Graduate Studies

Graduate Degrees and Programs

Master of Music Areas of Study

Doctor of Music Areas of Study

Certificate in Music Performance Areas of Study

Orientation

An orientation and information session for new graduate students in Moores School of Music is held on the Tuesday before the start of each Fall semester in room 118. Contact the graduate office more specific information if it is not posted here.

An orientation session for graduate students with TA positions is held on the Friday before the start of the Fall semester in room 118. Contact the graduate office for more specific information if it is not posted here.

Contacts

MOORES SCHOOL OF MUSIC OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Andrew Davis, Director of Graduate Studies

Douglas Goldberg, Graduate Advisor
phone: 713 743 3314 | email: gradmusic at uh.edu

(area code for all numbers below is 713)

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General Information for Graduate Students

Advising   

Students must schedule an advising appointment with the Graduate Advisor before registering for their first semester of study and again before registering in all subsequent semesters. Students must come prepared for advising appointments: students should carefully review their degree requirements, courses they have completed, progress toward their degree, and course offerings in the upcoming semester.

Continuous Enrollment and Leaves of Absence

All students enrolled in Doctor of Musical Arts degrees are required to be enrolled in consecutive Fall and Spring semesters until they complete their degree program and their degree is awarded. Generally graduate students must be enrolled for at least three credits, unless other regulations apply (in the case of international students or students with scholarship or assistantship awards, for example). DMA students not in continuous enrollment will not remain in good academic standing and will be required to petition for readmission to the degree program. The petition requires the endorsement of the department and the dean of the college, and the student will be required to meet all criteria for admission to the program in place at the time the petition is made.

In some cases DMA students may apply for a leave of absence, which would allow a student to maintain good academic standing while not enrolled. Leaves will be granted within these general guidelines: (1) reasons for a leave cannot be academic (students cannot request a leave to allow time to study for comprehensive exams, for example); (2) leaves may be granted for financial reasons, but in these cases there must be evidence of severe financial hardship (i.e., leaves cannot be granted in order to save students the cost of enrolling); (3) leaves may be granted for medical emergencies, family emergencies, or significant changes in family circumstances that clearly interfere with a student’s ability to make progress in their degree program; and (4) leaves may be granted to students who need to be away from campus or the city of Houston for professional or other reasons.

In all cases, leaves of absence are temporary: they will be granted for a period of one semester and extended, once, for an additional semester if the situation requiring the leave persists. Because leaves are temporary solutions to a problem, there must be clear evidence that the circumstances requiring the leave are also temporary; more permanent situations in which change is not foreseeable do not warrant leaves of absence.

To request a leave of absence, students must submit a formal letter of request to the Director of Graduate Studies. The request will require approval from the Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Students already on a leave of absence who wish to request an extension must also submit a formal letter of request; these requests will be treated as new requests and are subject to reapproval.

Diagnostic Exams

All students entering MM and DMA programs must take Moores School of Music diagnostic exams in music history and music theory prior to the start of their first semester. (Students who complete an MM degree at the Moores School of Music and who are immediately accepted—in their first semester after completion of their previous degree—to another MM program or a DMA program may be exempt from the diagnostic exams.) Students who do not take diagnostic exams prior to the start of their first semester will be automatically assigned to the appropriate remedial course(s) (Survey of Music History, Music Theory Review I, or Music Theory Review II).

Exams are evaluated by the music history and theory faculty. All students are allowed one opportunity to take the diagnostic exams, and the full exam must be completed to be considered (i.e., students may not elect to take portions of exams). If remedial coursework is required after the exam (as determined by the exam results), students must enroll for these courses in the earliest semester such courses are available (in most cases this will be during the first semester of graduate study, and in all cases this will be during the first year of graduate study), and, in the case of remedial courses in music theory, students must enroll for the courses in sequence if both remedial courses are required—i.e., students assigned to both theory reviews courses must take Graduate Music Theory Review I before taking Graduate Music Theory Review II.

Passing scores on these exams, or passing grades in the appropriate history or theory review courses (where a passing grade is C- or better for MM students and B- or better for DMA students), will be required before students may enroll in any graduate-level history and theory courses (including MUSI 6300: Introduction to Research Methods in Musicology).

Credit for review courses will not be applied toward the degree. Detailed study guides for both the history and theory exams, as well as a sample exam in each area, are available online at http://www.music.uh.edu/prospective/. Theory exams are given on scheduled audition days, and both theory and history exams are given on the Thursday before the first week classes in Fall and Spring semesters. More information on diagnostic exam scheduling, as well as registering for appropriate history and theory review courses, is available from the Graduate Office.

Voice majors are also required to take a diagnostic exam in English, Italian, French, and German diction. The exam is reviewed by the voice faculty. A passing score on the exam, or a passing grade(s) in the appropriate (as determined by the exam results) undergraduate-level diction course(s), will be required before completion of the degree program.

Electives

All graduate degree programs allow for electives. Music electives may be satisfied with graduate- (6000-) level music courses; free electives may be satisfied with the same or, pending approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, other courses in a different university department that may be considered an enhancement of a student’s degree objective. Only one credit hour of large ensemble will be applied toward a free elective requirement, and additional hours of applied study in the major area will not be applied toward the free elective or any other degree requirement.

Four C Rule

A student who receives a grade of C+ or lower in 12 semester hours of credit attempted at this institution for graduate credit or for application toward the graduate degree, regardless of the student's classification and whether or not in repeated courses, is ineligible for any advanced degree at this institution and will not be permitted to re-enroll for graduate study. The Termination of Enrollment section of the University of Houston Graduate Catalog specifies other regulations.

Grades and Grade Point Average

No course in which an MM student earns a grade of D+ or lower will be accepted for credit toward any graduate degree. No course in which a DMA student earns a grade of C+ or lower will be accepted for credit toward the degree. (All graduate students should see also the "Four C Rule" above). All graduate students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.00 for all graduate courses attempted. Failure to do so may result in a warning, probation, suspension, loss of financial support, or dismissal from the program.

Graduation

Graduation is not automatic upon completion of degree requirements. Students must apply for graduation by the deadline listed in the University of Houston Academic Calendar (available online at www.uh.edu). Payment of a $25.00 fee ($50 if filed late) is required, and students must be enrolled in the semester of graduation. Contact the Office of Registration and Academic Records (128 Welcome Center; 713 743 1010; www.uh.edu/enroll/rar) for more information.

If a student is unable to graduate in the semester during which application for graduation is made, the student will be required to complete another application for graduation and pay another fee in order to graduate in a subsequent semester.

Large Ensemble Enrollment

All students enrolled in applied music must enroll concurrently in an appropriate large ensemble, even if all degree requirements have been met. For other enrollment requirements specific to their major area of study, students should contact their area coordinator. MM piano majors enrolled in applied music are assigned two hours per week of studio accompanying. In addition, piano majors with scholarship support must either (1) schedule an additional two hours per week of accompanying, or (2) enroll in an appropriate large ensemble during each semester of enrollment for applied study.

DMA piano majors in their first two years of study must either (1) enroll in an appropriate large ensemble each semester; or (2) serve as studio accompanists for two hours per week (four hours per week for scholarship students) each semester, as assigned by the Director of Accompanying and Chamber Music. Students with scholarship support will continue to have appropriate assignments in subsequent semesters, as determined by the Director of Accompanying and Chamber Music, the Keyboard Area coordinator, or the student’s major professor.

Music 6300: Introduction to Research Methods in Musicology

Introduction to Research Methods in Musicology is a prerequisite for graduate-level music history and literature courses. MM students must complete MUSI 6300 at the first available opportunity; MM students are required to complete MUSI 6300 before enrolling in graduate-level coursework in music history (in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, students may be permitted to enroll in MUSI 6300 concurrently with graduate-level coursework in music history).

DMA students are also required to take MUSI 6300 unless the requirement is waived on the basis of materials submitted as part of their application to the school of music. Unless a waiver is granted, DMA students will be required to take MUSI 6300 at their first available opporuntity (which in most cases will be in their first semester of study).

Posting of Previous Degree

Each student who enters a graduate degree program at the University of Houston must be certain that their transcript on file reflects the posting of their previous degree. Students may be accepted for admission to the MM or DMA program with the submission of a transcript showing a degree in progress, but once that degree has been completed the student must submit to the Graduate Office an up-to-date transcript that reflects awarding of a previous degree.

Scholarships and Teaching Assitantships

Students with scholarship or teaching assistantship support are responsible for meeting the terms of their Acceptance Agreement—including enrollment at the appropriate credit-hour load and any other stipulations—and must renew their support each spring following initial acceptance of the award. Students will be notified of the renewal requirement as appropriate.

Standardized Testing Requirements

GRE: All MM- and DMA-level applicants except those for the MM in Applied Music, MM in in Accompanying and Chamber Music, and MM in Performance Pedagogy are required to submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (General Exam) as part of their applications for admission. The GRE is a prerequisite for admission and may not be taken after a student has been admitted for graduate study.TOEFL: Applicants for whom English is not the primary language are required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The TOEFL is a prerequisite for admission and may not be taken after a student has been admitted for graduate study. Minimum acceptable TOEFL scores for admission to the University of Houston are 550 on the paper exam, 213 on the computer-based exam, and 79 on the internet-based exam.

IELTS: Scores from the International English Language Testing System may be submitted as a substitute for TOEFL scores. The minimum acceptable IELTS score for admission to the University of Houston is 6.5.

Transfer Credit

No more than nine hours of transfer credit from another institution may be applied towards the MM or DMA degree. Grades earned for all transferred credit hours must be A or B.