Requirements and Regulations for M.S. Candidates

Effective since May 1, 2006
Last update: 7/31/08

• General Requirements
• Course Regulations
• Grade Requirements
• Master's Paper Regulations
• Consulting and Departmental Seminars
• Exceptions, Amendments, and Transition Rules
• Officers of the Department

1. General Requirements:

• Course Requirements -- Nine Courses in Total:
  
     - The theoretical statistics sequence (STAT24400-24500-24600)
     - The applied statistics sequence (STAT34300-34500-34700)
     - Three elective courses
  
  
• A master's paper with a half-hour oral presentation.
• Regular participation in the departmental Consulting Program and seminars

2. Course Regulations:

• With permission from the DGA (Department Graduate Advisor), the Ph.D. level theoretical statistics sequence (STAT30400-30100-30200) can be substituted for 24400-24500-24600.
• The three elective courses must be 300 level or above. They must be "ordinary courses", and cannot be seminars, reading courses, etc. The only exception is that students can take 50 units (1/2 course) of STAT44100 (consulting) and 50 units of STAT39900 (the master's seminar).
• If a student is taking the Ph.D. level theoretical statistics sequence, he/she may take one of the three elective courses as a 200 level "ordinary" course. However, the choice of this 200 course must be approved by the DGA, and it cannot be STAT20000, STAT22000 or STAT22400.
• All courses in Statistics, Mathematics, and Computer Science that satisfy the criteria above are acceptable as elective courses. Many courses in other departments and schools (e.g., Health Studies, Economics, Graduate School of Business) are also acceptable, but they must be approved individually by the DGA. [ALL DEPARTMENTS AND SCHOOLS LISTED IN THIS DOCUMENT REFER TO THOSE WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO].
• If a student has already taken some of the required courses under a different University of Chicago program (as an undergraduate, as a graduate student in another department, or as a graduate student at large), and if these courses cannot be counted towards the master's degree under university rules, other courses can be substituted in order to fulfill the nine-course requirement. The choice of courses must be approved by the DGA. They need not satisfy the restrictions in 2(c) and 2(d).

3. Grade Requirements:

• All nine courses must be taken for a letter grade.
• All Ph.D. level courses, as specified in section (e) below, must have a letter grade of C or above in order to be counted towards the degree.
• All other courses counted towards the degree must all have a letter grade of B or above.
• The only exception to requirements (a) - (c) above is STAT44100 (consulting) and STAT39900 (master's seminar), for which a P (passing grade) is acceptable.
• For the purpose of counting grades, a course is considered a Ph.D. level course if it satisfies one of the following:
  
     - 300 level or above in Statistics, Mathematics, or Computer Science;
     - 400 level or above in Graduate School of Business;
     - 300 level or above in any department and schools approved by the DGA
        as a Ph.D. level course.

4. Master's Paper Regulations:

• The supervision and approval of master's papers is delegated to the advisor of a candidate. The DGA can approve papers on instructions of the advisor if the latter is not on location.
• Approval is deemed to have taken place when a final copy of the paper, signed by the advisor (or the DGA), is filed by a faculty member with the Department Administrator.
• In any quarter, there will be a deadline for the paper to be approved if the student wishes to graduate in that quarter. The deadline varies from quarter to quarter, and it is the students responsibility to keep informed of the date. The Department Administrator will provide this information.
• The paper must be presented in a 1/2 hour master's seminar before the end of the quarter in which the student graduates. A student who wishes to present in a particular week must inform his/her advisor (or DGA if the advisor is not available) two weeks in advance. Upon the approval by the advisor (or DGA), the seminar will be scheduled by the DGA. The seminar is open to all.

5. Consulting and Departmental Seminars:

• All Master's students, except those exempted under (b) below, are required to participate in the Consulting Program for at least two quarters.
• Students who are also Ph.D. students in an applied field (any field which is not Mathematics or Computer Science) can be exempted from requirement (a) with the approval of the DGA. Exemptions can also be granted by the Director of the Consulting Program AND the DGA for justifiable causes (e.g., unavoidable schedule conflicts) on a quarter-to-quarter basis.
• All students are expected to attend all departmental seminars on a regular basis. Those who may have difficulties in doing so (e.g., part-time students) need to notify the DGA.

6. Exceptions, Amendments, and Transition Rules.

• All the rules listed above will be strictly enforced and no individual faculty member can grant any waiver or exemption to any candidate. A waiver requires a simple majority approval of the entire voting faculty body. However, the faculty can, at its discretion, delegate to the DGA the power to grant or deny waivers in cases for which a precedent has been established, or in other clearly pre-specified circumstances.
• To petition a waiver, a candidate must submit a written request with clearly documented supporting material to the DGA. The DGA can deny the petition if the DGA finds that there are not enough grounds to submit it to the voting faculty. In such cases, a candidate can appeal the DGA's decision to the Chair of the Department, whose decision on whether to allow the petition to be submitted is final.
• The whole voting faculty body has the right to amend any of the rules anytime by a simple majority vote.
• Any new rule goes into effect immediately once it is approved by the voting faculty. A candidate who is enrolled in the master's program prior to the establishment of that rule can choose to follow the new rule or the old rule, if it existed, as long as he/she will graduate by the end of the next academic year (not counting the year in which the new rule is approved). After that, the new rule is in effect.

7. Officers of the Department.

The Department Chairman is Stephen Stigler , the Department Administrator is Kathryn Kraynik, and the DGA is Per Mykland .