Design | Media Arts

A minimum of 80 quarter units of upper division and graduate Design | Media Arts courses is required. 66 of the 80 units require letter grades; 14 units require S/U grades.

Required courses: DESMA 200, 252A, and 252B must be taken during the first two quarters in residence, DESMA 269 is to be taken twice (eight units), once each year while in residence. 12 units of DESMA 403 (S/U grading) and 36 units of DESMA 289 and/or 404 are to be taken during the first two years in residence. 16 units of electives, of which eight units of DESMA 596, may be applied toward the requirements for the degree.

Teaching Experience

While graduate students have the opportunity to work with the faculty as teaching assistants for undergraduate courses, this is not a requirement for the degree program.

Field Experience

Not Required.

Capstone Plan

The capstone consists of an oral examination and a concentrated body of work that is presented as the master's statement. Also required is an accompanying record of the project, consisting of documentation in the form of images of physical work, research material, and other visual material; this includes a written statement as determined by the graduate guidance committee.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

From graduate admission to award of the degree: six quarters is the normal time-to-degree.

MAXIMUM TTD

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

The Graduate Guidance Committee may recommend termination of graduate study if the committee deems that the student's creative work and progress towards the completion of the degree is inadequate in quality or quantity. This determination must be made in a formal meeting of the committee. The student may appeal a recommendation of termination by petition to the whole faculty through the department chair. An ad hoc committee of Design | Media Arts faculty may be assigned by the chair to review the decision of the Guidance Committee and make a report to the entire Design | Media Arts faculty. They then make a final determination to uphold or reverse the recommendation of the Guidance Committee.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.