Political Science

http://web.utk.edu/~polisci/

John Scheb, Head
Brandon Prins, Graduate Coordinator

Professors
Fitzgerald, M.R., PhD - Oklahoma
Folz, D.H., PhD - Tennessee
Freeland, P.K., PhD - Wisconsin
Gant, M.M., PhD - Michigan State
Houston, D.J., PhD - State University of New York (Binghamton)
Nownes, A.J., PhD - Kansas
Scheb, J.M., PhD - Florida
Tonn, B., PhD - Northwestern
Zhong, Y., PhD - Kentucky

Associate Professors
Down, I., PhD - North Carolina
Hwang, W., PhD - Michigan State
Kelly, N., PhD - North Carolina
Morgan, J.M., PhD - North Carolina
Prins, B.C., PhD - Michigan State

Assistant Professors
Atkins, D., PhD – Georgia
Bell, C., PhD - Colorado
Han, K., PhD - UCLA
Smith, A., PhD - Emory
 

The Department of Political Science offers the Master of Arts, Master of Public Policy and Administration, and Doctor of Philosophy. The department also offers a dual program with the College of Law. Inquiries concerning all programs should be directed to the departmental office.

Admission
Three departmental recommendation forms must be submitted to the Department of Political Science, at least two of which must be completed by instructors at the institution most recently attended. In addition, scores on the general portion of the Graduate Record Examination must be submitted.
 

Five-Year BA-MPPA Program - Public Policy and Administration Major

For qualified students, the Department of Political Science offers a 5-year BA-MPPA program with a BA major in Political Science and a non-thesis MPPA major in Public Policy and Administration. The primary component of the program is that a qualified student may take up to 9 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both the BA degree and the MPPA degree. Students are typically considered for conditional admission to the program during, or immediately following, their third year of undergraduate study at UT.

To be considered for conditional admission to the program:

• A student must be a declared Political Science major with a minimum GPA of 3.4, must have completed at least 15 hours of credit in Political Science, and must have completed at least 90 hours of the 120 hours of coursework required for the BA degree with a major in Political Science.

• A student must provide three letters of recommendation and complete a personal interview with the Department of Political Science.

Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to have completed ECON 201, POLS 340, and POLS 401. The Department may consider other relevant factors such as an applicant’s work experience and level of maturity before conditionally admitting a student to the BA-MPPA program.

Conditional admission of a student into the 5-year BA-MPPA program must be approved by both the Department of Political Science and the Graduate School. Students will be informed of the outcome of their application prior to the beginning of their fourth year of undergraduate study.

Any course taken for graduate credit prior to satisfying all requirements for the BA degree must be approved both by the Department head (or designee) and by the Graduate School. UT’s Senior Privilege rule imposes a maximum limit of 9 hours on the number of graduate-level hours that an undergraduate student may complete before completing an undergraduate degree and being formally admitted to the Graduate School. A student who is conditionally admitted to the BA-MPPA program, completes 9 hours of graduate credit during the student’s fourth year of undergraduate study, and applies those 9 hours to satisfy BA degree requirements may also apply the 9 hours towards MPPA degree requirements.

Conditional admission into the BA-MPPA program does not guarantee acceptance into either the Graduate School or the MPPA program. Students in the BA-MPPA program must apply for admission to the Graduate School and to the MPPA program during their fourth year of undergraduate study, following the same procedures that all other students follow. A GRE score must be submitted as part of the application for admission into any graduate program in the Department of Political Science. Students will be fully admitted to the BA-MPPA program after they have been accepted both by the Graduate School and by the MPPA program.

Once fully admitted to the MPPA program, BA-MPPA students are required to complete the same curriculum as other students enrolled in the MPPA program.