Master’s Degree
The Master’s Degree in Computation, Organizations and Society (COS) is for students enrolled as Ph.D. students.
Rational
In COS, we are getting an increasing interest by current Ph.D. students in getting a master’s degree. Having such a degree:
- Meets the emotion and often familial need of showing that they have achieved a milestone.
- Enables them to get higher salaries if they take an internship for a turn.
- And, for foreign students, their pay level is often set (in other countries) on the number of degrees, not just the highest degree.
- Provides, for those students who change life directions, or realize that they are not cut out to get a Ph.D., or fail out of the program, a possible degree providing they have met the requirements.
To Obtain a Master's Degree
To obtain a Master's degree students must petition their advisors upon completion of meeting the below requirements, prior to the Black Friday meeting.
- Complete 48 Star units
- Complete 36 Electives
- Complete 18 units of COS Practicum
- Must obtain 3 semesters in Residency at CMU
- Meet speaking requirement by attending 3 semesters of COS Practicum
Master’s Level Speaking requirement
To fulfill the speaking requirement for the master’s degree the student must attend the COS PhD Practicum for at least three semesters and give at least two presentations in the practicum.
Master’s Level Residency Requirement
To attain a master’s degree the student is expected to be in residence on CMU’s Pittsburgh campus for a minimum of 1.5 years.
Requirements for students who wish to obtain a Masters Degree during the spring semester and who want to participate in commencement
Below are the commencement walking guidelines for students who wish to obtain a Masters Degree during the spring semester.
- Interested students must email Connie Herold and the student's advisor to let them know that they want to walk in commencement prior to March 1st (for the current spring semester in which they will qualify). Connie will forward any commencement information to these interested parties as the information is received.
- Students who will be participating (walking) in the ceremony must order regalia by April 1st. (Connie will notify all students of these requirements when they send me notice of their intention to walk.)
- Students will need to make their course instructors aware of their plans since the instructors will need to have their grades entered before the deadline. The grade deadline for "graduating students" is prior to all other student grade deadlines. This ensures that the student receives a passing grade in the course that will qualify them for the Masters degree.
