Opinions Wanted - Should I go for another MA?

Howdy folks!

I officially start at the community college on August 16th. I've already met with my counterpart at our other campus, and she's encouraged me to start thinking about going for a promotion. Right now I'm ranked as an Assistant Professor. To move up in rank to Associate Professor I have to have 36 credit hours of history. Right now I have 21. I have 21 credits of political science as well, not to mention an MS in Education, but none of that counts. The 15 credits I need must be in history. I also have to be at my current rank for at least 3 years before I can apply for a promotion. I figure that gives me three years to get those credits.

So here's my question. The MA I have is in Interdisciplinary Studies. I was looking at going for a certificate through APU, but I figured, if I was going to do that many classes, which would essentially be half an MA, why not just go for the whole thing. After I get promoted to Associate Professor, I can move up to full professor if I earn a doctorate. I figure a true MA in History might help with that, and perhaps by the time I finish the MA, APU might offer doctoral programs. (One can hope, right?)

So what are your thoughts? Should I go for the MA, or just do the certificate? On a side note, once I have the necessary number of credits in History, which is 36, I can technically earn a doctorate in anything, so I don't have to stick with history. I could do an education doctorate or public policy or something. Granted I've got plenty of time to figure this out, I figured I'd ask the experts!

Thanks!
-Matt

 

Is there a PhD program you are interested in that will add history credits to your total? Could you start a PhD program and take some history classes first and bail out later if you wanted once you hit 36 history credits?

 

This is my first thought as well.....

 

I was looking at applying to the American Studies program at the College of William and Mary. The problem is that the courses there are denoted as AMST not HIST, and from what I've gathered, they wouldn't count. Unless I was going to do a straight up history PhD, which I don't think I'd get into given my lack of an actual MA in History, I wouldn't be able to get the credits from a doctorate.

-Matt

 

There are quite a few cheap history master's degrees these days, so why not just get an MA in history for now and then later go for an EdD, many of which only require a master's degree of any kind? You might even get another liberal studies degree that allows you to get the history courses you need while adding some new subject to your CV.

 

Hmmm... so I could go back to WNMU and get another MA but do History and another concentration... Then I could do a thesis. I wonder if they allow that... hmmm...

-Matt

 

If they don't there are a bunch of others that will. Here's one from Baker: http://www.bakeru.edu/spgs-prospective-students/degrees-and-programs/mla

 

So you're doing the program at AMU. What are your thoughts on it? I took 3 PolySci classes and 1 History class through them, and I enjoyed them all. I like that they're inexpensive. Are you doing a thesis or comps? Part of the reason I thought about doing the MA was so that I could do a thesis. I think I need to practice writing more in prep for a PhD.

-Matt

 

AMU has been great. I'm taking the non-thesis route, but I think it would be a good place to write a history thesis. Most of the history professors have top tier history PhDs.

 

Ordinarily, I would say two Master's degrees are enough, and just take the courses necessary to qualify for promotion to be done with it. However, if you think you need to sharpen your research/writing skills, then go for the thesis, because a doctoral program is VERY writing intensive.....even more than I expected.

 

Matt,
You could do the MA in History at the University of Louisiana - Monroe. It is very competitively priced and would most likely give you the needed credits.

ULM's Gateway to Online Degrees (GOLD): Master of Arts (MA) in History

Good luck in your decision!

Justin

 

That's my thoughts... I'm an okay writer, but I'd like a challenge. The largest paper I've written was about 25 pages or so, maybe more. Obviously a dissertation is a lot more than that, so I thought a thesis would be a good stepping stone, and perhaps even be something I could continue to research. I already know what I want to study.

-Matt

 

Of course, if you just want practice academic writing you could save money and try to get published in a journal or two, which might give you more credibility than another MA.

 

I usually have a 10-15 page paper due every week, so yeah, you should get some practice in!

 

Oh, I've written my share, don't get me wrong! Most have been more review papers than independent research. Plus I just like the idea of being able to research my own topics.

So, Bruce, are you doing a doctoral program?

-Matt

 

Yes, I got high on bath salts one night, and finally took the plunge.

Kidding aside, yes, I am. I'll send you a PM.

 

Why don't you see if you can just take classes at WNMU in the area of history. Do they have an option at the school?

 

That crossed my mind too, but then I looked at the available courses, and I've taken most of them. Since they cross list a lot of History & Political Science courses, I took many of the courses as POLS, which means I can't go back and retake them as HIST.

I'll probably end up going with APU. They have a huge variety, after all.

-Matt

 

Yeah man he got high and ate my face off. It wasn't cool either.

 

Would you be able to take the same classes and have them count as HIS classes?

With all that has been said, I would go for an AMU certificate and try to get something published - that will sharpen your writing / research skills!