Introduction

This graduate student handbook is intended to provide information about the policies and procedures of the graduate programs in the College of Communication and Information. An effort has been made to anticipate the questions that commonly occur to students during their course of study. 

Information Sources

Although the purpose of this handbook is to assist graduate students in planning their programs, it is the responsibility of students to be aware of the regulations governing their work. Those regulations are documented in the Graduate Catalog and Hilltopics. Also regularly monitor the University Graduate school Web site. Another useful document is the UT Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations. Nothing in this handbook supersedes the requirements stated in the Graduate Catalog or other official publications of the University of Tennessee. However, it is our hope that this document will be helpful during your graduate studies in the College of Communication and Information. 

Information about the College of Communication and Information is available at http://cci.utk.edu/. The link to http://cci.utk.edu/gradstudies should be particularly useful to you. Among other things, this Web site will provide guidelines and forms that you need as you progress in your graduate program.

Program Administration

The PhD program and the MS in Communication and Information are both interdisciplinary programs that are coordinated out of the associate dean's office in Suite 302 of the Communications & University Extension Building. Dr. Sally McMillan is the Associate Dean for Academic Programs for the college and is responsible for these programs. Diana Hall, CPS is the Administrative Services Assistant to contact for general information about these college-wide programs. The telephone number is (865) 974-6651; the e-mail addresses are sjmcmill (at) utk.edu for Dr. McMillan and diking (at) utk.edu for Ms. Hall. Most of the remainder of this handbook applies specifically to these two college-wide degrees.

The MS in Information Sciences is coordinated out of the School of Information Sciences office in Suite 451 of the Communications & University Extension Building. Dr. Edwin Cortez is the Director of the School of Information Sciences and is responsible for this program. Tanya Arnold is the Student Services Coordinator and primary contact for information about the information sciences master's program. The telephone number is (865) 974-2858; the e-mail addresses are ecortez (at) utk.edu for Dr. Cortez and tnarnold (at) utk.edu for Ms. Arnold. A separate handbook has been prepared for students who are in this degree program and should be the primary guide for students studying information sciences at the master's level.