2013-2014 University Catalog 
  
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2013-2014 University Catalog

Individualized Study, BIS/Telecommunications, Accelerated MS

Students who are in the Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) Program may apply to the Accelerated MS in TCOM  program while they are undergraduate students. The accelerated program is designed for qualified undergraduate students in the BIS Program who would like to proceed directly into the MS in TCOM program, completing the two degrees with 144 credits. Accelerated students must satisfy requirements for the BIS (including 120 credits) and the MS (30 credits), with 6 credits of overlap permitted. The MS in TCOM is on an accelerated track, with 6 credits taken as an undergraduate and 24 credits as a graduate student.

For policies governing all graduate degrees, see the Academic Policies  section of the catalog.

Application Requirements

Applicants to all graduate programs at George Mason University must meet the admission standards and application requirements for graduate study as specified in the Admission  section of this catalog. Mason undergraduate students in the BIS Program may apply for the accelerated program in the semester in which they will have completed 90 or more credits (including 15 Mason resident credits) applicable toward the BIS. Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.25 to apply for the program. Students who have not yet finished 90 credits may be accepted provisionally subject to satisfactory completion of 90 credits. Criteria for admission are identical to criteria for admission into the MS in TCOM Program, except that students do not need to have completed an undergraduate degree prior to acceptance into the accelerated program.

Reserve Graduate Credit

Students may take up to 6 additional graduate credits as reserve graduate credit. These credits do not apply to the undergraduate degree. The ability to take courses for reserve graduate credit is available to all high achieving undergraduates with the permission of the department. Permission to take a graduate course for reserve graduate credit is normally granted only to Mason seniors within 15 hours of graduation.

To apply these credits to the master’s degree, students must request that the credits be moved from the undergraduate degree to the graduate degree using the Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s Transition Form.

Degree Requirements

Students who have been accepted into the accelerated program must maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA in the undergraduate segment of the accelerated program and a 3.00 GPA in the graduate segment. That is, after students have been accepted into the accelerated program, they must maintain a 3.25 GPA until they have satisfied all requirements for the BIS degree. They must then maintain a minimum 3.00 GPA in the graduate segment of the accelerated program.

Students must complete all requirements for the BIS degree. Students in the accelerated program must apply to have the BIS degree conferred the semester before they expect to complete BIS requirements, and must graduate. On completion and conferral of the undergraduate degree they submit the Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s Transition Form and are admitted to graduate status.

As graduate students, accelerated master’s students have an advanced standing. Students must complete all credits that satisfy requirements of the BIS program and those of the MS-TCOM program, with two courses (6 credits) overlapping. The 6 undergraduate credits that may be taken by a BIS undergraduate student as part of the accelerated program must be selected from the list below, and will be substituted for BIS concentration courses, subject to prior approval by a BIS advisor.

Note: Accelerated students must take ECE 301 or 303 as one of their BIS courses taken to satisfy the Individualized Concentration (IND) with emphasis on telecommunication. All of the prerequisite courses indicated below must be passed with a grade of B or higher.

The MS in TCOM is granted on completion of all requirements for the accelerated degree.

Telecommunications courses:

Note:

Accelerated students who have passed IT 341 with a grade of B or higher will not be required to take TCOM 501 in the MS in TCOM core. They may take a 1.5-credit elective instead. Other TCOM courses may be approved on a case by- case basis.

BIS Concentration: 34-46 credits

Students who are pursuing the Individualized Study, BIS, individualized concentration (IND) and emphasis on telecommunications must take:

  • Additional 500-level TCOM course (3)
  • Plus an additional 9 to 21 credits to reach required number.