Curriculum Degree Requirements

The Master of Fine Arts with a major in Communication Design is the terminal degree in the discipline. The degree will require a minimum of 60 semester credit hours, including 54 hours from traditional and online course work plus 6 hours of thesis credit.

The core curriculum required of all students includes the following courses (24 credit hours):
ARTC 5340 Contemporary Issues and Criticism
ARTC 5341 Modernism and Design
ARTC 5342 Post-Modernism and Typography
ARTC 5343 Visual Communication Theory
ARTC 5370 Professional Practice (2 times: 6 SCH)
ARTC 5399A Thesis I
ARTC 5399B Thesis II

The prescribed elective curriculum required of all students includes the following courses (30 credit hours):
ARTC 5301 Communication Design Foundations
ARTC 5310 Art Direction
ARTC 5320 Web Design
ARTC 5330 Typography
ARTC 5331 Corporate Identity Systems
ARTC 5332 Corporate Marketing Materials
ARTC 5333 The Experimental Book
ARTC 5350 Special Problems in Communication Design
ARTC 5360A Digital Imaging
ARTC 5360B Word and Image

The freely elected curriculum by students (6 credit hours):
Students may elect six credit hours from 5000 level approved courses in the M.F.A. Communication Design program or 5000 level—approved by the Program Director—courses in the Department of Art and Design or 5000 level approved courses in other disciplines. All students must meet prerequisites for courses taken in other disciplines.

Additional Degree Requirements

Mid-Program Portfolio Review
The degree requires a Mid-Program Portfolio Review. The review will occur after students successfully complete 30 credit hours. The review will consist of a visual presentation of twenty completed works of design and an oral examination. The Program Director and the M.F.A. core faculty will review and make recommendations––satisfactory or not satisfactory—to the Department Chair and Graduate Dean. Satisfactory completion of the Mid-Program Portfolio Review will allow the student to continue with his or her graduate study.

Professional Practice
Graduate professional practice consists of experience in an advertising agency, a graphic design firm, or a digital media studio. Design responsibilities and procedures broaden a student’s understanding of the profession through a real job situation. Students in the program will be required to complete 6 hours..

Master of Fine Arts Thesis
Each student will be required to write a formal thesis. The thesis represents researching, creating, designing, and documenting an original hypothesis in communication design. The thesis will be in APA format. The student’s research advisor and thesis committee—consisting of three members—will administer the M.F.A. thesis. Students are required to present an oral defense of the compl`ted thesis to the Thesis Committee. Research advisors will be members of the M.F.A. core faculty.

Comprehensive Examination
Each student will defend their thesis via an oral examination. The examination includes six questions addressing knowledge in communication design attained in graduate study. The questions will be answered by the means of a comprehensive paper in American Psychological Association (APA) format.

Formal Thesis Topic Proposal
A formal thesis topic proposal will be presented to the student’s advisor and thesis committee by the means of a comprehensive paper in APA format.