Graduate Programs

Master of Arts in Liberal Arts

A broadly based program of 33 semester hours, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (MLA) offers the mature student a graduate program that is interdisciplinary in nature and nonprofessional in intent. It is oriented towards broad-based learning rather than the highly specialized training of more traditional graduate programs. It seeks to make the liberal arts more accessible to adults from all walks of life--teaching, journalism, law, medicine, social work, business, government, and industry--by meeting the special interests and needs of those already established in their chosen vocations.

The specific purposes and goals of the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts program include the following:

1. To offer a broad, liberal arts education at the graduate level that will enhance the personal intellectual growth that is an asset in any field or vocation.
2. To encourage diverse perspectives that will develop a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships among the liberal arts, which include such disciplines as communications, philosophy, history, the arts, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and literature and languages.
3. To provide multiple options of study within a flexible and coherent multidisciplinary framework, expanding vocational and avocational interests and stimulating intellectual inquiry.
4. To increase abilities in oral and written communication and competence in the evaluation of information, ideas, opinions, and value systems.

Policies and regulations pertaining to the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts degree program are discussed under "Graduate Programs."
 

A multidisciplinary program, the Master of Science in Human Services Administration will offer the advanced knowledge base and training necessary for the administration of human service organizations, including government offices and nonprofit organizations such as homeless shelters, youth organizations, and job training programs. Based on the belief that managing community organizations in the 21st century will require both a commitment to social purpose and effective management, this program recognizes that building community, managing diversity, and nurturing vision have become professional skills as crucial as financial management and strategic planning.

The degree requires 33 hours of credit: 30 hours of courses and three hours of a directed final project. In doing their projects, students will have an opportunity to apply research and theory to practice in a human service organization of their choice. Aimed primarily toward working students, this program will allow them a degree through evening and weekend courses. The program is viewed as a professional development degree for middle and upper-level administrators in human service organizations.

Policies and regulations pertaining to the Master of Science in Human Services Administration degree program are discussed under "GRADUATE PROGRAMS."