Master's Handbook

  Admission Requirements for Incoming Master's Students
Applicants must meet the requirements specified by the Office of Graduate Studies. Go to  www.usm.edu/graduatestudies/ , follow the links to 'Graduate Bulletin,'  'Academic Calendar and Introduction,'  and look under the section 'General Degree Requirements, Master's Degree Requirements.'  Requirements in addition to these are as follows:

The undergraduate record should indicate that the applicant satisfies the undergraduate requirements for a major in mathematics at Southern Miss.

Applicants whose native language is not English must score 580 or higher on the TOEFL.

The department chair can recommend conditional admission for an applicant whose credentials strongly meet all requirements (undergraduate record, GRE, and letters of recommendation) except for one.

Advisement of Incoming Master's Students
All incoming students are advised by the Graduate Coordinator in consultation with other graduate faculty. Professor William Hornor is Graduate Coordinator. Incoming students should contact him to make an appointment for advisement. Dr. Hornor's office is SH 314. He can be reached by phone at (601) 266-4300 and by e-mail at  william.hornor@usm.edu .

Master's Advisory Committee
Before the beginning of the second semester of graduate work, the student should select a three-person advisory committee, which includes the student's chair or academic advisor, from the graduate faculty. Responsibilities of the master's advisory committee include continual advisement of the student in curriculum matters and evaluation (pass or fail) of the student's comprehensive examination. If the student elects to write a thesis, then the responsibilities of the master's advisory committee include continual advisement of the student regarding research and evaluation (pass or fail) of the student's thesis and oral thesis defense.

Master's Plan of Study
The student, with the help of his or her academic advisor, should prepare by their second semester of enrollment a Plan of Study. See www.usm.edu/graduatestudies/   and follow the link 'Current Students' for specific directions. The advisor will distribute copies to the graduate faculty, the student's advisory committee, the department chair, and the student. One week should elapse for consideration of the Plan of Study. Any objections to the Plan of Study are to be resolved by the graduate faculty. Upon approval of the Plan of Study it will be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies. Subsequent changes must be approved by the department chair and the student's advisory committee.

Master's Comprehensive Exam
Each candidate for the master's degree will be expected to demonstrate mastery of subject matter on the master's comprehensive examination, which must be completed two weeks before the candidate's graduation. The written examination for the nonthesis student will cover the content from six courses of the core and electives. The courses will be selected by the advisory committee in consultation with the student. The written examination for the thesis student will cover the content from four courses selected by the advisory committee in consultation with the student. The oral defense of the thesis will then complete the master's comprehensive examination for the thesis student. If the student receives a marginal pass in the written comprehensive examinations, the student will be required to take an oral examination. The oral examination will cover content drawn from both the student's undergraduate and master's programs. A student may retake once either a failed written or oral master's comprehensive examination. The student must do two months of concentrated study before attempting a retake.

Departmental Academic Probation and Dismissal
A student who does not complete the comprehensive examination within the required period will be placed on departmental academic probation. If the student fails to complete the requirement in the following semester, he or she will be dismissed from the program. A student whose GPA in 300-level and above courses drops below 3.0 will have two semesters to raise his or her GPA to 3.0 or better. Failing this, he or she will be dismissed from the program. A student who fails to perform satisfactory teaching, as determined by the Teaching Assistant Coordinator, will be dismissed from the program.

Teaching Assistantships
Teaching assistantships are awarded by the chair upon the recommendation of the Graduate Program Committee. All teaching assistants must enroll in the Mathematics Teaching Seminar (MAT 500) during the spring of their first year. The usual period of full-time support on an assistantship is two years, unless extenuating circumstances exist. Students receiving full-time support may not engage in any outside employment. The duties of a first-year teaching assistant include tutoring in the Mathematics Learning Center and/or serving as a teaching assistant for an instructor of a large section. Those first-year students who have previous teaching experience may be assigned to teach one or two sections of Intermediate Algebra (MAT 099). Second year students usually are assigned as instructor of record for two sections of introductory mathematics each semester.