Overview
Beginning in 2005, the University of Cincinnati will offer a joint degree program in Political Science and Law that enables students to complete an MA/JD in four years and a PhD/JD in six years. Jointly administered by the College of Arts & Sciences Department of Political Science and the College of Law, students may spend their first year in either program, their second year in the other college, and their subsequent years completing a combination of seminars and writing projects that satisfy requirements in both colleges. In their final law school year, students may also opt for an externship that will earn credit accepted for the political science degree.

Both programs allow all students, whether or not enrolled for joint degrees, to count eight credit hours of cognate elective courses from the other department or college. All law students also have the option of pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Public Opinion and Survey Research offered by the political science department.

Contacts
College of Law Website
Al Watson, Assistant Dean for Adminision and Financial Aid: 513-556-0078; alfred.watson@uc.edu
Department of Political Science Website
Professor Howard Tolley: 513-556-3316; Howard.Tolley@uc.edu

Admission
Applications for admission to the Law School and the political science department must be filed separately. Law school applicants and first year law students may submit LSAT scores to the Political Science Department in lieu of GRE scores. Each school's decision to admit or not to admit is based solely on that school's selection criteria. Applicants may apply simultaneously to both schools; if admitted to both, a deferment must be requested at one of the two schools. Alternatively, an applicant may apply only to one school, and then apply to the other school at a later date. Students currently enrolled in either the political science or J.D. program may apply to the other program for admission in fall 2005 for a joint degree. Based on ABA guidelines, non-law credits counted toward the JD must be taken after completing the first year of law school. Tuition will be charged at the college rate where the student is enrolled for that year.

Financial Aid
Students in the Joint Program are eligible for financial aid from both the Law School and the Political Science Department. However, in both cases, tuition scholarships may be used only for coursework in the unit in which they are awarded. In awarding research assistantships, the Political Science Department normally grants preference to students who will be completing mostly political science courses during the period they will hold the assistantship.

Special Features
PhD comprehensive examination, MA thesis and dissertation committees will have both law and political science faculty members. Students will have one principal faculty adviser in each college who serve on exam and thesis/dissertation committees. PhD candidates will focus on either American Politics – Elections, Public Opinion and Survey Research Technology, or International Relations – security studies, political economy, international organization and law.

The fourth year of the joint MA/JD program provides College of Law-funded opportunities for students to do externships -- to work in at such agencies as the Cincinnati Public Defender, international human rights agencies, and on the Ohio Innocence Project -- in order to supplement academic work with practical legal experience. In addition, joint degree students have the option to work with the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights in the College of Law that provides international experience and editing opportunities through its Human Rights Quarterly, with the Rosenthal Institute for Justice and Ohio Innocence Project, and with the Freedom Center Journal. Joint degree students also have the same access as MA/PhD students to the opportunities, financial aid, and resources provided by the Political Science Department including the option of the option of a Graduate Certificate in Public Opinion and Survey Research.

Students in the PhD-track are not required to write an MA thesis, but will earn the MA degree through satisfactory completion of PhD comprehensive exams. Students who do not successfully pass PhD exams, may or may not be awarded an MA based on the level of their exam performance.

The Political Science Department offers a terminal MA-track to students who may only require that credential in their chosen career field, or who have or are seeking other graduate degrees (such as a JD) that they want to supplement with a political science credential. Students seeking an MA may complete the degree either through a written thesis or completion of a publishable journal article length research project, also satisfied by the journal article writing requirement of the law school. Public policy specialists, public opinion survey experts, political campaigners, practicing attorneys and others might all find a terminal MA in political science of value. Some might decide after completing those degree requirements to undertake further work toward a political Science PhD. The joint degree program will be especially valuable to students interested in public-interest law and legal advocacy in international human rights.

Academic Calendars 2005-2006
Political Science Quarters Law School Semesters
Fall Sept. 21-Dec. 11 August 24 – Dec. 22
Winter Jan. 3 – March 20 n/a
Spring March 27-June 8 Jan 18 - May 19

Credit Hour, Degree Requirements
1 Semester credit = 1.5 quarter credits

JD: 90 Semester Credits equal to 135 Quarter Credits -- 3 years
MA: 45 Quarter Credits equal to 30 Semester Credits -- one year, plus thesis
PhD: 135 Quarter Credits equal to 90 Semester Credits -- three years, plus dissertation

MA/JD
30 quarter credits in Political Science plus 82 semester credits in Law
• Ten semester hours of law school courses will be accepted by the Department of Political Science as 15 quarter hours of graduate-level classes.
• Twelve quarter hours of required graduate-level political science courses will be accepted as eight semester hours by the College of Law.
• A research/writing project for appropriate credit jointly supervised by faculty in both Law and Political Pcience will satisfy both the MA and JD writing requirement.

JD College of Law
90 semester credits, at least 77 in courses (maximum of 13 credits externships, individual research)
32 credits Required First Year courses
including Constitutional Law I+II -- 6 semester, 9 quarter credits applicable to MA
8 credits in Political Science MA courses (three classes of 4 quarter credits)
50 credits, at least 37 in classes/seminars, as well as Individual Research & Writing credits

MA Political Science
45 quarter credits
24 credits required courses – 652, 700, 705, 750, 700 Proseminar, 800 research seminar
15 credits from law school credits in Constitutional Law I + II, and elective(s)
6 credits for MA thesis including 3 semester credits law school individual research

PhD/JD
104 quarter credits in POL plus 75 semester credits in law
• 21 semester hours of law school courses will be accepted by the Department of Political Science as 31 quarter hours of graduate-level classes or extern credit
• 24 quarter hours of required graduate-level political science courses will be accepted as 15 semester hours by the College of Law, including appropriate jointly supervised dissertation research credits to satisfy the JD writing requirement

JD College of Law
90 semester credits, (at least 77 in courses (maximum of 13 credits externships, individual research)
32 credits Required First year courses
16 credits in Political Science PhD courses (4 quarter credits and up to four credits of PhD dissertation research for writing requirement)
42 credits, at least 33 in classes/seminars.

PhD Political Science
135 quarter credits
24 credits required methodology courses – 652, 700, 705, 750, 752, 753
36 Credits -- primary field of concentration (24) and sub-field (12), up to 12 in law
24 Credits -- second field of concentration, up to 8 credits in law
8 credits – distribution courses from other political science fields, up to 4 in law
12 credits – cognate courses – all in law within maximum of 30 allowed
31 credits – electives, research including 4 credits for law school externship.

POL Courses Recommended for Law School Cognate or Elective Credit
715 Pro-Seminar in Public Opinion Research
751 Pro-Seminar in Survey Design
783 Pro-Seminar in International Political Economy
782 International Security
737 Proseminar in Intergovernmental Relations
780 Proseminar in International Relations Theory and 880 Research Seminar in IR
710 Proseminar in American National Government and 810 Research Seminar
711 Proseminar American Political Behavior and 811Research Seminar
760 Proseminar in Comparative Politics

Law Courses Recommended for Political Science Cognate or Elective Credit
American
Constitutional Law
Education Law
National Security Law
Immigration Law and Policy
Political Trials
Government Regulation
Workers Social Legislation
Advanced Problems in Constitutional Law: The Foreign Relations Power or cross listed
15-POL-710 American Political Institutions

International
National Security Law
Human Rights Seminar or cross listed 15-POL-782 International Law and Human Rights
International Law or cross listed 15-POL-781 International Law and Organization
International Criminal Law
International Women's Human Rights

Comparative
English Legal History

Theory
Jurisprudence
Critical Race Theory
Feminist Jurisprudence

Individual Writing
Individual Research and Writing Project or 15 POL 895 1-9 cr. Research on Master's Thesis;
Individual Research and Writing Project or 15 POL 995 1-15 credits, PhD Thesis Research