Academic Program Highlights
The Master’s Degree.in Secondary Education is a 51-unit Master’s program you will complete over a two-year period to accommodate your full-time teaching position. You will take online courses during both summers of your two-year enrollment. The program highlights include:
Our Commitment to our 6 -12 Students
Our work takes place in Arizona and the borderlands of Arizona. This context demands a deep willingness on the behalf of M.Ed. teaching interns to understand and make a positive impact on the politically complex and rich linguistic, cultural, and bi-national communities on the border. It is this understanding that must drive everyday teacher actions and decision making that make a direct impact on our 6 -12 students. As the United States becomes a more multicultural country, the understandings and dispositions our M.Ed. teaching interns develop will serve them well wherever they choose to teach.
Teacher Education Seminars (TES)
The centerpiece of the Humanizing & Culturally Affirming Teacher (HCAT) Program is the mandatory monthly seminar that will bring you together with other teaching interns, expert teachers, and faculty. The Teacher Education Seminar (TES) provides an opportunity for you to participate in a professional learning community and to build your teaching skills in collaboration. Coursework during the school year is embedded into the work of the Teacher Education Seminars. In your second year, you will take on a leadership role in these seminars, guiding first-year teacher learning.
The Cohort Experience
The potential collegiality the cohort experience is designed to foster constitutes the beginning of the professional network that all teachers (especially new teachers) need to take with them as they enter their classrooms. The TES is the structure that allows you to build these networks. During the seminars, you will be encouraged to share ideas, knowledge, and experiences – particularly those that take place in your classroom. You will have the opportunity to plan collaboratively, as well as to plan for teaching in an interdisciplinary approach. Perhaps most importantly, you will find strong support within the cohort during the difficult task of balancing school, family, and teaching responsibilities.
Capstone / Action Research Project
All teaching interns in the M.Ed. program complete Action Research projects, carried out in classrooms. Research for this project is supported during your second-year enrollment in TLS 570 Introduction to Educational Research and TLS 597R Action Inquiry Workshop. The capstone project provides an opportunity for you to develop the stance of inquiry as a classroom teacher. Guidelines for this project are available on the M.Ed. D2L site and in associated coursework.
Coaching, Mentoring, and Close Collaboration with Schools
During your teaching, you will have regular visits from an M.Ed. Teacher Mentor/Lecturer who will support you through observations, reflective practices, and analysis of your teaching. Throughout the program, a school-assigned site mentor, with whom you will meet regularly to discuss planning, classroom management, professional development, district regulations and responsibilities, and other aspects of teaching, will support you at your school site.
Course Policies
Continuous Enrollment
A student admitted to a master's program must register each fall and spring semester for a minimum of 1 graduate units, from original matriculation until all course requirements are met. However, this does not include summers for students in M. Ed. in Secondary Education program.
Plan of Study
In conjunction with his/her/their major professor, each student is responsible for developing a Plan of Study as early as possible during the first few months in residence, to be submitted to the Graduate College no later than the second semester in residence.
All deficiencies must be satisfied before the Plan of Study is approved.
The Plan of Study identifies:
- Courses the student intends to transfer from other institutions;
- Courses already completed at the University of Arizona which the student intends to apply toward the graduate degree; and
- Additional coursework to be completed to fulfill degree requirements.
The Plan of Study must have the approval of the student's major professor and department head (or Director of Graduate Studies) before it is submitted to the Graduate College.
There is a $35.00 fee associated with the submission of your Plan of Study.
Minimum Academic Requirements
A student cannot earn a graduate degree or certificate unless he or she has achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 or higher on all course work taken for graduate credit, whether or not the courses are offered in satisfaction of the specific requirements for a specific graduate program. A student whose cumulative GPA is below 3.0 for two consecutive semesters (see Academic Probation) will be disqualified. Programs may allow students to take additional course work while in non-degree status. To graduate, the student must apply for readmission to the Graduate College through their graduate department. Readmission is not guaranteed.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
In addition to maintaining a minimum 3.00 grade-point average, students enrolled in a graduate degree program are required to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress toward degree completion. Students may change major professors with departmental approval, but are required to have a major professor or advisor to maintain satisfactory academic progress. The major professor typically serves as the chair of the student's graduate committee. Failure to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements is grounds for disqualification by the Dean of the Graduate College. Each department has its own criteria for evaluation of a student's academic progress. The Graduate College will apply the appropriate department's criteria if the department requests a student's disqualification for failure to meet satisfactory academic progress guidelines. Departmental policies on satisfactory academic progress are available from departments and should be available online.
Academic Probation
Students who have a cumulative grade-point average of less than 3.0 at the end of a given semester will be placed on academic probation.
Students on probation are required to meet with their Major Advisor, discuss the steps to be taken to remediate the problems that led to the probationary status, and devise a written plan of action. After the first semester a student completes with a cumulative GPA less than 3.0 they will be allowed to register for one additional semester. The student will be blocked from registering after that unless their cumulative GPA reaches 3.0 at the end of the second consecutive semester of probation. Students whose GPA is below 3.0 for two consecutive semesters will be disqualified from their program. Disqualification results in the student being blocked from registration. Departments may petition for a one semester extension (link is external) if the student has a high probability of succeeding.
If a grade changes or completion of an Incomplete causes a prior semester's cumulative GPA to drop below 3.0, the student will retroactively be placed on probation and that semester will count as the student's first semester below 3.0.
Disqualified students may:
- Apply as non-degree seeking and continue to take graduate courses in non-degree status, OR
- Apply for Academic Renewal (link is external) if they wish to apply to a different major and the other major has agreed to accept them. The graduate GPA will NOT be changed until the student has been admitted to the new program.
Students can apply for readmission to a degree program as early as the semester after their disqualification if they achieve a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 through additional graduate course work. A re-admission request must be supported by the head of the major department and approved by the Graduate College. There is no guarantee of re-admission.
A Grade of Incomplete
The grade of I may be awarded only at the end of a term, when all but a minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed. The grade of I is not to be awarded in place of a failing grade or when the student is expected to repeat the course; in such a case, a grade other than I must be assigned. Students should make arrangements with the instructor to receive an incomplete grade before the end of the term.
After the course work is completed, the instructor should assign the appropriate grade on the UAccess Grade Roster. After posting, the new grade will be included in the calculation of the student's GPA.
If the incomplete grade is not removed by the instructor within one year (the last day of finals one year later), the I grade will convert to a failing grade
Withdrawal/Dropping a Course
Early in the semester or term, official withdrawal (drop) of a course cancels the registration for the course. No approval is needed. No grade for the course will appear on the student's permanent record. Learn more about dates and deadlines.
Until the second withdrawal deadline, students may use UAccess Student Self-Service to withdraw from a course. No approval is needed. The grade of W is awarded regardless of whether the student is passing at the time of withdrawal. The W will appear on the student's permanent record but does not affect the student's grade-point-average (GPA).
After the second withdrawal deadline, the grade of W can be awarded only with the approval of the student's instructor and academic dean, and only under exceptional circumstances. Students with extenuating circumstances must petition with their college dean for permission to drop a course. The student's final course-withdrawal (drop) deadline differs for undergraduate and graduate courses.
Leave of Absence
Graduate students may apply for a Leave of Absence from a program for a semester or for the academic year using the
- It is not necessary for a student to apply for a Leave of Absence if he or she has a registration record for that semester. A "W" counts as a registration record. A Leave of Absence is inappropriate for a student who withdraws from all classes after the start of a semester and gets "W' grades since a Leave of Absence presupposes no registration at all for a term. Since, in such cases, the student has maintained continuous enrollment by having a registration record, he or she is eligible to register the following semester (or Summer or Winter term) and will suffer no adverse effects due to the fact that he or she was not eligible to apply formally for a Leave.
- Only academic services or facilities available to the general public can be used during the LOA. Leaves of Absence (LOAs) may affect the status of a graduate student’s financial aid. Students are responsible for determining the requirements of their funding agency and/or academic unit prior to applying for a Leave of Absence.
- International students must check with the International Students Programs and Services before filing for a Leave of Absence.
- If a student fails to register and does not have a Leave of Absence on file, the student will be discontinued from their program. A new application will be necessary for the student to continue in the program. Re-admission is not guaranteed.
Master’s Committee Appointment Form
Required for every master's or specialist student whether or not that student has a committee. This is required for your degree to post and for the Institutional recommendation form to be sent to the Arizona Department of Education. (attach pdf)
When the student's department determines that the student has completed all degree requirements, a Master's/Specialist Completion Confirmation form must be submitted by the student. The submission of the Completion Confirmation form initiates the Graduate College's final audit of the student's program and ultimately leads to the award of the student's degree following resolution of any outstanding issues.
All grades for Incompletes and current semester coursework must be received before the degree is considered completed. A student must have a cumulative GPA in all graduate coursework of at least 3.000 in order to graduate. Any outstanding financial debts to the University may prevent students from ordering official transcripts or receiving their diploma. Please contact the Bursar's office at 621-3232 for assistance with these matters.