Academic Requirements
Requirements and Expectations for all WISR Students
All students at WISR are required to study and complete a project (or a chapter of their thesis) in the following two core areas:
In addition, it is expected that all WISR students will find ways to collaborate with other students or alumni, and to participate as much as possible (given geographic constraints) in WISR annual conferences, semi-annual All School Gatherings, and/or some of the monthly interdisciplinary seminars.
Each WISR student is required to develop annotated bibliographies in which they write a paragraph or two about each of the several sources they have been found to be most important in the core areas of their studies.
More details on these requirements and expectations . . .
Bachelor of Arts
Credits for completed projects are given equivalents in semester units by faculty advisers. Stated in semester-units, WISR’s requirements for the Bachelor of Arts are as follows:
124 units minimum for graduation, including
40 units in basic or general studies
44 or more units in the major field
40 units in the major field and/or electives
The culminating major project, the senior thesis, usually involves at least 12 semester units of credit.
No specific minor field is required, because at WISR the major field is expected to be sufficiently interdisciplinary to involve the student in more than one traditional area of study.
Each undergraduate, when admitted, must have completed a substantial, year-long course in each of three areas (social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences), or must complete a significant project at WISR dealing with methods of inquiry in each neglected area, and applying those methods in a critical analysis of a topic interesting to the student. During their work at WISR, all students are helped to improve their communication skills–both writing and oral communication– ”across the curriculum.”
More details on requirements for the BA degree at WISR . . .
Master of Arts
WISR’s Master of Arts programs are open only to those who hold Bachelor’s degrees. A minimum of 15 months of study at WISR (approximately 32 semester units), exclusively in graduate study, is required for each individually-designed Master of Arts degree, except for those in the much longer MA program leading to the MFT license.
For graduation, each Master’s student must develop in her or his Learning Portfolio at least six papers, project analyses, lists of focused readings completed, and other materials demonstrating that the student has a broad range of knowledge in her or his field of study, and a significant ability to integrate theories and practices in the major field and in two core areas: Methods of Social Action Research and Theories of Social Analysis and Change. Each student must also complete a Master’s thesis, combining critical analysis of a problem of interest to the student with a potentially significant contribution to helping others.
More details on the requirements for the individually-designed MA degrees at WISR . . .
Doctor of Philosophy
A student is required at entry to hold a Master’s degree and to be a mature adult with a history of community involvement or successful professional practice. A minimum of two (2) years of study (54 semester units), beyond the Master’s, is required of students for the degree. In practice, most WISR students have completed their doctoral studies in two and one-half to four years beyond the MA. A doctoral student must complete a range of projects, culminating in papers comparable in quality (not necessarily in form or content) to papers expected for doctoral seminars at more traditional institutions. In practice, about ten such projects, the readings necessary to produce the required annotated bibliographies, and a dissertation are necessary to demonstrate:
• breadth of expertise in one’s major field(s) of emphasis;
• ability to use theory and practice creatively, and to create theories and action strategies;
• ability to integrate WISR’s two core areas–Action Research Methods and Theories of Social Analysis and Change–into one’s thinking and action; and
• completion of a dissertation project that shows significant intellectual and practical creativity in an area of personal interest and potential importance to others.
Further, each Ph.D. student is required to plan and conduct at least one seminar session on a subject which reflects a major interest of theirs. Through occasional seminars, readings, and individual discussions with faculty advisers, PhD students are expected to learn about theories and research methods, and to use and critique some of these theories in their papers and in the dissertation.
More details on the requirements for the PhD degree at WISR . . .
Graduation and Evaluation of Progress Toward Graduation
Throughout most of the student’s program, decisions about the direction and quality of his or her work are made by the student’s primary faculty adviser(s), in consultation with the student and with other instructors, community resource people, and/or field supervisors, as the advisers and the student think useful. As the student nears the completion of most of the pre-thesis requirements, she or he then constitutes, with her or his major faculty adviser’s help, a Graduation Review Board composed of at least two WISR faculty members, two WISR students, and one or more outside experts (or other WISR faculty) in the student’s field. [However, PhD students must have three WISR faculty members on their Review Boards, at least two of whom must hold accredited PhD degrees, and the third must hold a State approved or accredited PhD.]
The Review Board members comment on, critique, and approve the student’s proposal, and they also review the quality and adequacy of the student’s pre-dissertation work. The thesis proposal then serves as a general guide for the student’s thesis inquiry. However, it is subject to change. Review Board members comment on and critique at least one rough draft, but usually two drafts, and in the case of PhD students, three drafts are quite typical. Once the faculty adviser and the student are confident that all Review Board members are ready to approve the thesis, a final Graduation Board meeting is held.
In the MA program leading to the Marriage and Family Therapy License, there are three additional steps in evaluating the student’s progress toward the degree: (1) after six months or the completion of three areas of study and three major papers, to assess the student’s readiness for entering the practicum; (2) approximately at the midpoint of the student’s Master’s program; and (3) when the student has completed all requirements except the thesis.
More details on Graduation and Evaluation of Progress Toward Evaluation . . .