Writing Requirement for All Graduate Degrees
(Approved by Graduate Council, April 19, 1990)
The Graduate Council goes on record as strongly supporting the
retention of the writing requirement for all graduate degrees. The
writing of a dissertation should continue to be a requirement of all
doctoral programs. All master's programs should continue to require
either a thesis, a professional paper, or a professional project.
Rationale:
Universities are presently being criticized for the production of
graduates who lack basic writing skills requiring critical thought. The
experience of engagement in the process of a scholarly literature
search, problem identification and formulation, delineation of
methodology, collection of data or execution of artistic work, and
analysis and interpretation of the product of that methodology under
the mentorship of a chair and committee represents an exercise in
scholarly development that is not paralleled elsewhere in the curricula.
Recommendations:
1. This writing requirement should represent a class of achievement
which involves a capstone effort in the discipline involved. This effort
should be appropriate to the degree being sought (doctorate or
master's).
2. Programs should engage in creative consideration of the formats
which can provide the framework for this capstone effort.
3. Programs should clearly delineate their criteria for distinguishing
between a dissertation, a thesis, a professional paper and a
professional project to avoid confusion on the part of both faculty and
students.