M.A. History Graduates will develop skills in research, critical analysis, writing, and oral communication, as well as command of the historiography of studied fields, essential for the practice of history, both as professional historians and knowledgeable citizens.

M. A. History students will demonstrate competence in applying research methodologies; qualitative and quantitative analysis; literature review; and use of traditional and digital resources. The History Department will prepare its graduates to publish in their respective fields.

All M.A. history graduates shall successfully complete a Masters' Thesis or a major research paper based in primary sources for the required research seminar, shall complete with satisfactory progress the required number of credit hours for the degree, and shall successfully pass first a written exam that covers three field areas and finally successfully pass an oral exam before an examination committee of at least three graduate faculty members.

All M.A. history students will achieve Good or Better ratings by a panel of history faculty on Master's Theses or research papers based upon primary historical sources. The rubric for evaluating the quality of student performance was established by a committee of the graduate faculty.

During 2008-09, 18 of 18 graduating MA students received good or better ratings on graduate level research papers drawn from primary sources.

All M.A. graduates will achieve passing or passing with distinction ratings on a written examination that covers three content areas. A panel of at least three graduate faculty will assess the quality of the written examinations to determine student mastery of the major historical themes and historiography within each of the three field areas. Students failing to demonstrate the required level of content mastery will be allowed after consultation with the graduate committee and history chair to retake the written exams. A second failure will result in termination from the program. Students successfully completing the written examinations will then take an oral examination before a panel of three graduate faculty members who will assess student mastery of the history and historiography in each of the three field areas. Students must pass or pass with distinction each content area. Students who fail to demonstrate sufficient competency in any of the three field areas will be allowed, after consultation with the examination committee and the departmental chair, to retake that portion of the oral examination that was not satisfactory completed. A second failure will result in termination from the program.

During the 2008-2009 academic year, 19 students successfully passed their written examinations in three field areas on their first or second attempt, and 18 students later passed oral examinations in their selected field areas. One student failed to demonstrate sufficient competency in a field area and was terminated from the program.

Graduate students will present scholarly research in peer-reviewed non-classroom professional venues.

In any two year period, at least 4 graduate students will present scholarly research in non-classroom professional venues.

During 2008-09, at least six graduate student papers were presented at scholarly peer-reviewed venues outside of the classroom. The venue and presenters of these presentations include the following: Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention, Jan 2008: Ed Jeter, Jason Morgan, David Pennington, Blake Whitaker; Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, Oct 2008: Ed Jeter, Steven Crianza.

The graduate faculty acknowledged as a positive accomplishment the 100% success rate (defined as achieving Good or Excellent ratings based on the departmentally developed rubric) among eventual MA graduates. The History Department also agreed to review the expectations included in this rubric during the 2009-2010 academic year, and if deemed necessary, to establish higher standards of expectations.

Having achieved its goal of sending in any two year period at least four MA students to scholarly meetings to present their research in peer reviewed venues, the History Department will raise its benchmark expectations. Beginning in 2009-2010, the new benchmark will be to send in any two year period at least five MA students to scholarly meetings to present their research in peer reviewed venues.

Our goal of a 100% graduation rate among MA candidates who complete the required course work was not met because one student, even after successfully completing the course work, did not demonstrate sufficient competency at the written and oral examination stages of evaluation. Following this disappointment, the department sent detailed memos to MA candidates before the written and oral examination process. This memo provided detail instructions regarding how students should prepare for these exams. This information also was posted on the website for future graduate students to review during the final semester of their studies. In addition, the History Department established a policy of allowing the chair and the Director of Graduates Studies to approve the dates of the oral examinations rather than allowing students to set these dates.

Moreover, even among the 18 students who successfully completed the written and oral examinations and therefore graduated with the MA degree, the examination committees noticed the following tendency. Students who took on-campus courses generally did better on the oral exams than students who took classes online, while online students generally did significantly better than on-campus students on the written exams. As a result of this finding, the department agreed to study how to improve the oral performance of online students and the written performance of all students, especially on-campus students on the written exams. One consequence of this study was to encourage online faculty to incorporate through advanced audio technology some opportunities for students to interact orally with the professors at some point during their course work. During 2009-2010, efforts will be made to purchase the necessary equipment to enable graduate faculty to incorporate more interactive oral components into the curriculum of on-line courses. A formal request for a phase one purchase of portable studio equipment was submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies. To improve the overall performance of students on written exams, in addition to altering the policy described above regarding the scheduling of the date of the written exam, it was decided that graduate faculty should communicate with their students at least one month before the date of the written examination regarding their expectations on the exam.

M.A. History graduates will use the knowledge and skills obtained in their studies to enhance and improve their performance in their present employment, continue advanced studies toward other degrees, or move into other historical fields, such as teaching, public history, or writing.

M.A. History graduates will gain the knowledge and skills to advance in their present careers or to enter new fields of employment.

The History Department will communicate with former students via telephone immediately upon graduation and at least every five years via a questionnaire instrument that will assess the degree that the appropriate program contributed to the intellectual and career advancements of MA graduates.

All recent graduates will be surveyed by telephone and given an opportunity to critique the degree by which the program met their expectations. In addition, every two years the History Department will send questionaire instructments to former graduates in order to collect data on the degree by which the program prepared them for a career in history. At east 80% of history graduates who return these surveys will report that the degree skills they acquired as students have enabled them to meet their career goals.

All recent graduates were interviewed by telephone or in-person following the completion of their work. In these interviews the graduates were asked to identify the strengths and weaknessses of the program. During 2008-2009 the overall assessment of every recent graduate was positive, although individual criticisms of certain professors and certain courses were noted. This information was given to the History chair, who used this data in making his annual review of the graduate faculty. The next written survey instrument will be mailed to all recent graduates during the upcoming 2009-2010 academic year.

Results from the telephone interviews with recent graduates pertinent to issues related to curriculum quality and faculty performance were supplied to the history chair, who use this information in preparing his annual review of the graduate faculty and in assigning graduate online and on-campus classes to the graduate faculty.

M.A. History graduates will have the commensurate academic achievement to pursue other degrees, such as the Ph.D. and the M.L.S.

A number of M.A. history students with the aptitude, achievement, and motivation shall pursue advanced or specialized degrees at other universities.

At least one history M.A. history graduate will be admitted into a Ph.D. or other advanced degree program each year.

During 2008-09, at least one former MA student, Blake Whitaker, was accepted into a PhD program.

Having met for two consecutive years the targeted benchmark of sending at least MA graduate each year into a PhD program, the department will raise its benchmark expectation. Beginning in 2009-2010, the new benchmark for the department will be that in any two year period at least three history graduates into be admitted into terminal degree programs.