The Graduate College
Masters Degrees (page 1 of 3)
Masters Degrees (page 1 of 3)
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Master of Science in Accountancy
The Master of Science in Accountancy prepares the student for professional careers in industry, commerce, finance, government, and public accounting. A graduate from the Haworth College of Business with a Master of Science in Accountancy will be qualified to take many of the professional certification exams. Since the qualifying rules differ by state, and are subject to change, the student is responsible for determining if additional criteria need to be met for a specific exam or state.
Knowledge and understanding of the theory, literature, controversial concepts, and professional practice of accounting are developed. The student's understanding of the relationship of accounting to other fields in business and to other disciplines is also stressed. Course work will be selected from the areas of financial accounting, cost and managerial accounting, auditing, taxation and not-for-profit, systems, and accounting theory.
Master of Arts in Anthropology
The Master of Arts in Anthropology is designed to provide the students with a critical understanding of the major theories and methods of the discipline as a whole. Students have the opportunity to specialize in one of three subdisciplines of anthropology: archaeology, cultural anthropology, or biological anthropology. Graduate seminars
are available on such specialized topics as Development Anthropology, Gender, Ethnicity, Archaeological Theory and Method (Processual and Post-Processual), Great Lakes, Eastern U. S., Human Biology, Paleoanthropology, and Research Methods. In addition to course work, students are encouraged to pursue original and independent research. Several research opportunities are available through organized field schools in the U.S. and abroad. The M.A. program in anthropology prepares graduates for Ph.D. programs in anthropology or other related disciplines, as well as establishing the foundation for careers in cultural resources management, education, industry, government, or non-profit organizations.
Master of Arts in Applied Economics
The Master of Arts in Applied Economics is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in economic analysis combined with the ability to apply theory to contemporary problems. Graduates of the program are employed in industry, government, and teaching. Some graduates continue their formal training in economics, pursuing the Ph.D. degree at WMU or at another university.
Master of Science in Applied Mathematics
The Master of Science in Applied Mathematics emphasizes a broadly based study of the mathematical sciences, including statistics, differential equations, mathematical programming, and computer science. The use of mathematical models to study practical problems will be heavily stressed. Students receive broad training for professional employment in industry or government. Those completing this program will also be prepared to teach in the area of mathematical applications..
Master of Arts in Art Education
The Master of Arts in Art Education is designed to address the needs of art educators for advanced preparation in their discipline. Required courses include credit hours in art education, art studio, and art history.
Art education courses are designed to combine emphasis on research and curriculum development, and also provide strong foundations in theory and practice related to teaching art in various professional contexts. Topical seminars focus on recent issues and new developments in art education. Research in art education focuses on qualitative and quantitative research methods. Students will prepare and defend a written Theses. Advanced studio courses will provide students with opportunities to develop as artists and achieve individual goals for excellence in a range of art media. Advanced course work in art history will focus on western and non-western sources of art. All course work will be offered only during Summer II sessions. Students who follow the outlined program can complete degree requirement over four summers.
Master of Science in Biological Sciences
The Master of Science in Biological Sciences enhances students' ability to plan, conduct, analyze, and report original research. Course work increases students' scientific preparation and supports their research. Through the advice of the students' major advisor, efforts are made to choose courses to meet individual needs and interests. The degree may serve as preparation for continued graduate or professional study or for positions in the private or public sector. Theses and non-Theses options are offered.
Master of Business Administration
This professional degree program leading to the Master of Business Administration is designed to prepare graduate students to function effectively in administrative positions. This preparation emphasizes the development of the student’s ability to make and execute decisions. The program of study is designed to provide the student with skills and knowledge in the areas of critical analysis, business operations, changing environments, professional development, and specialized professional interests. Students are challenged to develop the judgment, discriminating capacity, knowledge, and understanding which will permit them to work effectively in administrative and other leadership roles. Under the guidance of the graduate faculty advisors of the Haworth College of Business, personal programming for the participant is provided.
Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education
This thirty-hour degree program includes course work that will strengthen students' abilities to teach in career and technical education and to assist in developing and implementing new programs or curricula. The program is flexible to provide advanced techniques for teachers and career preparation for administrators, supervisors, counselors, coordinators, and for any other specialized positions in the career and technical education areas of marketing education, business education, home economics, and technology education.
The Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education is designed for bachelor's graduates in marketing education, business education, home economics, industrial arts, industrial education, or career and technical education, plus professional preparation in teacher education, including directed or supervised student teaching.
Master of Science in Chemistry
The Master of Arts in Chemistry is a research degree planned to provide a broad background in the various fields of chemistry with concentration in one.
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
TThe Department of Civil & Construction Engineering offers a graduate degree in Civil Engineering with options in:
- Construction Engineering and Management,
- Structural Engineering, and
- Transportation Engineering
Through the available program options, students can earn the degree on a full-time or part-time basis and can have a design or research orientation.
Master of Arts in Communication
The Master of Arts in Communication provides a foundation in communication theory and research and emphasizes intra/interdisciplinary connections in applied contexts. Thirty semester hours of graduate credit and completion of a capstone experience are required for graduation.
Master of Arts in Comparative Religion
The Master of Arts in Comparative Religion is designed to provide students with a strong foundation of knowledge of at least two religious traditions, the principal classical works in the field of Comparative Religion, and the central issues of theory and method that underlie the discipline of the study of religion.
Master of Science in Computational Mathematics
The Master of Science in Computational Mathematics emphasizes numerical and computer methods which have become very significant in the solution of computer intensive scientific problems, including large scale problems. The primary objective of the program is to prepare students in the development and implementation of critical computational techniques from inception to algorithm to software.
Master of Science in Computer Science
The master’s program in computer science emphasizes both computer software development and the theoretical foundations of computer science. It is designed to prepare students for professional positions in business, industry, and government and to provide preparation for graduate work at the doctoral level.
Areas of faculty specialization include algorithmic complexity theory, artificial intelligence, computational geometry, computer architecture, computer graphics, computer networking, data warehousing and mining, distributed and mobile data bases, expert systems, formal specifications, human-computer interaction and visualization, knowledge-based systems, language and automata theory, mathematical and computer modeling, multimedia databases and systems, neural networks, parallel and sequential algorithms, pattern recognition and image processing, scientific computing and numerical analysis, simulation, and software engineering. The program also permits student to acquire expertise in closely related fields such as computer engineering and mathematics.
The master’s program is designed to allow a full-time student entering with a strong undergraduate background in computer science to complete all degree requirements within sixteen months. However, it is not uncommon for a student to take somewhat longer.
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology
The Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology provides, beyond the departmental required core course work, a focus on psychopathology, psychological assessment, counseling and psychotherapy theories and practices, and advanced practicum experiences. This program is selected by students seeking limited licensure as a psychologist in the State of Michigan.
Master of Arts in Counselor Education
The four program options leading to a Master of
Arts in Counselor Education are designed to prepare
individuals for entry level positions in counseling,
rehabilitation, and student affairs practice
in a variety of educational and non-educational settings.
The four options are:
1. Community Counseling with formal specialties
in gerontology, substance abuse, holistic
health, and study in marriage and family
therapy.
2. School Counseling: Elementary or Secondary
or Career Development Specialist
3. Student Affairs in Higher Education: Administration of College Student Affairs or Counseling in Higher Education
4. Rehabilitation Counseling is offered as part of the Rehabilitation Counseling/Teaching program (RCT) which is jointly administered by the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology and the Department of Blindnesss and Low Vision Studies.
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a 48-hour degree program for students who wish to become professional writers of poetry, fiction,or drama. It is the minimal academic qualification appropriate for those who wish to teach the craft of writing at the college or university level.
A student desiring to enter the program should present a thirty-hour undergraduate major with a grade-point average of at least 3.0 and samples both of writing in the genre in which he or she expects to specialize (fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama from 15 to 30 pages, poetry from 10 to 15 pages) and of critical writing about literature.
Applicants must take the General Test on the Graduate Record Examinations and forward their score to the Department of English. At least twenty hours of the major must be in courses in literature; no more than fifteen of the thirty should be at the freshman-sophomore level. Applicants lacking an undergraduate major but who have at least 20 hours of work in English with a substantial number of courses in literature and who are otherwise judged eligible may be granted admission to the program on condition that they remedy deficiencies in preparation by taking some undergraduate courses as prerequisites.
Master of Development Administration
The Master of Development Administration (MDA) program is designed to prepare candidates for careers in international development and to meet the specialized needs of public administrators from the developing countries. The course of instruction has as its focus the political dimensions of development and democratization and includes a strong multidisciplinary component that draws from public administration, economics, computer science, business and management, social work and human resources and health delivery systems, and educational leadership.
The program is designed for two types of students: Public administrators and officials from developing countries who require additional training to meet new or increased responsibilities; and recent graduates from both developing and industrial countries, including the United States, who are interested in development careers in the public sector, i.e., in government, non-governmental organization, or international organization.
The MDA program includes both development administration theory and practice, exposure to development strategies, and the honing of skills. MDA students are guided in their work by established and experienced members of the academic community, all of whom are research scholars, and the majority of whom have lived and worked in the developing countries. Usually faculty have had experience with national and/or international organizations, or have worked with a variety of governments on development projects.
Master of Development Administration-Peace Corps Option
The MDA Peace Corps Option is designed for students who wish to earn the MDA degree and to carry out two years of service as Peace Corps Volunteers. This option is only available to U.S. citizens as Peace Corps only accepts U.S. nationals. Prospective students should apply for entrance into Peace Corps and into the MDA Program concurrently. Rather than the forty-two credit hours required for a standard MDA, the Peace Corps Option requires thirty-six credit hours plus completion of Peace Corps service. Of these thirty-six credit hours, thirty are earned at Western Michigan University and six credit hours are earned for a field paper researched and written during Peace Corps service. The thirty credit hours on campus are normally earned in a rigorous ten month course of study from September through June (four three-hour courses in the fall semester, four in the winter semester, and two in the spring session).
The admission requirements for the Peace Corps Option are the same as those for the Standard Program Option listed above. Applicants, however, should note on the MDA application that they want the “Peace Corps Option.” On the
application to Peace Corps, applicants should note that they are also applying to the Master’s International Program (MIP) in Development Administration at Western Michigan University.
Master of Science in Earth Science
The Master of Science in Earth Science permits students to design programs of study, in consultation with the program advisor, that are compatible with the individual's goals. The program may be adapted for students with backgrounds in biology, geography, agriculture, geology, junior college science education, journalism, landscape architecture, anthropology, and physics. Some remedial work may be necessary for students entering the program with a minimal background. Courses for the program will be drawn from geology, geography, biology, anthropology, economics, political science, communication, chemistry, physics, and others.
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