Mission and Goals
Graduate study at the University of Montevallo is linked directly to the University’s overall mission through providing professional programs of focused study and avenues for continuing growth to students who have made a commitment to careers in a selected number of fields. According to the University’s Vision Statement, “UM offers undergraduate and graduate students a learner-centered 21st century education informed by our liberal arts identity.” High-quality educational experiences will allow graduates to practice in and contribute to their chosen profession or field of scholarship at deeper levels of complexity, challenge, and specialization. Each program is designed to offer the graduate student opportunities to extend and apply knowledge and skills and to develop greater intellectual maturity and creative independence.
All eligible graduate programs that are offered at the University of Montevallo have received professional accreditation at the state and/or national level in their given field, and all programs are supported by the University’s base of liberal arts and sciences.
Graduate study at the University of Montevallo complements the undergraduate program, providing the same sense of community and quality of interaction between students and faculty. Further, the University creates an appropriate graduate environment by ensuring adequate and up-to-date library resources, faculty-sponsored graduate student gatherings and paper presentations, advice from faculty regarding publication and conference channels, and a graduate seminar-like setting in many graduate classes.
Governance
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees at the University of Montevallo is charged with authority to approve the number and type of graduate degrees; the number and nature of departments, divisions, schools or colleges through which the curriculum is administered; and the extent to which the institution should offer distance learning programs.
Graduate Council
The charge of the Graduate Council is to recommend policy concerning the graduate program, to review and approve new and existing graduate curricula and programs (with such actions then referred to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs), and to consider such other business as may be submitted to it pertaining to graduate programs.
The member structure of the council is as follows: the faculty member who serves as program coordinator for each graduate degree program, Academic Deans (ex officio), the Director of Carmichael Library (ex officio), the Director of Graduate Studies (ex officio), the Registrar (ex officio), the Teacher Certification Officer (ex officio), the Director of Student Aid (ex officio), and the Assistant Provost for Assessment and Accreditation/SACSCOC Liaison (ex officio). Program Coordinators serve as voting members, while other representatives serve in a non-voting capacity. The Chair of the Graduate Council shall invite each department without a graduate program but with graduate courses to be represented when input/participation from that department is deemed necessary by the Council. The Chair of the Graduate Council is elected annually by Council members.
The Graduate Council reports to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Graduate Faculty
The University of Montevallo employs fully qualified and highly competent faculty to provide sound and effective graduate instruction.
Administration of Programs
Graduate programs are centrally administered through the Office of Graduate Studies. This office guides students through recruitment, admission, and retention processes and is the primary contact for graduate programming. Graduate Studies also collaborates with the academic departments and colleges to provide support for current and future graduate programming at the University.
Curriculum
Degrees and Programs
Initiated in 1955, the graduate program has grown to include four master’s degrees in a range of majors and concentrations, as well as Educational Specialist degrees in three areas, including AA professional educator certification in one area. The degrees offered by UM are as follows:
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Master of Education (M.Ed.)
- Applied Instruction
- Counseling
- Elementary Education (K-6)
- Instructional Leadership
- Preschool to High School Education (P-12)
- Secondary Education (6-12)
- Class B Certificate (Non-Degree)
- Class A Certificate (Non-Degree)
- Educational Specialist (Ed.S.)
- Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) and Class AA Certification
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
Graduate Courses
All graduate courses offered by the University of Montevallo are acceptable for credit as requirements or electives applicable to at least one University degree or certificate. All courses in the graduate curriculum (a) include knowledge of the literature of the discipline, and (b) ensure engagement in research and/or appropriate professional practice and training experiences.
Slash-Listed Courses
Some departments at the University of Montevallo offer slash-listed graduate and undergraduate courses. In these cases, the department maintains a significant difference between undergraduate and graduate instruction to ensure that all courses in the graduate curricula (include knowledge of the literature of the discipline, and (b) ensure engagement in research and/or appropriate professional practice and training experiences. This difference is indicated clearly in course syllabi. Graduate students are expected to produce acceptable levels of research and/or appropriate professional practice and training experiences through activities such as independent research, outside readings, and more comprehensive examinations. A graduate student who took a course for undergraduate credit may not take the slash-listed course for graduate credit. Slash-listed special topic courses will be evaluated for credit as topics change.
Course Evaluation
The evaluation of graduate instruction is addressed annually as a part of the faculty performance review. Students are provided an opportunity to give feedback on the quality of instruction through the student course evaluation process.
Alternative Delivery Formats
Graduate courses offered in concentrated or abbreviated periods, such as during the Summer semester, are designed to ensure sufficient opportunity for preparation, reflection, and analysis of the subject matter with at least one calendar week of reflection and analysis for students for each semester hour of credit awarded. Expectations for levels of student knowledge and competencies in graduate courses offered through distance, hybrid, or online are equivalent to those for courses delivered in traditional formats.
Some courses and/or course components may be delivered in an alternative delivery format through Canvas and other online platforms. Delivery formats, other traditional in-person format, are notated on the course schedule as the instructional method. Those formats may include:
- Flexible
- Hybrid Remote
- Hybrid
- Online synchronous
- Online asynchronous
- Online Hybrid
More information regarding these alternative formats is available in the registration and class scheduling sections on the Registrar’s webpage.
Expectations for levels of student knowledge and competencies in graduate courses offered through alternative delivery formats are equivalent to those for courses delivered in traditional in-person formats.
Vallo Vault
The University of Montevallo affirms that scholars have a responsibility to share their research with the academic community and the general public. All students must submit a digital copy of their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation to the University’s institutional repository, Vallo Vault. Students may choose to share their work immediately or embargo their research for a brief period. For more information, please consult your thesis advisor, dissertation chair, the Office of Graduate Studies, or visit the Vallo Vault guide.
Graduate Honors Recognition
The Annual Graduate Honors Reception is held each spring to recognize outstanding achievement in each graduate program.
Qualified graduate students may also be invited to join most of the honorary organizations on campus, including Alpha Epsilon Lambda, Beta Gamma Sigma, Chi Sigma Iota, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Pi, and Sigma Tau Delta.
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