College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Doctor of Musical Arts

Degree Requirements

1. Completion of 60 semester hours of graduate course work beyond the master's degree with a cumulative grade point average of 3.00; grades C+ or below are not accepted for credit toward the D.M.A. A graduate student who receives a grade of C+ or lower in 12 semester hours of credit, whether or not in repeated courses, attempted at this institution for graduate credit, is ineligible for any advanced degree at this institution and will not be permitted to re-enroll for graduate study.
2. Completion of four public performances (see degree plans for specific requirements); a grade below B on any required performance will not be satisfactory and the performance must be repeated within six months. If the second performance receives a grade below B, the student will no longer be eligible to continue in the D.M.A. program.
3. Completion of a doctoral document.

Doctoral Committee

The Doctoral Committee for each D.M.A. student should be formed during the student's first year of study, once the student has had the opportunity to take a portion of the required course work and become familiar with the faculty. Forming the committee also implies acceptance into the minor area (see requirements for the various majors).

The committee will consist of four members, including the major professor, a second representative from the major area, and a representative from the minor area. The remaining representative should come from the areas of music theory, music literature, composition, or music education (whichever is not already represented). In music education, the remaining committee member might be an at-large faculty member from another college, as determined by the student's needs and research requirements.

The committee will have the following responsibilities:

1. Meet with the student at least once during each year of doctoral studies to discuss progress toward the degree.
2. Approve repertoire for the required public performances and the proposal for the doctoral document.
3. Serve as a jury for the required public performances.
4. Administer the oral examination of the comprehensive examination.
5. Evaluate the doctoral document.
6. Recommend the candidate for graduation.

Comprehensive (Qualifying) Examination and Admission to Candidacy

The comprehensive examination is designed to measure the student's abilities in a broad range of musical activities (performance, music history and literature, music bibliography, theory and analysis, and pedagogy) as well as specific examination of his or her knowledge of the major area.

Before scheduling the comprehensive examination, the student must have:

1. Removed all deficiencies.
2. Fulfilled the language requirement.
3. Completed course work with a cumulative grade point average of B (3.00) or higher.
4. Satisfied the residency requirement.
5. In the case of performers, completed the first three degree recitals.

   The comprehensive written examination will consist of the following parts:

   Part 1. Major area: any questions which pertain to the major area of study. The student should seek more information from the major area coordinator.

   Part 2. Music history and literature:

   1. literature and performance practice in the student's major area.
   2. bibliographical knowledge of source materials for research in the student's major area.
   3. general knowledge of music history and literature.

   Part 3. Music theory:

   1. analysis of selected repertoire.

   2. analysis of unidentified musical scores.

   Part 4. (If requested) Oral Examination: any questions which pertain to Parts 1, 2, and 3, or any questions concerning other information which the committee feels should be part of the student's field of knowledge.

If any part of the examination is not passed, that part (alone) must be retaken within six months; otherwise, the entire examination must be retaken. If any part of the examination is twice failed, the student will be dropped from the D.M.A. program.

Upon satisfactory completion of all parts of the comprehensive examination, the student will be recommended for candidacy.

Doctoral Document

The doctoral document should be a unique, scholarly contribution to the student’s particular field, showing originality of thought and a command of basic musicological and theoretical tools. Doctoral candidates must submit a formal proposal for their document to their entire committee after successful completion of their comprehensive exams. The candidate is expected to follow the guidelines prescribed by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The completed document must be approved by the candidate’s doctoral committee at a formal defense.

Time Limitation

Students who enroll as doctoral candidates must complete their degree requirements within ten years of the date of first enrollment with a doctoral degree objective. Failure to comply will result in the candidate being ineligible for that doctoral degree.

Doctoral students who fail to complete the doctoral document within five years after passing the comprehensive examination must retake the examination.