Initial Assignment of an Advisor

Each incoming student is assigned a temporary faculty advisor to provide an initial point of contact. A student may change advisors simply by informing the Department's Director of Graduate Studies in writing of the change. Most students select an advisor who shares their research interests in the family area. Information about faculty, their research interests, and their research projects is available on this website.

Selecting a Mentor

All Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) students must complete a Master's thesis or a non-thesis case project. It is important to select a faculty mentor who is a good fit for your research and clinical interests to supervise your work. For some suggestions on how to select the right mentor for you, take a look at our Mentoring Guidelines.

Transfer and Application of Credit

Credits used to satisfy the requirements for another earned degree may NOT be applied toward the requirements for the Master of Science degree from this department.

With the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, students may transfer up to six credit hours of graduate work not applied to a previous degree toward their FMSC degree. For further information on transfer of credits, see the Graduate Catalog on the University website.

If a student is inadequately prepared for some graduate courses, the Department's Graduate Committee may require the student to take additional courses. Such additional coursework is not considered part of the coursework required for the degree.

Course and Degree Time Limits

The Graduate School has specific limits on the number of years that courses are considered valid in counting toward the student's degree, and on the number of years the student has to complete the M.S. degree. Information about these limits can be found in the Graduate Catalog on the University website. The Graduate School does grant extensions of time limits in certain circumstances (usually a one-year extension for completing the degree; an additional one-year extension is much more difficult to obtain).