Graduate Coursework and Requirements

Coursework & Requirements Summary for U. of Utah's M.S. in Human Development & Social Policy (2011)

Total credit hours for students choosing thesis option: 32 minimum, on a credit basis (16-18 core hours, at least 6 in departmental allied hours, 6-10 thesis hours, & 4 other hours)

Total credit hours for non-thesis students: 33 minimum, on a credit basis (i.e., 16-18 core hours, at least 9 departmental allied hours, 3-6 hours of independent study & 5 other hours)

Minimum & maximum hours per semester: 9 to 12 credit hours are needed for financially supported teaching or research assistants; 3 to 16 for other students.

Thesis hours: Sign up for at least 6, no more than 10, throughout your graduate career.

Non-thesis students: Sign up for 3-6 hours of independent study for non-thesis project

A typical course work plan for a full-time student:

Semester 1 (core courses)

FCS 6901-1: Thesis Development Seminar (1) + allied or other hours to total 9 -12

Choose 3 from the following 4 courses
FCS 6200: Families and Social Policy (3)
FCS 6700: Research for Community Needs (3) or FCS 6600 Families & Economic Policy
FCS 6730: Community Development and Evironmental Change (3) or FCS 6600 Environments & Human Behavior
FCS 6962: Special Topics (3)

Semester 2 (core courses):

FCS 6110: Graduate Multivariate Statistics (4) or Equivalent Statistics Class
FCS 6100: Graduate Research Methods (3) or Equivalent Methods Class
FCS 6970: For thesis option students take Thesis hours (2-5) Proposing one's thesis for methods class in consultation with advisor is highly recommended. Non-thesis students take allied hours.

Semester 3 & 4 for Thesis Option Students

Allied courses and thesis hours and core courses if not taken previously.

Students supported by the FCS Department must successfully defend their thesis proposal by the end of Fall of their second year. They are encouraged to defend earlier.
Select at least two allied courses from one area. The Thesis Committee Chair needs to approve these.
FCS 6970: Total thesis hours (at least 6 credit hours, no more than 10 total credit hours)

Semesters 3 & 4 for Non-Thesis Option Students:

Core courses if not taken previously. Nonthesis students take allied hours and work on project. Take 3-6 hours of independent study total. Register for a 3-credit independent study for your last semester.

Graduate Core Course Descriptions (14 hours)

Typically taken in the first year, provide a broad background in conceptual models, policy, and research methods. Choose at least 3 of 4 from FCS 6200, 6400, 6600, 6962 or equivalents. All are recommended.

FCS 6200: Families and Social Policy (3) Relationship between the family and social environments emphasizing ecology and life-course frameworks in the dependency between the family and kin, school, neighborhood, work, class, and ethnic environments.

FCS 6400 :Families and Economic Policy (3) Prerequisite: FCS 3450. Economic and political influences on families and interest-group efforts to alter constraints imposed by these policies. Examples drawn from a variety of policies including child care, marriage, education, homeownership, and retirement.

FCS 6600: Environments and Human Behavior (3) Reviews and connects research, policies, and settings that are important contexts from behaviors of households and communities: homes, workplaces, neighborhoods. Focuses on sociophysical processes (stress, community problems, crime, privacy, transportation, place attachment). Often involves vulnerable populations (women, children, elders, the poor) and is tailored to student interests.

SOC 6110: Methods of Social Research (3) The logic of social research; methods of data collection; ethics in social research; problem formation, conceptualization, operationalization, reliability and validity, research design, and preparation or research proposals.

FCS 6110: Multivariate Statistics (4) Course covers a range of topics on regression analysis. Topics include multiple regression, conducting regression diagnostics, multicollinearity, interaction effects, repeated measures, and logistic regression. Computer assignments.

FCS 6901 Thesis Development Seminar (1) Development and refinement of thesis proposals.

Allied Courses (Descriptions available from the online catalogue)

Students can select, in consultation with their advisor, at least two (for thesis students) or 3 (for non-thesis students) different departmental courses from either list below to provide depth of learning within an interest area. All are 3 credit hours unless indicated otherwise. (Course Offerings Vary Each Academic Year)

Allied Courses: Human Development and Family Studies

FCS 5150	Admin. & Supervis. of Early Childhood Programs
FCS 5170	Creativity & Cognition in Young Children
FCS 5190	Early Childhood Internship
FCS 5210	Family Life Education
FCS 5230	Adolescent Development in the Family
FCS 5240	Adult Dev. & Family Relations in Later Life
FCS 5250	Theories of Human Development
FCS 5280	Divorce & Remarriage
FCS 5311 & 5312	Childhood Healthcare I & II
FCS 5350	Family Theories
FCS 5370	Family Violence
FCS 5380	Family Problems
FCS 5390	Gender & Minorities Across the Lifespan
FCS 5610	Gender, Race, Class & Community
FCS 6120	Demographic Methods
FCS 6700	Research for Consumer & Community Needs
FCS 6962	Special Topics (1-3)

Allied Courses: Consumer & Community Studies

FCS 5120	Demographic Methods
FCS 5430	Families, Consumers, and Health & Government
FCS 5510	Family Investing Planning
FCS 5520	Retirement and Benefits Planning for Families
FCS 5530	Income Tax Planning for Families
FCS 5540	Family Estate Planning
FCS 5610	Gender, Race, Class & Community
FCS 6120	Demographic Methods & Community Development
FCS 6400	Families and Economic Policy
FCS 6450	Community Nonprofit Organizations
FCS 6563	Program and Policy Evaluation & Behavior
FCS 6630	Healthy Communities
FCS 6700	Research for Consumer & Community Needs & Evironmental Change
FCS 6960	Special Topics (1-3)

Optional Graduate Certificates

Graduate students can earn an optional graduate certificate from the University of Utah in conjunction with their master's degree in Human Development & Social Policy by completing additional requirements. Certificates available in:

Child Life
Demography
Disability Studies
Gerontology
Women's Health

Campus: