MAIS GRADUATE STUDENT
HANDBOOK:2005-2006
Table of Contents
I. Overview of the MAIS Program
Making Plans for Timely Completion
II. Foreign Language Requirement
Assessment of Language and Cultural Skills
III. International Field Experience
Starter Kit for International Field Experience
Contents of the Field Experience Portfolio
Portfolio Assessment Criteria
The Writing Process
IV. Thesis Option
General Information
MAIS Regulations
Guidelines for Thesis Committee Chairs
GraduateSchool Requirements
V. Employment Links and Resources
Useful Web Sites
Career Services
Appendix (See MAIS Web Site:
Foreign Language Proficiencies
English Language Proficiencies
Cultural Competencies
I.OVERVIEW OF THE MAIS PROGRAM
The Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS) program, unlike other international studies programs, focuses on the process and dynamics of
international intercultural understanding. It is specifically designed to prepare students to interact more effectively with persons from other cultures, particularly
in professional settings.
The core courses provide global perspectives on the interrelations between economic, political, cultural and environmental systems in the world. They also
cultivate skills in communications across cultures and conflict resolution, as well as the ability to interpret multicultural discourse. Time is also devoted to
learning about professional practices.
The four-course concentration allows you (1) to acquire essential skills in a professional or academic discipline, or (2) to pursue interdisciplinary study of a
major international issue, or (3) to enhance their knowledge of a world region.
The international field experience gives you first-hand knowledge of a foreign culture through an employment internship, study abroad, military service, or
other experience.
The thesis is tailored to your career goals and may be academic or profession in orientation. Several non-thesis options, of additional coursework, are also
available if you are not planning to continue with doctoral work, but rather are entering directly a profession such as business. Nonthesis options are available
for students with a business concentration, for non-native speakers with advanced foreign language skills (e.g., an undergraduate major or minor) in Spanish,
French, German or English, and for students with a political science concentration. Other non-thesis options, e.g, in international education administration,
security studies and public health, are being developed.
By the end of the program, you must have met the exit requirements for proficiency in a foreign language, if you are a domestic student,or the exit requirements
for proficiency in English, if you are an international student.
Note: Receiving any combination of three C or F grades in courses that count toward your degree will normally result in termination from the
program. For courses not counted for credit in the program (e.g., undergraduate foreign language courses), this restriction would not apply.
Common Core Courses (12 hrs):
INTL 6005:Comm. Across Cultures / Fall / 3 s.h.
INTL6105: Global Systems / Fall / 3 s.h.
INTL 6500: Int'l Problem Solving & Decision Making / Spring / 3 s.h.
INTL 6510: Seminar on Int'l Professional Practice / Spring / 3 s.h.
Note: A Comprehensive Exam will be given as the final exam in INTL 6510 and covers the major issues addressed in INTL 6005, 6105, 6500, and 6510. The questions for the exam are prepared by the instructors in the core classes.
Concentration Courses (12 s.h.):
Concentration courses must be 5000- or 6000-level courses. The courses must form a coherent package (organized by discipline, profession, internationalissue, or world region). Consult with the MAIS Director on course selection. Your concentration must be approved by the MAIS Director. Some sample
concentrations are illustrated below:
Business: MGMT 6102 (Comparative Management); MKTG 6162 (Marketing Management); ACCT 6241 (Financial and Managerial Accounting); FINA6144 (Financial Management I) or MIS6143 (Management Information Systems I)
Economic Development:Four of the following courses chosen in consultation with program director: ECON 5150 (Development), GEOG 6350 (Seminar in Rural Development), PADM 6123 (Economic Development), SOCI 6400 (Social Issues in Regional Development), one elective course in area of specialization. Students who complete all five courses qualify for the Graduate Certificate in Economic Development.
Environment and Development: CRM 6100 (Coastal Problems and Their Management); SOCI 6300 (Environment and Society); PLAN 5045(Environmental Resources Planning and Management); POLS 6163 (Environmental Policy Analysis).
Hispanic Studies: Four courses in Hispanic Studies at the 5000 or 6000 level, focusing on language studies, culture studies, translation or a combination ofthese.
International Education Administration: COAD 6004 (Interpersonal Communication); PADM 6120 (Public Budgeting and Finance); MGMT 6102(Comparative Management); MKTG 6162 (Marketing Management).
International Teaching: HIST 5005 (Selected Topics); TCHR 6011 The Teacher and the Teaching Environment; EDUC 5001 (Education in a GlobalPerspective); EDUC 6950 Global Considerations in Education Theory and Policy: Economics and Democracy. ( NOTE: Students who complete HIST5005, TCHR 6011 and INTL 6930 qualify for the Graduate Certificate in International Teaching). Students planning to write a thesis should also take EDUC7430 (Qualitative Research in Education)
Political Science: PADM 6260 (Computer Applications for Public Administration), PADM 6161 (Applied Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation),PADM 6150 (Comparative Public Administration), and POLS 6080 (American Foreign Relations).
Professional Communication: Four of the following courses chosen in consultation with program director: ENGL 6715 (Technical Writing), ENGL 7705 (Ethical Issues in Professional Communication), ENGL 7710 [4530] (Professional Communication), ENGL 7712 (Grant and Proposal Writing), ENGL 7765 (Technical and Professional Communication). Students who complete all five of these courses may qualify for the Graduate Certificate in Professional Communication.
Public Health: MPH 6000 (Public Health Practice); MPH 6010 (Fundamentals of Environmental Health); EHST 6011 (Epidemiology); BIOS 6021(Biostatistics for Health Professions).
Security Studies: Choose four of the following six courses: JUST 6502 (Criminal Justice and Terrorism); EHST 6010 (Fundamentals of EnvironmentalHealth); PADM 6170 (Intergovernmental/Interagency Relations; PLAN 6015 (Emergency/Disaster Planning); POLS 6155 (Changing Nature of NationalSecurity); POLS 6382 (Global Terrorism). NOTE: Students who take five of these six courses qualify for the Graduate Certificate in Security Studies.
The flexibility of the MAIS program derives in large measure from your freedom to choose the courses in your concentration. Your choice should alsoaddress specific career goals you have after completion of the program (e.g., skills or knowledge for a career, further graduate study, or a promotion in yourorganization). The program's flexibility can serve you poorly if you choose courses without thoughtful planning. Avoid this problem by seeking counsel from
the MAIS Director.
International Field Experience (6 s.h.):
INTL 6930:
International Field Exp. / All / 3 s.h.
INTL 6940:
International Field Exp. / All / 3 s.h.
Your field experience should provide an opportunity to practice using your language of interest and, if possible, advance you toward your professional goals. Consult with the MAIS Field Experience Supervisor, the Overseas Opportunities Coordinator, the Office of Cooperative Education, and other faculty about your choice.
Thesis and Nonthesis Options (6 s.h.):
Thesis Option
INTL 7000: Thesis
(Can be repeated) / All / 3 s.h.
For the thesis option, it is recommended that your program of study include a methods course that you can apply in your thesis. You can include a methods course in your concentration (e.g., DCSI 6143, POLS 6161, or POLS 6163 in the sample concentrations above) or satisfy 3 s.h. of the thesis requirement with a methods course suited to your concentration (social science possibilities would include ANTH 5015, ECON 6301, GEOG 6110, HIST 5950, POLS 6260, PSYC 6430, or SOCI 6488), subject to the approval of the MAIS Director or Assistant Director. Consult the Director or Assistant Director on this matter. Note: ECU requires that you enroll at ECU in the semester of your thesis defense (unless you are enrolled in the spring semester and finish your thesis the following summer).
Nonthesis Options
Advanced Language and Culture Option:
(This option is available only to students who are not native speakers of the language.) Two 5000- or 6000- level courses (each 3 s.h.) in Spanish, French, German or English with at least one course at the 6000-level. Consult with the MAIS Foreign Language Director on your choice of courses for this option.
Business Option:
MKTG 6992: Global Marketing / Fall / 3
ENGL 7710 Professional Communication / Spring / 3
The courses in the business nonthesis option are not offered every semester, so it is wise to plan ahead when registering. It may be possible to substitute a comparable course for ENGL 5860, subject to the approval of the MAIS Director. Also keep in mind that MKTG 6162 is a prerequisite for MKTG 6992. If you select this option, it is advisable to schedule MKTG 6162 as soon as possible.
EconomicDevelopment:
Theeconomic development option requires thesuccessful completion oftwo 6000-level courses chosen from an approved list in consultation with the MAIS director not included in the student's concentration.
ANTH 5030Economic Anthropology
GEOG 6325Advanced Population and Development
GEOG 6330Global Restructuring of Agro-Food Systems
GEOG 6335Tourism Development
GEOG 6355Rural Development Practicum
PLAN 6305Development Planning and the Environment
PADM 6163 Environmental Policy Analysis
PADM 6220Leadership in the Public Sector
SOCI 5500Seminar on Population
SOCI 6300Seminar in Environment and Society
SOCI 6600Society and Coastal Policy
ACCT 6241Financial and Managerial Accounting
MSI 6143Management Information Systems I
FINA 6144Financial Management I
MGMT 6102 Comparative Management
MGMT 6322International Management
EDUC 6950Global Considerations in Educational Theory & Policy: Economics & Democracy
International Administration Option:
PADM 6220: Leadership in the Public Sector / Varies / 3 s.h.
PADM 6163, POLS 6330, or POLS 6440 / Varies / 3 s.h.
If PADM 6220 is not offered in 2002-03, one of the courses in row 2 above may be substituted.
PublicHealth:
Thepublic healthoption requires thesuccessful completion ofMPH 6020(Research Methods in Public Health) and one additional 6000-level course chosen from an approved list in consultation with the MAIS director.
One additional course chosen from among the following:
Environmental and Occupational Health:
EHST 6700Industrial Hygiene Application
EHST 6800Environmental Health Program Management
EHST 6100Elements in Environmental Engineering
Public Health Analysis and Management:
EHST 6300Public Health Pests and Vector-Borne Disease
MPH 6022Epidemiology of Infectious Disease
MPH 6021Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases
MPH 6035Interdisciplinary Rural Health
Health Education and Promotion:
HLTH 6013Behavioral Sciences and Health Education
HLTH 6200Program Planning and Evaluation
HLTH 6400Management of Health Education Programs
In exceptional cases, students may be permitted to substitute with the approval of the Director of the MPH Program:
MPH 6990MPH Professional Paper
SecurityStudies:
Thesecurity studies option requires thesuccessful completion oftwo 6000-level courses chosen from an approved list in consultation with the MAIS director not included in the student's concentration.
JUST 6502Criminal Justice and Terrorism
EHST 6010 Fundamentals of Environmental Health
PADM 6170 Intergovernmental/Interagency Relations
PLAN 6015 Emergency/Disaster Planning
POLS 6155 Changing Nature of National Security
POLS 6382 Global Terrorism
Foreign Language Competency (0 credits):
Foreign language competency is acquired by (prior) undergraduate training, reading and listening to foreign language sources for core course projects, language immersion programs in conjunction with the international field experience, practice on your own with video or audio tapes, etc. You may also enroll in language courses, but these credits will not apply toward the MAIS degree.
Making Plans for Timely Completion
Full-Time Students Entering in the Fall Semester:
First YearFall / Spring
INTL 6005
(Communication across Cultures) / INTL 6500
(Int'l Prob. Solving & Decision Making)
INTL 6105
(Global Systems) / Concentration Course
Concentration Course / Concentration Course
Meet with the Director of the Foreign Language Requirement to have your foreign language skills assessed and to make plans for improving them if necessary / Make arrangements for your field experience, language immersion program, and funding (e.g., Rivers Endowment Awards)
Meet with Field Experience Supervisor about field experience opportunities / Schedule a thesis proposal
with your Thesis Committee (thesis option)
Second Year
Fall / Spring
INTL 6930
(Field Experience) / INTL 6510
(Seminar on Int'l Professional Practice)
INTL 6940
(Field Experience) / INTL 7000 (Thesis) or Non-thesis course
INTL 7000 (Thesis) or Non-thesis course / Concentration Course
Practice listening, speaking, and writing skills
in the foreign language / Prepare for
Comprehensive Exam
in INTL 6510
Create Field Experience Portfolio / Satisfy Language Competency Requirements
Schedule Thesis Defense (Spring or Summer)
Note: To avoid double-billing at two universities, students who use study abroad to satisfy the field experience requirement should register for INTL 6930 and 6940 in the semester after returning to ECU. The courses can be taken without additional tuition charge if you are already enrolled for 9 s.h.
Full-Time Students Entering in the Spring Semester:
First YearSpring / Summer
Concentration Course / INTL 6930
(Field Experience)
Concentration Course / INTL 6940
(Field Experience)
Concentration Course / Create Field Experience Portfolio
Meet with the Director of the Foreign Language Requirement to have your foreign language skills assessed and to make plans for improving them if necessary / Practice listening, speaking, and writing skills
in the foreign language
Meet with Field Experience Supervisor and make arrangements for your field experience & funding (e.g., Rivers Endowment Awards)
Second Year
Fall / Spring
INTL 6005
(Comm. across Cultures) / INTL 6500
(Int'l Prob. Solving & Decision Making)
INTL 6105
(Global Systems) / INTL 6510
(Sem. on Int'l Prof. Practice)
Concentration Course / INTL 7000 (Thesis) or Nonthesis course
Schedule a thesis proposal
with your Thesis Committee(thesis option) / Prepare for Comprehensive Exam in INTL 6510
Satisfy Language Competency Requirements
Summer
INTL 7000 (Thesis) or Nonthesis course
Schedule Thesis Defense
Note: To avoid double-billing at two universities, students who use study abroad to satisfy the field experience requirement should register for INTL 6930 and 6940 in the semester after returning to ECU. The courses can be taken without an additional tuition charge if you are already enrolled for 9 s.h.
II.FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
Knowledge of a second language is not required for admission to the MAIS program. It is, however, recommended that you have at least the basic foreign language skills in the areas of reading, listening, writing, and speaking gained by four courses of language study at the university level. You should also have a basic awareness of other cultures. In this way, you can more easily develop the foreign language proficiencies required for graduation. If you have little or no foreign language skills, you should plan to devote extra time to developing these skills. The skills required for graduation will enable you to begin using on the job the foreign language you have practiced. Throughout your career, you should strive to attain the professional goals for foreign language proficiency and cultural awareness.
Note: Non-native speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in English by a TOEFL score of 550 or better. This is an entrance requirement.
Note: Some foreign languages are more commonly taught and some are more difficult to learn. Consequently, the languages are separated into groups, each with its own set of language goals.
Group I: French, German, Italian, Spanish
Group II: Russian and all other languages not included in Groups I or III
Group III: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
The recommended and required levels of proficiency are different for the three language groups identified above. Languages not listed specifically will usually be placed in group two, but you should check with the Director of the Foreign Language Requirement to be sure of the requirements for your language.
Please familiarize yourself with the MAIS foreign language recommendations and requirements, which are described in the Appendix. The recommended and required levels of proficiency are higher in the receptive skills (listening and reading) than in the productive skills (speaking and writing) for several reasons:
- Emphasis has been placed on the skills used to gather information from oral and written sources. Such information can enhance your knowledge of cultural and international topics throughout your academic and professional years.
- The receptive skills are more easily acquired and less quickly lost. They are also more easily practiced in the United States.
- While many people want to learn to speak a foreign language in order to communicate with people in foreign countries, speaking is actually a very difficult skill to acquire and to maintain, especially outside an immersion setting. Consequently, the level of speaking skill in the exit requirement is lower than for listening and reading.
- In professional life, you are not likely to rely on writing skills as often as the receptive skills. Consequently, the level of writing skill in the exit requirements is lower than the for the receptive skills.
English Language Requirement
International students who are not native speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in English by a TOEFL score of 550 or better
(213 or better on the computer version). This is an entrance requirement.
It is recommended that non-native speakers of English have at least the entrance levels of English proficiency specified in the English Language
Proficiency Guidelines found in the Appendix at the time that they begin their course work in the MAIS Program. By the time they graduate,
non-native speakers of English are required to have attained the exit levels of English language proficiency specified in the Guidelines. Note
that the level of writing proficiency is higher for the thesis option than for the non-thesis option.
During your first semester in the MAIS Program, you are required to meet with the Director of the Foreign Language Requirement (Dr. Sylvie
Debevec Henning, 328-5520). The purposes of this meeting are:
During your first semester in the MAIS Program, you are required to meet with the Director of the Foreign Language Requirement (Dr. Sylvie Debevec Henning, 328-5520). The purposes of this meeting are: