Admission|Curriculum|Career Oportunities|Grad School Opportunities|Salary

The Multidisciplinary Studies degree program is comprised of three related minors. The program does not limit students to courses of study in a particular area, but rather stresses the importance of breadth of knowledge and cross-disciplinary communication. MDS emphasizes flexibility and combines specialized knowledge from individual disciplines with a unique ability to approach problems from divergent perspectives. Students learn to apply their minors to real-world problems through a community-based internship and to apply multidisciplinary techniques in communicating the strengths of their self-chosen course of study. For more information on general aspects of the program, see http://mds.wvu.edu.

Admission
The student must first apply and be admitted to West Virginia University as an undergraduate

Upon completion of 58 credit hours of WVU or transfer credit, a student with a 2.0 cumulative grade simply needs to request an Intent to Declare MDS form. The form can be sent to the prospective student by email, fax, or mail. Upon the receipt of the completed form by the MDS department, the student will be assigned an advisor. The advisor will then provide the student with an evaluation of your transcript, a list of classes required for graduation, and an estimate of the time required to graduate within one week. Each semester the student will meet by email or phone at least once with their advisor to discuss their progress towards the degree and their class schedule for the next academic term.

The request for an Intent to Declare MDS form may be mailed or emailed and should be directed to:

Evan Widders
Coordinator Multidisciplinary Studies Program
208 Armstrong Hall
P.O. Box 6211
Morgantown, WV 26506-6211
ewidders@mix.wvu.edu

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Curriculum
Depending on their chosen degree track, students in the MDS program may have their schedules vary widely. However, every minor requires the completion of at least nine credit hours at the upper-division level. As more minors are offered through Extended Learning, the number of possible degree tracts will change. Currently, however, the offered tracts are:

Different combinations will be considered upon petition.

No grade in a course required for one of the student’s minors lower than a C counts toward the completion of the MDS degree. In addition to the courses required by the student’s minors, the student must complete the Multidisciplinary Studies capstone course (MDS 492). The capstone is taken in the student’s final semester at WVU and stresses the integration of the student’s three minors into a cohesive whole through the completion of an internship in the local community. Beginning in Fall 2007, the MDS capstone is projected to be offered once a year in a web-based format.

While working toward the completion of the MDS requirements, MDS students must also complete either the Liberal Studies Program or, more likely, the General Education curriculum as stipulated by the University. In addition to other requirements, the MDS program mandates the completion of at least 60 credit hours at the 200 level or above and 30 credit hours at the 300 or 400 level. The student must maintain a 2.0 GPA and complete at least 128 total credit hours in order to graduate.

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Career Opportunities
Multidisciplinary studies help to bridge what have become increasingly specialized, disparate, and segmented fields of study within American universities. The ability to approach problems from an interdisciplinary perspective is an increasingly valuable skill in today’s highly specialized society. Holders of degrees Multidisciplinary Studies degrees often enter into the same fields as graduates of more traditional majors such as Communication Studies or Business Administration. These include positions in management or sales or in industries such as hotel/hospitality, pharmaceutical, insurance, or retail. Employment opportunities for individuals who have learned divergent methods of solving problems are also available in education, social services, and government.

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Graduate School Opportunities
Graduates may use their degrees as a foundation for further studies in law, business administration, journalism, education, or other disciplines.

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Salary Range
The starting pay for Multidisciplinary Studies program graduates varies widely depending on the career track pursued by the graduate and the minors they have completed. However, it is at least generally comparable to the starting salaries of other liberal arts majors. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers as of summer 2006 the average starting salary for a graduate holding a liberal arts degree is $32,586.

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