Social Data Science, M.A. - Advising

Staff Academic Advising Questions

We are here to help!  E-mail NCGradAdvising@asu.edu with questions related to policies and procedures to help you navigate graduate school successfully.

Many of the answers to your questions may be on this website and in the Program Handbook, please review both carefully.

Student Travel

The New College may provide up to $300 to support graduate student travel to academic and professional conferences.  Students may also receive up to $950 for travel from GPSA.  Contact your program director for more information.

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Important Resources

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Sexual Violence and Prevention Response

The MA Social Data Science program requires 30 credit hours including a 6 credit hour culminating experience.

ASU Catalog and Degree Search: Social Data Science, MA

Download an MA Social Data Science Checklist

Download an MA Social Data Science Fall Admit Sample Course Schedule

What is the Interactive Plan of Study (iPOS)?

The Interactive Plan of Study (iPOS) functions as an agreement between the student, the academic unit, and the ASU Graduate College. It will support you as you make progress toward your degree requirements. (Learn More)

The iPOS allows you to plan for your course load, can guide registration each term, and provides an anticipated timeline for degree completion.

How do I select courses for my iPOS?

At the time of admission to a graduate program in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences students are provided with a sequence of courses for the first semester and then work closely with the staff and faculty advisors to determine a successful path to degree completion.

How to create an iPOS?

To access the iPOS: Login to My ASU. From the My Programs box, under the Programs tab, select iPOS. Select Graduate Interactive Plan of Study (iPOS). Note: Pop up blockers may need to be turned off.  You will find instructions for submitting the iPOS in the downloadable how-to guide.

Internships

If you are interested in completing an internship (584) for academic credit, please follow the below steps:

1. Contact your graduate academic advisor at NCGradAdvising@asu.edu to confirm the internship meets your program’s degree requirements.
    
2. Then, contact NCInternships@asu.edu to learn more about securing an internship and enrolling for graduate credit hours.
    
3. After you have received the course permission override to enroll in the 584 course:
   1) register for the class as soon as possible;
   2) email NCGradAdvising@asu.edu to update the iPOS on your behalf (if the credits will be used toward your graduate degree requirements).

The MA Social Data Science (Campus/Ground) requires STC 528 Communicating Data Science and STC 570 Social Data Projects, totaling 6 credit hours to satisfy the culminating experience capstone requirement OR STC 599 Thesis, 6 credits for approved thesis students. 

Participants collaborate on a substantial project relating to social use of data. In the process they bring to bear their theoretical and technical skills and demonstrate professional interaction and communication skills. Participants will also produce a required public portfolio of their work during their graduate program.

 If you are interested in producing a research thesis, you should speak with your advisor early in your program about your interest. Once you identify a topic and a faculty committee to work with, you must submit an approved thesis proposal no later than two weeks prior to the start of your third semester. You also must complete STC 501 and STC 551 before your proposal may be accepted.

If approved, you will work on the thesis during your final semester of coursework, enrolling in six credits of thesis supervision rather than the Communicating Data Science (STC 528) and Social Data Projects (STC 570) courses.

If students have already completed 6 hours of STC 599 before completing the thesis they must register for 1 hour of STC 595 Continuing Registration in subsequent semesters. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of 1 hour of STC 595 for each additional semester necessary for completion of the thesis. Students must complete their thesis within 3 hours of STC 595 Continuing Registration. This equates to either 3 additional semesters or 2 additional semesters and a summer session. In the event that there are extenuating circumstances that prevent students from meeting this deadline, students may petition their graduate committee for an extension. When necessary students should consult the Director and their thesis advisor for more information about petitioning for an extension to complete the thesis.

Students should also, as necessary, amend their iPOS to reflect thesis credits. Students can apply to write a thesis either prior to or after they have completed and filed their iPOS. When a student's application to write a thesis is approved prior to submitting the iPOS the student should incorporate 6 hours of STC 599 (Thesis) into the iPOS. If the POS has been already been submitted, the student simply needs to amend the existing iPOS by including 6 hours of STC 599 (Thesis) and by removing 2 courses (STC 528 and 570) previously included on the iPOS. Students should also list their graduate thesis committee and the advisor on the iPOS.

The culminating experience is completed in a student’s final semester of study. To be eligible for an override to enroll in the culminating experience a student must:

• Have an approved iPOS with no course errors
• Resolve all items listed under Priority Tasks affecting registration in the My ASU Portal
• Meet the minimum 3.00 GPA in each Plan of Study GPA, Overall Graduate GPA, Cumulative GPA.
  • If one or more of the GPAs is below the required minimum and can increase to a 3.00 with successful completion of the culminating experience, registration will be permitted.
• If a student becomes ineligible before the start of the culminating experience they will be removed from the course by New College Graduate Student Services.

 All MA Social Data Science non-thesis students must earn a “B” or better in STC 570 Social Data Projects.

The MA Social Data Science program allows students a maximum of two graded attempts (letter grade A-E). Students who do not achieve a "B" or better in the second attempt will be recommended for dismissal from the program.

Grades of Incomplete “I” or Withdrawal “W” in STC 570 do not indicate satisfactory academic progress. A student with three or more earned “I” or “W” grades (or a combination of “I” and “W” grades) may be recommended for dismissal.

To complete a thesis, students must:

• Incorporate the feedback of their graduate committee
• Complete any necessary human subjects protocol
• Collect data
• Write the manuscript and complete revisions
• Follow the submission guidelines and calendar
• Schedule an oral defense via My ASU with Graduate College and submit the thesis for format approval at least 10 working days before the defense
• Participate in a public defense of the thesis
• Publicly archive the thesis
• Be assigned a final Y (Pass) grade for the STC 599 course

Our Faculty

Use the ASU iSearch feature to read more about each faculty’s expertise and research.

Core Faculty 

Alexander Halavais (director) 

Nicholas Proferes 

Shawn Walker 

Affiliated Faculty

Pauline Hope Cheong 

Marisa Duarte 

Nicholas Duran 

Edward Finn

Sarah Florini 

Dawn Gilpin 

Hazel Kwon

Kathleen Pine 

Michael Simeone 

Vince Waldron 

Greg Wise

External Faculty

Kelley Cotter