Arrival

Upon arrival on campus, the prospective candidate should check immediately with the Graduate Program Administrator, Room 1-217 Forest Resources Complex, and make arrangements to consult with the assigned Major Professor.

Major Professor

The Major Professor is chairman of the student’s Advisory Committee and is the student’s primary source of advice on academic, scientific, and professional matters. The Major Professor will most likely be involved with a number of graduate students and other matters, so it is incumbent upon the student to use this Handbook, the Graduate School Bulletin, and the Graduate Student Checklist to insure adequate progress toward graduation.

The Advisory Committee

An Advisory Committee must be appointed for all master’s degree students before the end of the first semester and for all PhD students before the end of the first year of residence. The Advisory Committee is responsible for planning the Program of Study, approving a thesis or dissertation topic, assisting in direction of the student’s research, participating in all appropriate preliminary and final examinations and approval of the thesis or dissertation. A student’s Advisory Committee may not be composed entirely of adjunct faculty and must include at least one regular faculty member not in the student’s program area. The composition of Advisory Committees varies by degree objectives.

Program of Study

All students seeking a graduate degree must file a Program of Study. This is a listing of all courses the student is expected to take during the course of his or her degree program. An overall average of 3.0 must be maintained on all courses on the Program of Study, with no grade below a C on any course. Requirements for course work depend on the specific degree and subject area. The Program of Study must be approved by the student’s Advisory Committee, the Graduate Coordinator, and the Dean of the Graduate School. Graduate School policy concerning Master’s and PhD programs of study are covered in the Graduate School Bulletin. The Program of Study may be amended during the course of study because of conflicts, unavailability of courses, or justified changes in the student’s degree objectives. Any changes must be approved by the Major Professor, Graduate Coordinator, and the Dean of the Graduate School.

The MFR degree requires a minimum of 33 hours of course work, but does not require a thesis, Scientific Research for Resources Management (FORS 8200), or any specific number of hours in courses open only to graduate students. A problems course, FORS 9210 (Applied Research in Forest Resources) is recommended for the degree, but is optional at the discretion of the Advisory Committee. Of the 33 hours required, 12 must be courses offered in the School of Forest Resources and 9 must be outside the School. No graduate student will be allowed more than three hours graduate credit for problems courses (exclusive of FORS 9210) under the same professor. Problems courses are those not requiring formal classroom instruction.

The MS degree requires at least 30 hours of graduate-level courses, at least 12 hours of which must be in courses open only to graduate students. No more than two hours of graduate seminar or three hours of problems courses may be used to satisfy the 12-hour requirement. Neither Master’s Research (FORS 7000) nor Thesis (FORS 7300) may be used toward the required 12 hours of graduates-only courses. Up to six hours of Master’s Research (FORS 7000) may be applied to the 30-hour total, and three hours of Thesis (FORS 7300) is required in the 30-hour total.

All prospective candidates for the MS degree are required by the WSFR to enroll in Scientific Research for Resources Management (FORS 8200). FORS 8200 should be taken during the first year in residence.

Experimental Methods in Forest Resources Research (FORS 6750) or Statistical Methods II (STAT 6220) or a higher level statistics course is required of all MS students. This requirement can be satisfied by an equivalent graduate level course taken elsewhere. Biology students are strongly encouraged to enroll in the STAT 6300 series of classes because this series is designed to address experimental design issues relevant to biological research. Majors in Fisheries and Wildlife are required to take two hours of graduate seminar. No graduate student will be allowed more than three hours graduate credit for problems courses (exclusive of FORS 9210) under the same professor. Problems courses are those not requiring formal classroom instruction.

The PhD degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate-level credit which must form a logical whole and consist of at least 16 semester hours of 8000- and 9000-level courses, exclusive of credit in Doctoral Research (FORS9000), Dissertation (FORS9300), and independent study courses. The academic course work to be taken by a student enrolled in the PhD program shall be determined by the student's Advisory Committee. To fulfill the residency requirement, 30 semester hours of full-time course work over a period of not less than two consecutive semesters must be completed on campus.

Any PhD student lacking previous substantive research experience must enroll in Scientific Research in Forest Resources (FORS 8200) or an equivalent course. The standard for determining adequate previous research experience will be the acceptance for publication of research performed by the student in a refereed scientific journal.

Experimental Methods in Forest Resources Research (FORS 6750) or Statistical Methods II (STAT 6220) or a higher level statistics course is required of all PhD students. This requirement can be satisfied by an equivalent graduate level course taken elsewhere. Biology students are strongly encouraged to enroll in the STAT 6300 series of classes because this series is designed to address experimental design issues relevant to biological research. Majors in Fisheries and Wildlife are required to take two hours of graduate seminar. No graduate student will be allowed more than three hours graduate credit for problems courses (exclusive of FORS 9210) under the same professor. Problems courses are those not requiring formal classroom instruction.

All prospective candidates for the PhD degree are required by the WSFR to enroll in one semester hour of Supervised Professional Practicum in Forest Resources (FORS 9990). FORS 9990, taught by the Graduate Coordinator, provides graduate students with instruction and experience in university-level teaching and includes the presentation of university-level lectures and/or laboratory sections under faculty supervision. The course carries 1 hour credit and may be waived if the student has equivalent course work or experience. The Graduate Coordinator must approve waivers.

A student who bypasses the Master’s degree must complete a minimum of 16 semester hours of 8000- and 9000-level courses, exclusive of credit in Doctoral Research (FORS9000), Dissertation (FORS9300), plus an additional 4 semester hours in courses open only to graduate students.

Change of Degree Objective

The major professor must write a letter of justification petitioning the Graduate Affairs Committee to allow the student to change his or her degree objective from MFR to MS or from MS to PhD. Once the letter is received, we will circulate the student’s file, with the petition, to the Graduate Affairs Committee members for their vote on the proposed change. Students petitioning to change to the PhD program must first meet the Graduate School’s requirements for Bachelor’s to PhD consideration.

Research Skills Requirement

For all MS and PhD candidates, completion of Experimental Methods in Forest Resources Research (FORS 6750) or Statistical Methods II (STAT 6220) or a higher level statistics course satisfies the WSFR research skills requirement. To use a course taken at another institution, the student’s major professor must petition the Graduate Coordinator for approval to waive this requirement.

Research Proposal

All candidates for the MS and PhD degrees are required to write a research proposal for approval by their Advisory Committees. This should be approved before any significant research work is undertaken, or no later than the end of the first year of study.