Design Your Program

The MA in Integrative Studies provides an opportunity to develop expertise in an interdisciplinary area, given your interest in a specific problem or question that is too broad or complex to be addressed adequately by disciplinary or professional program. The particular problem or question you want to address might come from career or professional environments, from academic interests, or from civic, social or community issues. Whatever you choose to work on you should be passionate about it, and willing to devote considerable time and effort in the research required to address the topic constructively.

Students in the program have worked on problems they found in human resources, education and curriculum development, healthcare, marketing and communication, and social justice and community engagement. The final product must be informed and professional. In a graduate program you developing a kind of expertise that places you in a field with other educated professionals. You are answering questions that they would have and providing information, arguments, and solutions that they would find helpful.

Design Your Program

Work with the program director to determine the direction you want your research to take and what resources might be available. You need to define your academic goals and research agenda; What questions are important? What kinds of disciplinary or professional programs would supply the kind of knowledge and skills you need to address your specific interdisciplinary problem or question? Because you will design your own program of study, you need to be clear about your goals and the importance and viability of your project. You need to know where to find the knowledge and skills you need.

Good plans of study meet the students needs and serve progress toward academic goals. Good plans of study are coherently organized and provide for meaningful integration.

While program plans are approved by the program director based on his/her understanding of the student's goals, ultimately students are responsible for carefully articulating their interests and goals and for designing an appropriate program of study that meets their needs.

You have several opportunities to bring in the needed expertise and build your program.

  • NKU Graduate Programs. Look at the graduate programs we offer at NKU and consider which of these will contribute to your project. Then look at the descriptions for the courses in these programs. You can contact the program director or the faculty member to inquire about the availability of the courses. Some courses might not be offered regularly (or at least not a schedule that meets your needs), some courses might have important prerequisites you'll need to take, and some courses might not be available to students outside the home program. You can find out which classes are available online. Remember a graduate program requires courses at the 500-level and above. Most of your coursework will be a the 600-level.

  • Both IST 585 and IST 793 are available online. A number of other programs offer online courses with which you might build an online program of study. The MBA, MPA and Education offer online programs. MSIO, ENG, and COM also offer a wide variety of online graduate courses.

  • With the approval of the the Integrative Studies program director, a student can use up to 15 hours of graduate coursework earned as a degree seeking students in an existing NKU graduate program.

  • Certificate. Consider earning a graduate certificate along the way. A graduate certificate usually requires 18 or more hours of graduate coursework with a designated focus. Many MAIS students start with a graduate certificate in Non-profit Management or Professional Writing. They add courses appropriate to their intended interdisciplinary project. Your resume can reflect both the certificate and the MA degree.

• Business Analytics Certificate

• Business Informatics Certificate

• Clinical Research Certificate

• Communication Teaching Certificate

• Composition and Rhetoric Certificate

• Corporate Information Security Certificate

• Creative Writing Certificate

• Emergency Management Certificate

• Health Care Commercialization Certificate

• Health Informatics Certificate

• Literary and Cultural Studies Certificate

• Nonprofit Management Certificate

• Nurse Practitioner Advancement Certificate

• Post-Master’s of Science in Nursing Certificate

• Professional Writing Certificate

• Total Worker Health Certificate

  • Use NKU Micro-credentials as stackable components of your plan of study. For example, the Arts Administration credential fits neatly into the Non-profit Management certificate. The Family Support for Childhood Illness credential aligns well with programs pursuing the Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis path below.

  • GC3. You can take up to nine hours or work from the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities (GC3). If something you need is not offered at NKU, look at some of the graduate programs at neighboring institutions for what you need (their graduate catalogs should be online). As a consortium member, you can take courses at GC3 institutions as an NKU student (same prices). You will work through the NKU registrar to make arrangements. It is recommended you contact the course instructor to see whether the course is available to students outside of their program or whether there are prerequisites.

  • Transfer. You can transfer up to 13 hours of graduate coursework (40% of total) from an accredited institution. Check with the graduate program director about the courses you want to transfer and look to the Registrar's Office for the appropriate transfer request forms. With the approval of the graduate program director, a student may transfer up to nine credit hours of graduate coursework taken as part of a previously earned graduate degree.

We will create a program of study in the first semester and regularly update that plan.

Examples

Your program design will be limited by the graduate level programs and courses available at NKU, along with the Consortium of Colleges and Universities in the Cincinnati area. Your program will be designed for you and by you (with approval of the program director). Each program is unique although there are some common pathways student often take. Here are some examples of popular areas for many MAIS students.

Working with Non-Profits

NKU’s graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management provides students and practitioners with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to manage and lead nonprofit organizations. Required courses include

And additional 9 hours of electives is also required for the certificate. Some MAIS students have designed programs of study in which a grounding in nonprofit management would be important. They will add NKU courses from other disciplines depending on their personal and professional goals.

  • COM 604 Organizational Communication

  • EDS 561 Intellectual and Orthopedic Disabilities

  • EDS 570 Working w/Families Stud w/Disabilities

  • PAD 500 Foundations Of Public Administration

  • PAD 501 Human Resource Management

  • PAD 623 Grant Research and Writing

  • PAD 624 Nonprofit Strategic Planning

  • PAD 626 Nonprofit Program Evaluation

  • PAD 627 Nonprofit Information Management

  • PAD 628 Nonprofit Laws

  • PAD 630 Ethics & Decision Making-Public Sector

  • PAD 631 Leading in Diverse Public Environments

  • PAD 632 Executive Management & Public Leadership

  • SWK 565 Compassion, Empathy & Forgiveness

  • SWK 594 Topics: Issues in Social Welfare

  • SWK 621 Advanced Social Welfare Policy

Athletics

Some students are interested in athletics, focusing on advising, coaching, or administration.

Xavier offers a number of courses in their Sports Administration (SPMG) program and their Coaching Education and Athlete Development (CEAD) program. You can take up to nine hours in a Consortium program (that includes Xavier) as an NKU student and apply them to your program of study. MAIS students have taken

  • SMPG 610 Sports Ethics

  • SPMG 622 Personnel Issues in Sports Management

  • SPMG 652 NCAA: Rules, Regulations, Policies

  • SPMG 662 Public Relations and Communications in Sport

  • CEAD 610 Coaching Ethics and Philosophy

  • CEAD 660 Long-Term Athletic Development II

MAIS students will add NKU courses from other disciplines depending on their personal and professional goals. Popular courses include

  • EDG 606 Leadership In A Diverse Society

  • COM 601 Communication Theory

  • COM 604 Organizational Communication

  • COM 640 Persuasion

  • PAD 630 Ethics & Decision Making-Public Sector

  • EDG 620 Learning and Motivation

  • PSY 630 Occupational Health Psychology

  • MGT 605 Managing in Organizations

  • MGT 607 Strategies for High-performing Orgs

  • MKT 605 Marketing in Organizations

Look also at courses in Athletic Training, Counseling, Health Administration, Health Science, and Social Work.

Autism and Behavior Analytics

The Teacher as Leader M.A. degree offers several concentrations for students. One of these is in Autism/Applied Behavior Analysis. This is not a certificate, but does provide a package of courses around which one might design a program focused on autism and the problems that surround it.

MAIS students will add NKU courses from other disciplines depending on their personal and professional goals. For example,

  • COU 600 Orient to Clinical Mental Health Counsel

  • COU 620 Human Development

Also look at courses in Health Administration, Health Science, and Social Work

Revised 11.25.2020