OSAA will register students with approval from the graduate adviser for this course.
Graduate School rules stipulate students must enroll in the Professional Report in the semester in which they graduate. Completing the requirement provides students with the opportunity to do supervised individual research on a policy issue and to prepare a formal report. The Professional Report should contribute to understanding a policy issue and include more substantial research and analysis than a term paper in a graduate seminar course. Each report is supervised by a first reader--an LBJ School faculty member who advises the student in all stages of the research and evaluates the final product, assigning the grade for the course. Students must also work with a second reader on the report, who may be from the LBJ School or another University department. Students participating in the Engineering dual program generally write a thesis for their Engineering department, which fulfills the Professional Report requirement. Students in the Law and Business dual programs register for the Professional Report in the LBJ School. Students in the dual program in Communication or in Middle Eastern, Asian, Latin American Studies or Post-Soviet and East European Studies must register for the Professional Report in those programs and must have one reader from each program. Generally, the first reader is from the program in which the student is registered. Each student must receive prior written approval from his or her first reader before formally beginning work on the Professional Report. It is the responsibility of the student to discuss with the first and second readers and both have approved the proposed topic, methodology, and work schedule for the report. While students may develop their topics and collect data for their reports in internships and other classes, the report must be completed independently, under the supervision of faculty readers. A student may not receive credit for the Professional Report unless he or she has received faculty approval for and supervision of the work.