REQUIREMENTS FOR M.S. STUDENTS

 

DEGREE: M.S. in Plant and Soil Sciences

 

MAJOR: Agronomy (Crops and Soils)

 

 

I.               Admission Requirements: All applicants to the Agronomy major of the M.S. in Plant and Soil Sciences must complete an Application for Graduate Admission and must meet all of the following requirements to be accepted as a regular graduate student.

 

1.     Must have a bachelor's degree in Agronomy or a related area.

 

2.     Must have a minimum undergraduate total GPA of3.0, or at least a GPA of3.0 in the last 60 hours of credit.

 

3.     Must have completed the general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) with a minimum score of 500 on each of at least two of the three sections (measures).

 

4.     Must submit a written statement of 500 words or more identifying the applicant's preferred research area and the applicant's goals and objectives relative to receiving an M.S. degree.

 

5.     Must provide three letters of reference, at least two of which are required from persons familiar with the applicant's academic performance.

 

6.     Must have completed the following courses at the undergraduate level:

 

a.     Biological Sciences -12 hours

b.     Chemistry -12 hours

c.     College Algebra -3 hour

 

         Students may be admitted as provisional when they have a baccalaureate degree but do not meet all requirements listed above. The Agronomy faculty will evaluate the adequacy of each applicant's undergraduate degree and recommend either acceptance as a regular/provisional student or rejection to the Division Director. A faculty member in the applicant's discipline of interest must be willing to serve as adviser before any applicant will be accepted as a regular or provisional graduate student.

 

         International students have the additional requirement of taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and making a minimum score of 550 if their native language is not English. This score is required for both regular and provisional status. After acceptance, some international students may need to take English courses as detem1ined by tests given by the Department of Foreign Languages (see Intensive English Program in the WVU Graduate Catalog).


II.             Adviser: Each graduate student will be assigned an adviser who must be a full member of the graduate faculty, a full-time employee of WVU, and on the Agronomy faculty. This assignment will be made by the Division Director based on presumed mutual research interests of the student and the adviser.

 

III.           Graduate Student's Committee: The graduate student and his/her adviser will select an advisory committee consisting of a minimum of three members, the majority of which must be graduate faculty, including the adviser. The majority of this committee will consist of persons currently on the WVU faculty and stationed at Morgantown. At least one person on the committee will be from outside Agronomy. The committee must be approved by the Division Director.

 

IV.           Plan of Study: A plan of study must be prepared before the end of the student's second semester in residence. The plan of study includes a list of courses to be taken and an outline of research to be completed for graduation. The plan of study must be approved by the student, the student's advisory committee, the Division Director, and the Associate Dean. The student's advisory committee should be presented with a summary of the student's undergraduate course work before being asked to approve the plan of study.

 

V.             Required Course Work for Graduation: Graduate courses (200 level or above) are required in the following disciplines for all Agronomy students:

 

                  General Area                                       Semester/Hours

1.     Biologya                                                 3

2.     Chemistrya                                             3

3.     Statistics/Geostatistics                             6

4.     Agronomyb ( excluding seminar)             6

5.     Seminarc, d                                             3

6.     Researchc                                               6

7.     Elective                                                   3

      Total (minimum required)e, f                  30

 

a.     In addition to graduate level courses in Biology and Chemistry, courses in the following disciplines are acceptable:

 

(1). Biology: Entomology, microbiology, plant pathology, soil microbiology. Soil science students may substitute courses in earth sciences or engineering.

 

(2). Chemistry: Biochemistry and geochemistry.

 

b.     All federal agencies and most state and private agencies require applicants for soil science positions to have completed 15 semester hours of soil science courses. One course each in soil physics, soil chemistry, soil fertility, and pedology (soil morphology, genesis, and/or classification) is recommended.

 

c.     Both seminar and research are graded on the S and U system.

d.     A satisfactory grade (S) in seminar is dependent upon regular attendance and participation throughout the semester. Students must enroll in seminar each semester of residence. All graduate students must attend Division-wide seminars.

 

e.     No more than 40% of course credits counted toward meeting the requirements of any graduate degree may be at the 200 level.

 

f.      Students must be competent in chemistry, mathematics, physics, and scientific and technical writing. The student's advisory committee may require additional courses either at the undergraduate or graduate level if competence in these disciplines and other disciplines related to the student's research area cannot be demonstrated.

 

VI.           Residence: Normally at least two (2) years of full-time graduate study are required to satisfy requirements for the M.S. degree. This must include a minimum of three (3) semesters in residence in full-time graduate study at WVU.

 

VII.         Thesis: The M.S. student must submit a thesis on a topic within Agronomy. The thesis must represent results of original research which was guided by the student's adviser. Student and adviser will work on the thesis and when the more obvious corrections and/or changes have been made, the student will submit one complete and typewritten copy to each committee member, four ( 4) weeks prior to the final exam date. Each committee member should take no longer than two (2) weeks, including weekends, to read the thesis and return it to the student along with the suggested changes and/or corrections. Two (2) weeks. remain in which the student should have ample time to make the thesis acceptable to each member of the committee. A final draft acceptable to all should be in the hands of each committee member two (2) days before the final exam.

 

VIII.       Final Examination: Upon completion of the thesis and fulfillment of all other requirements, the M.S. student must pass a final oral examination conducted by the Graduate Student's Committee. The oral examination will be primarily a defense of the thesis and research, although other questions related to Agronomy can be expected. This exam must be completed at least one (1) week before the end of the semester in which the student wishes to graduate.

 

IX.          Graduate Requirements: This document supplements information in the West Virginia University Graduate Catalog. In order to graduate, students are responsible for meeting all requirements in both this document and the catalog in effect at the time of their enrollment.