The MFA in Visualization is a technology infused visual arts oriented degree that complements the existing Master of Science in Visualization by expanding post-graduate opportunities to include university level faculty positions, self-employment as a contemporary artist, and art direction in digital media. The curriculum is highly interdisciplinary and encourages development of new technologies and creative applications to create deeper insight and understanding. Graduates are equipped with an uncommon balance of artistic insight and technical prowess that sets them apart from their peers. The MFA in Visualization is unique in the State of Texas, and one of only a handful of programs of this kind in the United States.

For detailed information about the Departmental Requirements for the MFA program, please see the Master of Fine Arts in Visualization webpage.

Program Requirements

• Student's Advisory Committee
• Degree Plan
• Credit Requirements
• Limitations on Credits and Coursework
• Final Presentation and Written Document

Student’s Advisory Committee

After receiving admission to graduate studies, students will consult with the graduate program concerning selection of a chair and members (if applicable) for an advisory committee representative of the student’s field(s) of study and research.

The student’s advisory committee for the master’s degree will consist of no fewer than three members of the graduate faculty, representative of the student’s fields of study and research. The chair or one of the co-chairs of the advisory committee must be from the student’s department, and at least one or more of the members must have an appointment to a department other than the student’s major department. The chair, in consultation with the student, will select the remainder of the advisory committee. The student will interview each prospective committee member to determine whether he or she is willing to serve.

Only members of the Graduate Committee Faculty located on Texas A&M University campuses may serve as chair of a student’s advisory committee. Other members of the Graduate Committee Faculty – including those located outside the university or off-campus (if permitted by program, department, and college/school policy) – may serve as a co-chair or member.

The advisory committee as a group – and as individual members – are responsible for advising the student on academic matters. The duties include responsibility for approving the student’s proposed degree plan; research proposal (if applicable); thesis, dissertation, or record of study (if applicable); and conducting examinations (if required). The advisory committee members’ approval of a degree plan indicates their willingness to accept the responsibility for guiding and directing the entire academic program of the student and for initiating all academic actions concerning the student. Additionally, in the case of academic deficiency, the advisory committee is responsible for initiating recommendations to the Graduate and Professional School.

The chair of the advisory committee, who usually has immediate supervision of the student’s degree program, has the responsibility for calling meetings at any time considered desirable.

If the chair of the student’s advisory committee is unavailable for an extended period of time in any academic period during which the student is involved in activities relating to an internship, thesis or professional paper – and is registered for courses such as 684, 691, 692, or 693 – the Department Head or intercollegiate faculty Chair may appoint an alternate advisory committee chair during the interim period.

If the chair of a student’s advisory committee is on an approved leave of absence – and the student is near completion of the degree and wants the chair to continue to serve in this role – a written request must be submitted to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School, by the Department Head or intercollegiate faculty Chair, that the faculty member who is on an approved leave of absence be allowed to continue to serve as chair of the advisory committee – without a co-chair – for up to one year. The request must confirm that the faculty member is able to engage in the required duties as chair during the leave of absence. Extensions beyond the one-year period (if necessary) may be granted with additional approval of the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School.

If the chair of a student’s advisory committee voluntarily separates from the university, and the student is nearing completion of the degree, the chair may continue to serve in this role – at the student’s request – for up to one year. Two options are available:

• The chair may continue, with a co-chair, without additional approval by the Graduate and Professional School. The student must select a current member of the Graduate Committee Faculty – from the student’s academic program and located near the Texas A&M University campus site – to serve as co-chair of the advisory committee.
• The chair may continue, without a co-chair, with approval by the Graduate and Professional School. A written request must be submitted to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School by the Department Head or intercollegiate faculty Chair to allow the faculty member to continue as chair, without a co-chair, of the advisory committee.

For both options, extensions beyond the one-year period (if necessary) may be granted with approval of the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School.

Although individual advisory committee members may be replaced by petition for valid reasons, all members of a student committee cannot resign en masse.

Degree Plan

Students, in consultation with the advisory committee, will develop a proposed degree plan. The degree plan must be created, submitted, and approved through the online Document Processing Submission System (DPSS). The degree plan must be submitted prior to the deadline imposed by the student’s college or school and approved by the Graduate and Professional School no later than 90 days prior to the date of the final oral examination or thesis defense. Students must select the appropriate program option when submitting a proposed degree plan.

Additional coursework may be added to the approved degree plan by petition through DPSS, if deemed necessary by the advisory committee, to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation. No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Final Examination Request or Final Examination Exemption Request is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Coursework included on the degree plan is subject to the requirements and restrictions detailed in the Credit Requirements and Limitations on Credits and Coursework sections in each degree program page.

Degree program time limits apply to courses listed on a degree plan. Details are available on the Time Limits section in each degree program page.

Credit Requirement

A minimum of 60 semester credit hours of approved courses is required for the non-thesis Master of Fine Arts in Visualization degree.

This program does not offer a thesis option.

Ordinarily, students will devote the major portion of their time on work in one or two closely related fields. Other work will be in supporting fields of interest.

Limitations on Credits and Coursework

Credit-hour requirements are subject to the following limitations:

1. To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. These limitations also apply to joint degree programs.
2. Transfer credits may be used toward meeting the credit hour requirements under the following limitations:
   • The maximum number of credit hours which may be considered for transfer credit is the greater of 12 credit hours or one-third (1/3) of the total hours of a degree plan.
   • Graduate and/or upper-level undergraduate courses taken in residence at an accredited United States or international institution (recognized by the Office of Admissions), with a final grade of B or greater, may be considered for transfer credit if – at the time the courses were completed – the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution.
   • An official transcript from the institution at which the transfer coursework was taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions. Coursework credit submitted for transfer from any institution must be shown in semester credit hours or equated to semester credit hours.
   • Up to 1 hour of credit may be obtained for each five-day week of coursework for graduate courses of three weeks’ duration or less taken at other institutions. Each week of coursework must include at least 15 contact hours.
   • Grades for courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPA.
   • Coursework in which no formal grades were given, or in which grades other than A or B were earned (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.), is not accepted for transfer credit.
   • Courses completed at Texas A&M University and appearing on the degree plan with grades of D, F, or U may not be absolved by transfer work.
   • Except for officially approved cooperative doctoral programs, credit for thesis or dissertation research – or the equivalent – is not transferrable.
   • Courses used toward a degree at another institution may not be applied for transferred graduate credit.
     • Courses used toward a certificate, but not applied to an awarded degree, may be considered for transfer.
     • If the course to be transferred was taken for a certificate or prior to the conferral of a degree at the transfer institution, a letter from the registrar at that institution stating that the course was not applied for credit toward the degree must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.
   • A student who has earned 12 credit hours of graduate credit in residence at Texas A&M University may be authorized to transfer courses in excess of the limits upon the advice of the advisory committee and with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School.
3. The maximum number of credit hours taken in post-baccalaureate non-degree (G6) classification at Texas A&M University which may be considered for application to the degree plan is 12.
4. Only grades of A, B, C, and S are acceptable for graduate credit.
5. Graduate courses on a degree plan may not be taken on an S/U basis except for 681 (Seminar), 684 (Professional Internship), 690 (Theory of Research), 691 (Research), 692 (Professional Study), 693 (Professional Study), 695 (Frontiers in Research), 697 (Methods), 791 (Doctoral Capstone), or SOPH 680 (Public Health Capstone).
6. A student pursuing a non-thesis option Master’s degree may not enroll in 691 (Research) courses for any reason.
7. A maximum of 12 credit hours may be used, in any combination, of the following:
   • No more than 3 credit hours of 601 (Research Foundations).
   • No more than 8 credit hours of 684.
   • No more than 9 credit hours of 685 (Directed Studies).
   • No more than 4 credit hours of 690 (Theory of Research).
8. A maximum of 9 credit hours may be used toward the non-thesis option Master’s degree, in any combination, of the following:
   • No more than 2 credit hours of 681 (Seminar).
   • No more than 9 credit hours of 685 (Directed Studies).
9. Certain zero-credit courses may be allowed for Master’s degree programs:
   • A zero-credit 684 (Professional Internship) or 685 (Directed Studies) course is only allowed for non-thesis option Master’s programs.
   • A zero-credit 681 (Seminar) course may be used for either thesis or non-thesis option Master’s programs.
   • Other courses, including 691 (Research) hours, are not eligible for zero credit.
10. No more than 25 percent of the total credit-hours required on the student’s degree plan may be in any combination of 601, 684, 685, 690, 691 (if permitted), and 695.
11. A maximum of 6 hours of advanced undergraduate courses (300- or 400-level) may be considered for application to the degree plan.
12. No more than 50 percent of the non-research coursework required for an in-person degree program may be completed through distance education courses.
13. Continuing education or extension courses may not be used for graduate credit.

Some departments may have additional or more restrictive requirements. Exceptions will be permitted only in unusual cases and when petitioned by the student’s advisory committee and approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Final Presentation and Written Document

A final presentation and written document is required for the non-thesis Master of Fine Arts in Visualization program.

The candidate must conduct a final presentation and submit a written document reflecting the presentation’s content. This is done by dates announced each semester or summer term for final exam deadlines in the Graduate and Professional School Calendar. To be eligible to conduct the final presentation, a student’s GPA must be at least 3.000 for courses on the degree plan and for all courses completed at Texas A&M which are eligible to be applied to a graduate degree, and there must be no unabsolved grades of D, F or U for any course listed on the degree plan. To absolve a deficient grade, the student must repeat the course at Texas A&M University and achieve a grade of C or better. All coursework on the degree plan must have been completed with the exception of those hours for which the student is registered.

The candidate is not eligible to petition for an exemption from the final presentation.

A request to schedule the final presentation must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School via ARCS a minimum of 10 working days in advance of the scheduled date for the presentation. The Graduate and Professional School will be notified via ARCS of any cancellations. A student may be given only one opportunity to repeat the final presentation for the master’s degree and that must be within a time period that does not extend beyond the end of the next regular semester (Summer terms are excluded).

The final presentation shall consist of a focused body of work resulting in an appropriate form of public dissemination that reflects the student’s studies within his or her research studio. Such forms might include an exhibition, screening, or installation. A body of work customized for internet delivery must also be presented in one of these forms. A written document addressing issues pertinent to the final study is also required. The written document must be prepared appropriately for publication submission to a peer-reviewed venue agreed upon with the chair. At an agreed upon time and date the student will make a formal presentation of the body of work to members of the graduate committee. Committee members will then meet privately to review the presentation (if relevant, all visitors must excuse themselves from the proceedings). A positive vote by all members of the graduate committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on his or her presentation and written document. If deemed successful by the advisory committee, the student will have completed the academic requirements for graduation.

The student’s department will promptly report the results of the presentation and written document evaluation to the Graduate and Professional School via the Academic Requirements Completion System (ARCS) within 10 working days of completion of the final presentation. If an approved committee member substitution (one only) has been made, their approval must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School via ARCS.

If the program requires the advisory committee to include at least one external member – with an appointment to a department other than the student’s major department – and the substitution is for the sole external member of the advisory committee, then the substitute must also be external to the student’s major department. In extenuating circumstances, with approval of the Graduate and Professional School, an exception to this requirement may be granted.

Additional Requirements

• Residence
• Time Limit
• Foreign Languages
• Internship or Practicum
• Application for Degree

Residence

A student must complete 18 credit hours in resident study at Texas A&M University to satisfy the residence requirement for the Master of Fine Arts in Visualization degree. A minimum of 15 credit hours of 693 must be completed as resident hours.

Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of his/her employment to the Graduate and Professional School.

See Residence Requirements.

Time Limit

All degree requirements must be completed within a period of seven consecutive years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until seven years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework that is more than seven calendar years old at the time of the final examination (oral or written) may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.

Foreign Languages

A foreign language is not required for the Master of Fine Arts in Visualization degree.

Internship or Practicum

An internship is not required as part of the Master of Fine Arts in Visualization degree requirement in order for the student to graduate. A student can receive credit for up to 8 hours of internship.

Application for Degree

For information on applying for your degree, please visit the Graduation section.