2011-2012 Catalog

Graduate degree programs offered in the College of Business Administration (COBA) are the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science (MS) in Information Systems, Master of Science in Human Resource Management, and Master of Science in Management and Leadership. The MBA and the MS in Management and Leadership are available in Stephenville, Waco, Southwest Metroplex (Fort Worth), and Online.  The MS in Human Resource Management and the MS in Information Systems is offered in Stephenville and Online.  For more information about business graduate programs, see the COBA website at www.tarleton.edu/coba.

Policies for graduate programs in the College of Business Administration (COBA) are developed by the COBA Dean, the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Council. The Dean of the College of Business Administration is responsible for maintaining consistent policies and standards governing graduate programs in business. Direct authority for administering the programs rests with the following administrators:

MS Information Systems – Head of the Department of Computer Information Systems

MBA program, MS Human Resource Management and MS Management and Leadership – Head of the Department of Management, Marketing, and Administrative Systems.

All questions of policies, appeals, and petitions regarding the operation of graduate programs in business should be directed to the Dean of the College of Business Administration and submitted through the appropriate COBA department head.

To be granted full admission, the applicant must have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited US institution or the equivalent from a foreign institution with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on the last 60 hours of credit completed. The applicant must also have submitted GRE or GMAT scores and have satisfied applicable program prerequisites. The applicant will be notified of program prerequisites (leveling requirements), if any, soon after he/she is admitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

An applicant who is not qualified for full admission may be granted conditional admission. Conditional admission will not be granted to an applicant whose GPA is less than 2.5 on the last 60 hours of credit completed. A student who is conditionally admitted must satisfy all conditions before receiving full admission.

Upon recommendation of the academic advisor and department head and with approval of the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies, a student may transfer up to 12 hours of graduate work completed at another regionally credited institution. Because students take the comprehensive examination from Tarleton professors, they should complete core courses at Tarleton.

Graduate students are expected to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 at all times. Should a student earn a grade below C in a graduate course or fall below an overall GPA of 3.0, that student may be placed in a conditional enrollment status and may be advised to repeat a course, reduce course load, or take other corrective action to remove the deficiency. For more information, see the section on Graduate Student Performance in the general information provided by the College of Graduate Studies.

Each graduate program offered in the College of Business Administration is a 36-hour non-thesis program. Research is required as a part of graduate course work, but a separate thesis is not a degree requirement. The MS in Information Systems does include a thesis option.