Compliance Status

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College is in compliance with this principle.

Narrative

Louisiana State University and A&M College (LSU) offers graduate degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels and a professional degree in veterinary medicine.  In the 2012-2013 academic year, LSU awarded 1234 master’s degrees, 322 doctoral degrees, and 82 doctors of veterinary medicine degrees, accounting for twenty-six percent of LSU degrees [1].

Irrespective of mode of delivery, graduate program requirements at LSU are carefully and clearly defined to provide an integrated understanding of the discipline of the degree program. These graduate programs exhibit a coherent rationale and design, and include clearly stated and measurable outcomes consistent with the mission of the institution to offer “a broad array of undergraduate degree programs and extensive graduate research opportunities designed to attract and educate highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students” [2].  Graduate program requirements are published online in the LSU General Catalog, on the Graduate School Website, and on Websites for specific graduate programs [3] [4].  Requirements for the doctorate in veterinary medicine can be found on that college’s Webpages [5].

Commonly Accepted Standards and Practices for Degree Programs

LSU maintains appropriate oversight, policies, and procedures for design and approval of new graduate and professional programs. Degree programs offered by the university conform to accepted national standards and practices. LSU policy for program development is based on the guidelines and authority of the Louisiana Board of Regents [6] [7] [8]. The LSU System Board of Supervisors further establishes policy that governs academic programs, and the Office of Academic Affairs administers the execution of these policies on the LSU campus [9]. Additional information on degree-program development is detailed in Core Requirements 2.7.1 and 2.7.2 and in Federal Requirements 4.2 and 4.4.  

New graduate programs are initiated by the graduate faculty. Review and approval steps include (1) the graduate faculty in the unit, (2) the courses and curriculum committee in the college, (3) the dean of the college, (4) Graduate Council, (5) the Graduate School dean, (6) the Faculty Senate Courses and Curricula Committee, (8) the vice-chancellor for academic affairs and provost, (9) the chancellor, (10) the Board of Supervisors, and the (11) Board of Regents [10].  Proposed programs should be consistent with national standards and expected national, regional, or state needs.  External reviewers are used by the Board of Regents to ensure the expectations of standards and needs [8]. Many graduate programs are designed and/or modified within a framework of discipline-specific national accreditation agencies (Table 1).

All graduate programs, policies, and procedures are coordinated by the Graduate School, with advice and consent of the graduate faculty through the Graduate Council [11]. Graduate faculty consist of faculty members appointed by the chancellor on the recommendation of the faculty, the dean of the Graduate School, and the Graduate Council. Graduate faculty demonstrate a current and sustained record of scholarly or creative activities as indicated by publications in recognized journals in the field, books, and exhibitions or performances. Policies and procedures approved by the Graduate Council are administered by the dean of the Graduate School. Policies, procedures, and requirements for the master’s and doctoral degree programs are available in the Graduate School Bulletin and on the Graduate School Web sites [3] [4].

Requirements Defined and Published

Curricular requirements for the master’s and doctoral degree programs include foundational knowledge courses (numbered 4000-4999, which may be taken by advanced undergraduates, as well as graduate and professional students), professional courses (5000-5999, for law, architecture and veterinary medicine professional students), education courses (6000-6999, advanced content knowledge for secondary school teachers), the highest level graduate courses and seminars (7000-7999), masters’ research courses (8000-8999), and doctoral research courses (9000-9999) [12].

As noted in the Graduate School section of the LSU General Catalog [3]:

• The program of study for master’s degrees must contain a minimum of thirty hours of graduate course work. These thirty hours must include at least twenty-four hours of coursework and six hours of thesis research.  At least one half of the minimum required credit must be from courses numbered at or above the 7000 level.  Students pursuing a non-thesis master’s degree must complete a minimum of 18 hours above the 7000 level and a total of thirty-six hours of coursework.
• The program of study for a doctoral degree is developed by the student, major professor, and research advisory committee and must be filed with the departmental graduate coordinator by the end of the student’s first year of residence.  A doctoral program of study must consist of the equivalent of three years of full-time study beyond the requirements of the baccalaureate degree.  Graduate minors usually require a minimum of nine credit hours, with at least one course at or above the 7000 level.

Requirements for all graduate degree programs are clearly published in the online LSU General Catalog, with details of course and degree requirements, e.g., M.S. in Kinesiology [13]. This catalog is updated annually to address any changes in the post-baccalaureate degree programs.

Accreditation by Professional Agencies and Societies

While all of LSU graduate programs follow national standards, many also are accredited formally by national agencies and societies.  Most LSU business degrees are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. All LSU education degrees are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.  In total, 16 different agencies accredit 38 different graduate degrees at LSU (Table 1).