Forming a Supervisory Committee:
Once you have applied and been admitted to the M.A.T. program, you should begin thinking about a study plan.
But before you can prepare and formally submit a study plan, you will need to have a committee in place. The M.A.T. supervisory committee consists of just two people:
- a Major Professor from among the Mathematics faculty, and
- a co-advisor from the faculty in the College of Education.
Typically, you need only worry about finding your Major Professor, as the co-advisor from Education will be appointed for you. Usually, the Major Professor is one of the faculty teaching your math courses. If you know of a faculty member that you would like to work with, you can simply ask them to serve as your Major Professor. If you have no preference, you might want to just email the Math Department and they can assign you a Major Professor.
Once you are in touch with a Major Professor, you'll need to print out the Appointment of Major Professor and/or Committee Form
from the College of Graduate Studies website. Fill out and sign your portion of this form and then fax it to your Major Professor (the Math Department's fax number is (208) 885-5843). who will then gather the remaining signatures and get the form submitted.
Making the Study Plan:
Once you have a committee arranged, you can prepare your study plan in conjunction with your Major Professor. (The study plan can be submitted simultaneously with the committee form.) Some reasonable steps to doing this might be:
- Look over the list of courses offered and choose some that you think would constitute a good course of study. Remember that your list must meet these requirements:
- 30 credits total
- At least 6 credits at the 500-level
- At least 6 credits in Education
- At least 20 credits in Mathematics or Statistics
(See below if you intend to transfer previous coursework -- either from UI or from another college or university -- to use in your M.A.T. study plan.)
- If you have questions on whether or not a certain course is a good fit, ask your Major Professor or email the instructor of that course.
- Once you have a preliminary list of courses, send it to your Major Professor to get his or her opinion. The Major Professor may suggest changes, or may approve it as is.
Once you and your Major Professor have agreed on a list of courses, you're
ready to submit a study plan. This is done electronically through your
degree audit -- information and a tutorial are available
on the Registrar's website.
NOTE: Don't worry about being locked into a set of courses by submitting a study plan. Changes to the study plan are not difficult to do --
instructions and a tutorial are again given at the above link.
Some questions that commonly arise during this process are:
- Can I transfer previous coursework to the M.A.T.?
Up to 12 credits (of the 30 credits total on the study plan) can come from courses in these categories:
- Credits taken at other accredited colleges or universities that do not appear on a transcript for an undergraduate degree
- Credits taken from the University of Idaho as "non-degree" status (prior to admission to the M.A.T. program) -- again, this cannot include courses that appear on your undergraduate transcript
- "Over-aged" credits (credits taken as part of your M.A.T. program that are more than seven years old at the time of graduation)
Another factor to keep in mind with transfer credits is the difference between semester credits and quarter credits. The University of Idaho operates on the semester system, so the credits mentioned here are understood to be semester credits. Transfer credits that were taken on the quarter system will not transfer as the same number of semester credits. Rather, each quater credit will transfer as 2/3 semester credit.
- How do I go about getting approval for using previous coursework as transfer credits?
Your Major Professor cannot give final approval of transfer credits. Rather, this can only come from submitting a study plan and having the study plan approved by the College of Graduate Studies. Only after the plan is submitted will the Registrar's Office check the potential transfer courses on the transcripts. This is one good reason for submitting a study plan early : once a study plan is approved we know that transfer courses have been accepted.
- Can I retake courses that I've taken previously and use them towards the M.A.T.?
Generally, repeating courses you have taken previously is not appropriate. However, there are some exceptions.
- Some courses (such as Geometry) have substantial variation in content at different schools. Depending on what the syllabus to your previous course indicates, you may be able to use the UI versions of these courses in your study plan. Ask your Major Professor for advice in these situations. DO NOT enroll in a repeat course expecting to use it in the study plan unless you have prior approval to do so.
- Some courses (such as Abstact Algebra or Introduction to Analysis) are at a level where a second exposure to the material is often justified. Again, work with your Major Professor for approval before retaking any course.
