Oct 08, 2024  
2024-2025 School of Graduate Studies Catalog 
    
2024-2025 School of Graduate Studies Catalog

Message from the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies


Welcome to graduate education at Salem State University. 

Thank you for choosing Salem State University as your academic home for an advanced degree. You will find our faculty are engaging and engaged. Among us are national leaders in their respective disciplines, award winning authors, opinion leaders, researchers, and dedicated teachers. You will have an opportunity to grow in your analytical skills, your ability to be a problem solver. 

That you are an admitted graduate student signifies you are qualified to further your skill set. Admission into a graduate program is different from the typical undergraduate program. You were reviewed and recommended by the program and then admitted by SSU. The review process is singularly important because it informs us the program faculty saw in you the talent to be a colleague. Your challenge is to rise to their assessment: read more and reread more, write-rewrite-think-rewrite, think more critically. These are the skills required in an advanced degree program.

This Catalog is designed to help you understand the policies and processes of SSU graduate education. Begin with the mission statement. Our purpose is to help you garner the skills necessary to participate in and be leaders in a rapidly changing world. Also, take special note of the responsibility statement contained within this Catalog. The first section of this Catalog pertains to general rules that cover all SSU graduate students. All graduate students should read the first section.  Program specific information is found in later sections or within program handbooks. 

For those who are new to Salem State, take advantage of the historic surroundings. The long history of the area, which predates the formal founding of this nation, helps us to reflect on the power of ideas and action. For returning Vikings, welcome home. For each of you, your new challenge is to be vigorous in the pursuit of knowledge, be willing to engage in a transformative experience, utilize and expand your research skills to hone your knowledge base, and be bold in establishing new ideas and understandings. 

I hope you have an intellectually exciting experience as you pursue your advanced degree. The graduate school is here to assist you in this pursuit. Let us know how we can help you.


Sincerely,

Stephanie L. Bellar, Ph.D.

Dean, School of Graduate Studies

 

Mission Statement

The mission of the School of Graduate Studies is to provide high-quality graduate education and create a stimulating environment for research, scholarship and civic engagement that prepares a diverse community of learners for success in an ever-changing global society.