MA-FVP

• MA-FVP students are advised by the FVP coordinator.
• MA-FVP students must form an advising committee comprising their advisor and two additional FVP faculty.
• MA-FVP students must submit and receive approval for a proposal for their special project before registering beyond 18 credit hours.

MA-CMST

• MA-CMST students are advised by the graduate director in their first year.
• MA-CMST students who wish to complete the capstone option will continue to be advised by the graduate director throughout their program.
• MA-CMST students who wish to complete a special project must choose a supervisor for their special project as soon as practicable and before they register beyond 18 credits. The supervisor will also serve as the student’s advisor for the remainder of their program. The student and supervisor/advisor will form an advising committee comprising two additional COMM faculty members. The committee must approve the special project proposal before the student registers beyond 18 credit hours.

PhD-CMST

• Before registering for courses beyond 18 hours of study in the department, the student must choose a major advisor and form a PhD advisory program committee consisting of their major advisor to serve as chair and two members of the department’s graduate faculty. Students may also have an additional advisory committee member from outside of the department.
• Students must submit a Plan of Study, approved by their committee, before registering for courses beyond 18 hours.
• Directed Studies courses (COMM 8374) must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and Department Chair (the instructor submits a syllabus of the course for approval).
• Changes to the plan of study require advisory committee approval.
• The student’s advisory committee serves as the student’s comprehensive exam committee.
• After passing exams, students should finalize the composition of their dissertation committee, which must include four (4) members, one of whom must be from outside the department. UofM policy states, “Before undertaking any work on your thesis/dissertation, a graduate faculty committee must be formed, and the Graduate School must be notified of this committee.”

TBD - Fall 2025

Comprehensive exams in the Department of Communication and Film are planned by the student’s advisory committee under the direction of the student’s advisor. The exams should be planned and scheduled at or before the start of a student’s final semester of coursework to be taken after the completion of coursework.

PhD students are tested with questions on four (4) areas.

Exam areas can involve some combination of broad scholarly areas (e.g., communication theory, media theory, rhetorical theory) with custom areas tailored to the student’s research specialty.

Exams are take-home and open-book, with a time limit of 21-calendar days for the student to complete each answer to each question posed by the committee.

Each answer for each question on the PhD exam must be between 4,000-5,000 words.

The Department has two (2) exam periods per academic year.

The Fall written exam period starts the first Monday in September after Labor Day; the Spring written exam period starts the first Monday in January after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

For example, in 2025, the Fall exam period would be Monday, September 8-Monday, September 29. In Spring 2026, the exam period would be Monday, January 26-Monday, February 16.

Note: Under some extenuating circumstances, a student may schedule their exams outside of these periods, with the agreement of all their committee members. However, faculty are not obligated to schedule exams during the summer or other periods when they are off contract.

The major advisor collects exam questions from all committee members prior to the exam period and sends them via email to the student on the first day of the exam period by 9am CT. The exams are then due 21 calendar days later at 5pm CT.

The student compiles all answers and sends them via email attachment to the major advisor on the due date for distribution to the full committee.

The committee will have 14 calendar days to review the written answers and notify the committee chair whether the written answer is ready for oral defense (e.g., in Fall 2025, by 5pm on Oct. 13. If all committee members agree the written responses are ready for oral defense, within 14 calendar days after the written exams have been reviewed by the committee, the student sits for an oral exam of no more than 120 minutes.

If one or more committee members find the written portion not ready for oral defense, the student will be asked to rewrite the exam to address committee concerns. The student will have two (2) weeks to complete the rewrite. Additional time can be allocated by the committee depending on the number of rewrites, depth of revisions needed, or other extenuating circumstances.

At the oral exam, the student clarifies and defends their written answers upon questioning by the committee. The committee chair should consult with the committee regarding the expectations and format for the oral exam and communicate these to the student in advance.

At the completion of the oral exam, the committee votes on whether the student has passed the written and oral exam and submits the “Comprehensive Exam Results” form to the Graduate School with the results.

Once an exam is scheduled, it cannot be postponed without unanimous approval of the advisory committee, and only under extreme circumstances of personal distress.

PhD-CMST Dissertation Prospectus and Defense

The dissertation reflects the systematic study of a significant question, problem, or issue relevant to the communication discipline. The document is evidence of your ability to independently conceive, execute, analyze, and summarize data pertinent to the scholarly investigation of a specific topic, within the context of current literature in the field. The exact nature of the dissertation – its depth, breadth, and method(s) – will initially be negotiated with your committee chair but will also be informed by guidance from your committee members in their areas of expertise. From those negotiations, you will write the dissertation prospectus, which is a written proposal of the research that you want to undertake. During the preparation of the prospectus, you will work closely with your chair. When it is completed, you will forward it to the full committee for their assessment and advice. Once you have satisfactorily responded to their comments, the prospectus is ready for a formal defense in front of your committee.

Prospectus Format

• Introduction —identifying problem, issues, and significance
• Literature review and synthesis
• Proposed research method(s)
• Situating oneself within the topical area (where appropriate)
• A timeline

Prospectus Process

• Complete and submit the Thesis/Dissertation Committee Appointment form as soon as the committee is formed.
• The committee is given at least two weeks to review the prospectus prior to setting a defense date.
• If the committee agrees the prospectus is well-conceived, a defense date will be set.
• The prospectus defense date/time/location will be announced internally to the department by the admin associate.
• Committee will ask you pertinent questions to assess the strength of your knowledge of the subject matter and the proposed research methods.
• If you pass, you begin your dissertation study.
• If you do not pass, you will be given additional guidance, allowing you to revise the document and defend before the committee a second time.

Dissertation Process

• After passing your prospectus defense, you must submit an application to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval if your study involves human participants.
• Conduct your research.
• Submit chapters to your committee chair for review.
• Revise each chapter and resubmit it to your committee chair; expect several revisions.

• • Some chairs/committees may require you to send each chapter to all committee members (after approval by the chair) for their review.
  • Some chairs/committee members may require you to send specific chapters to specific committee members (after approval by the chair) for their review.
  • Some chairs/committee members may expect only a complete draft of the dissertation to be distributed to the committee (after approval by the chair).
• When your chair believes your document is in near final form, they will circulate the document to the full committee, who will be given two weeks to review the dissertation.
• If the committee agrees the dissertation document is ready to be defended, a defense date will be set.
• The dissertation defense date/time/location will be announced publicly, ideally two weeks in advance, but not less than one week in advance.
• All committee members must be available and present for the scheduled defense.
• The dissertation defense should be held in person unless there are extenuating circumstances that require a virtual defense.

Dissertation Defense Process

• A defense typically lasts 1.5 - 2 hours.
• You will be expected to demonstrate your knowledge of your study, general research area of interest, and inter-related disciplinary issues. You will demonstrate this knowledge by succinctly presenting your research and then answering rigorous questions intended to test the depth of your knowledge, the sophistication of your methods, and the significance of your scholarly contribution.
• The defense typically follows the following format:
  • Committee members confer privately.
  • The PhD candidate gives a presentation of their dissertation project.
  • Committee members ask questions.
  • After the committee has asked all their questions, other faculty members will be given an opportunity to ask questions.
  • Finally, other attendees will be given an opportunity to ask questions.
• The committee will then ask you and everyone else to step out of the room so that they can confer privately to decide the outcome of the defense: pass, pass with revisions, or fail.
• If the dissertation passes or passes with revision, you will work with your committee chair and committee to make final revisions to the document before submitting to the graduate school.
• If the dissertation fails, you will meet with individual committee members, collate their feedback, make necessary revisions to the document, and prepare for a second defense once you have the approval of your committee chair.
• All UofM Graduate School guidelines and procedures must be followed.

See the UofM Graduate Catalog for academic standards.

To maintain satisfactory performance as Graduate Teaching Assistants in the department those awarded these assistantships must:

1. Attend all mandatory teaching meetings during GA contract dates. If there is an unexpected conflict, the student should discuss this and come to an agreement with the Basic Course Director (BCD) prior to the absence.
2. Report any cancelled classes to BCD and the office staff (for Comm 2381) and the department chair and the office staff for all other courses.
3. Not change venue or format of the course without the approval by BCD (for Comm 2381) or the department chair (for any other courses).
4. Follow uniform syllabi and rubrics for Comm 2381.
5. Not make changes to Comm 2381 major assignments without the approval of BCD.
6. Be available to teach on campus as assigned by the department.
7. Receive satisfactory evaluations of their performance as an instructor based on SETE scores and/or observations from the BCD, the Department Chair, and/or their advisor.

To maintain satisfactory performance as Graduate Research Assistants in the department those awarded these assistantships must:

1. Work 10-20 hours a week (depending on the assignment) performing assigned duties.
2. Complete work according to the deadlines set by the supervising faculty.
3. Attend all meetings required by the supervising faculty.
4. Maintain a work log to be regularly shared with the supervising faculty.
5. Be available to work on campus as assigned by the department.
6. Receive satisfactory evaluations of their performance as an RA from their supervising faculty and/or the Department Chair.

Should a GTA/GRA fail to maintain satisfactory performance in their assistantship duties, the Department Chair, in conjunction with the Graduate Director, may decide to terminate the assistantship.

GTAs who wish to teach courses other than 2381 must demonstrate their competence to do so through exceling at teaching 2381 and apprenticing other courses.

GTAs who are in their 2^nd year or beyond should work with their advisor to determine which course(s) they will apprentice. If the course is taught by a faculty member other than the student’s advisor, they will need permission from that faculty member to supervise the apprenticeship.

The GTA’s responsibility when apprenticing a course will be:

• Attending every lecture for the semester.
• Doing guest lectures on two course topics to be determined by the supervising faculty. One of those may be in the student’s area of research interest.

After successfully completing the apprenticeship, the GTA’s advisor (in consultation with the supervising faculty member if applicable) will notify the department chair and administrative associate who will keep a record.

GTAs who wish to teach online sections must complete online training offered by UM3D.

GTAs may apprentice no more than two (2) courses.

GTAs may request to teach courses they have apprenticed (or other closely related courses). Teaching assignments are based solely on the staffing needs of the department. GTAs are not guaranteed the opportunity to teach courses other than 2381.

Should a graduate student successfully complete apprenticeship, they may indicate on their CV that they served as an Assistant Instructor for the course and that they are able to develop future courses on that topic.

Who is eligible?

These funds are prioritized for support of degree completion.  All current graduate students with research/production-oriented requests are eligible, however the department is not able to fund all requests.  Decisions will be made based upon availability and strength of application.   Students already receiving a grant, will have lower priority than first time applicants.

How much money is available?

Up to $500/person for funded projects per academic year

What can be funded?

Funds will be available for reimbursement only.  A determination of appropriate use of funds will be made in conjunction with a student’s advisor.  Please keep in mind that we are restricted by state laws on what we can purchase.  Keep a copy of all receipts and make sure that each receipt includes a line item breakdown of the cost (in other words, a receipt with a total but no indication of what was purchased would not be sufficient).  Examples of reimbursable costs include but are not limited to: 

• Miscellaneous reimbursable costs (materials, fuel, supplies, storage fees, etc.)
• FVP students—be careful with property rentals—talk to Financial Services Associate (FSA; Camisha Smith)
• Research-related travel (non-conference if GA/RA)
• Film development/digitized
• Transcription costs
• Software/applications (to be installed on university computers only)
• Gift cards for research participants (be careful with this—work with FSA)
• Food (for film crews, participants)
• Vendor services (e.g., videographer)

Examples of items that cannot be purchased:

• AirBnB/other rentals
• Equipment (would need to be property of the department). Please contact your advisor with any equipment needs.

What is the application process?

• The Fall deadline is September 15 and the spring deadline is February 1.
• Applicants must submit
• a justification narrative/proposal summary (1 page maximum),
• a detailed budget, and
• email approval of advisor (sent to chair) after they have reviewed the application materials
• Applications must be submitted by midnight of the due date

What will we consider for selecting funded projects?

• Clarity and strength of research proposal
• Budgeted expenses that can be reimbursed according to university policies
• Connection to degree completion
• Previous funding

How will I use the money after receiving a grant?

Applicants are responsible for working with their advisor and the department Financial Services Associate to execute proper expenditure of funds.