| VII. NON-THESIS M.S. DEGREE IN BIOLOGY - SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES |
| A. Core Requirements |
| All requirements listed in Section I A, B, C (above) must be met. |
| B. Sponsor and Examination Committee |
| Students must identify a sponsor prior to admission to non-thesis M.S. candidacy and must establish an Examination Committee no later than the end of the semester in which the student is admitted to M.S. candidacy. The committee consists of three members including the sponsor (who will chair the committee). |
| C. Plan of Study |
| The student must submit to the Examination Committee a complete plan of coursework for the M.S. degree. The committee must approve the plan and the plan should be placed in the student's file, with the committee chair’s signature. It is the responsibility of the sponsor to discuss changes in the plan with the committee and seek the committee's approval for the changes. |
| D. Course Work |
| At least 34 sh of 100-level or higher course work must be taken, not including courses taken to make up deficiencies from I.A., B., or C. above (see footnote 2). Up to 8 sh of supervised graduate research (2:301), though insufficient to form the basis of a Master’s Thesis, can be used to satisfy the total requirement for 34 sh of coursework. No more than 4 sh may be assigned to the required "report" (see below). Among the 34 sh, the student must take at least one graduate level seminar course for two-semester hours credit. This course must include a writing requirement. |
| E. Written Report |
| The student must prepare a written report based on library research, on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with his/her sponsor. No more than four hours of credit may be submitted for this report toward the necessary total of 34 hours. A copy of the report is to be deposited into the student file. |
| F. Written Examination |
After the report has been approved by the faculty sponsor, the student is eligible to take the written examination (prepared and administered by the three member Exam Committee, covering the student's graduate program in Biology, including the area of the required report). The examination should emphasize breadth of knowledge and the ability to work with knowledge acquired to answer broad, as well as narrow, questions of biological importance. If this examination is failed the student may be re-examined in the following semester or summer session. No oral examination is required. In the event of marginal written examination performance, however, the Exam Committee or its appointed subcommittee may ask the student, in an interview, to expand upon, or explain answers not fully satisfactory, after which the Committee will determine whether the student has passed or failed the examination. A grade of pass completes requirements for the degree. |