis only (please refer to Section 3.4 of the Graduate School Handbook for specific deadlines). Consult with your advisor if you think you may need to withdraw from class(es). For information on a refund of fees, please contact the University’s Bursar office.

Credit by Exam

A student cannot earn credit by exam for Glenn College graduate courses.

Credit for Internships

A student cannot earn credit for completing an internship. Students are not required to complete an internship as part of the program; however, for professional development purposes, students are encouraged to pursue an internship while in the program. Career Services staff can assist students with locating internship opportunities.

Credit for Work Experience

A student cannot earn credit for prior work experience.

Transfer Credit

Graduate credit earned at another university may be transferred to Ohio State pending review by the college’s Graduate Studies Committee (please see the Graduate School Handbook for more information). A graduate student who wishes to transfer credit from another institution should consult with an academic advisor. The student should provide copies of the transcript, the catalog description, the syllabi and reading lists. If transfer credit is approved, the student must complete the “Transfer of Graduate Credit” form through GradForms, which will require approval from the Graduate Studies Chair and the Graduate School.

80% of required master’s degree hours must be completed at Ohio State. Transfer credit is listed as credit hours only and is not included in the calculation of the cumulative point-hour ratio. The entire work for a master’s degree from the Glenn College, including transfer credit, must be completed within a period of six years. Transfer credit is generally not an option for meeting Glenn College requirements for dual degrees.

Graduate Non-Degree

Students who have accumulated graduate non-degree credit hours at Ohio State may count no more than ten of these hours toward our graduate degrees.

Course Waivers

Certain course requirements may be waived if comparable undergraduate or graduate courses were completed satisfactorily. A student requesting such a waiver must submit a request in writing to the chair of the Graduate Studies Committee (if the waiver request is based upon coursework taken elsewhere, the committee will typically ask to view any relevant syllabi). In such cases, the credit hours cannot be counted toward a master’s degree. The student will take approved substitute graduate coursework to meet the total credit hour requirement for the master’s degree.

Independent Study with Glenn College Faculty

Registration for independent study requires the student to submit a form that provides a brief explanation of the work to be done. Please consult with an advisor to complete this form. (Note: this is an internal form used only by the Glenn College. For an independent study that is completed with a faculty member outside the Glenn College, students should submit the Petition to Count Outside Coursework form which they may obtain from their advisor). Master’s students may only count two credits of independent study work towards the elective requirements for their degree. Independent studies are generally discouraged where there is an existing Ohio State course that covers the same material. The supervising faculty member and the Graduate Studies Committee chair must approve the independent study. The workload for an independent study should adhere to the same workload requirements for any other class, or around three hours/week for each credit hour.

Reasonable Progress

Students are expected to maintain reasonable progress toward a degree and meet graduate program requirements as stated in this document and in the Ohio State Graduate School Handbook. A student who has a graduate GPA below a 3.0 will receive an academic warning (if they have fewer than nine credit hours). A student who has completed more than nine credit hours and has a GPA below a 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Two consecutive terms on academic probation will result in dismissal from the program by the Graduate School.

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in all graduate course work and fulfill all course requirements agreed upon by the student and advisor in development of the program plan. Failure to maintain reasonable progress is grounds for denial of further registration in the program.

Grade Appeal Process

Grade grievances are covered by University policy (3335-8-23, Alteration of marks) Students should be aware of these university policies and the Glenn College’s procedures for implementing this policy. Grades are subject to change only when a procedural error was made in the evaluation or recording of a grade. Action to change a grade must be initiated before the end of the second succeeding semester or summer term. In no case will a grade be revised in accordance with criteria other than those applied to all students in the class.

If a student believes that a procedural error in grading was made, the student should meet with the instructor in an attempt to resolve the issue. If the instructor does not agree that a procedural error was made, the student may meet with the relevant program director (undergraduate, graduate professional, or PhD) to discuss the grade grievance. The program director shall respond to the student no later than thirty days after the student has requested a review by the program director. Upon receipt of the program director’s response, if the issue is not resolved to the satisfaction of the student, the student may within two weeks request in writing by duplicate submission to the associate dean for curriculum and program director within the Glenn College. In these cases, a faculty committee comprised of the faculty members of the relevant curriculum committee and chaired by the associate dean for curriculum will conduct a review and make a final determination within the college. The faculty committee chaired by the associate dean for curriculum will not include the program director.  

Should the program director and instructor be one in the same, the program director will not conduct a review of the grade grievance. If the issue is not resolved to the satisfaction of the student after meeting with the instructor, the student may request the associate dean for curriculum to convene a faculty committee comprised of the faculty members of the relevant curriculum committee and chaired by the associate dean for curriculum to conduct a review and make a final determination within the college.

Should the associate dean for curriculum and the instructor be one in the same, the associate dean for faculty development will convene and chair the faculty review committee.

Time Limit

The entire work for a master’s degree from the Glenn College must be completed within a period of six years. Students who have started coursework with the Glenn College and did not finish within the six-year time limit should contact the Graduate Studies Chair to determine necessary steps to re-enroll and also to determine what requirements must be met in order to finish the degree.

Re-Entry of Students

The Graduate Studies Committee will consider petitions to re-enroll from students who were denied further registration or dismissed. Students who wish to re-enroll must submit a letter of request and supply the Committee with any evidence requested to consider re-enrollment. The student should be prepared to supply new evidence of their capacity to successfully pursue graduate work. If approved for re-enrollment, the student must comply with all degree requirements as listed at the time of re-enrollment.

Denial of Further Registration

A student may be denied further registration in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs for any of the following reasons:

• The student is on academic probation for two consecutive semesters, or was conditionally admitted and does not successfully raise their GPA above a 3.0 by the time indicated by the Graduate School (see Graduate School Handbook regarding academic dismissal)
• The student admits guilt or is determined to be guilty of academic misconduct by the University Committee on Academic Misconduct
• The student receives a grade below a B in the capstone course. Students have two opportunities to successfully complete the course with a grade of B or higher.
• The student refuses to follow the educational plan developed by their advisor and approved by the college’s Graduate Studies Committee
• The student fails to meet the minimum time limits established under the rules of the committee and/or the Graduate School

Fresh Start

Any student who re-enrolls in the Graduate School after an absence of five or more years may petition the Graduate Studies Committee that previous graduate credit is not counted toward the total earned hours and graduate cumulative grade point ratio.

Reactivation of Enrollment Eligibility

After two calendar years, application to re-enroll should be made by addressing a letter to the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee. If approved, the student must comply with all degree requirements as listed at the time of re-enrollment (see Graduate School Handbook).

Repetition of Courses

A graduate student who is not dismissed from the university must repeat a required course which the student failed (Grade = “E or EN”) or did not complete (Grade = “I”). When approval is given by the advisor, a graduate student may repeat for credit any elective course in which the student has received a mark of D or E. A student who audited a course may repeat the course for credit with the permission of the advisor or instructor. The credit hours for a repeated course shall in no case be counted more than once in meeting graduation requirements. However, when a student repeats a course and gets letter grades both times, both grades will be counted in computing the cumulative point hour ratio.

Graduation

A student desiring to graduate with a master’s degree from the Glenn College must submit an application to graduate online through GradForms with the Graduate School by the deadline announced by the Graduate Programs Manager which is typically the last day of classes in the prior term to which you are graduating. This gives advisors time to review your progress and suggest any changes necessary before the start of your last term.

Dual degree students will be required to complete separate applications to graduate for each program, and each application must be submitted the semester they graduate from that specific program.

Students must satisfactorily meet all minimum Graduate School and Glenn College degree to graduate.

Courses Taken Outside the Glenn College

Students may take graded graduate-level coursework from other departments to count toward their graduation requirements. Students must first submit a Petition to Count Outside Coursework with a recent course syllabus attached. Petitions for substitution should be turned in to your assigned advisor for further review by the chair of the Graduate Studies Committee.

If a student opts to complete a graduate minor or graduate interdisciplinary specialization from other departments, they may petition to overlap up to six credit hours of the minor or specialization coursework toward their MPA elective coursework. The student must petition each class via the Petition to Count Outside Coursework.