The Master of Science (MS) is a research degree designed for students who want to specialize in specific academic or scientific areas for an academic, research, or staff specialist career, or for students who plan to pursue a PhD. The MS degree requires the development of a research thesis and minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate-level course work, but additional courses may be required by your advisory committee. Advisory Committee The advisory committee is responsible for planning the program of study, assisting in the direction of your academic progress, and administering the final oral examination. An advisory committee must be appointed for all MS students before the end of the first semester of study. To do this, submit the advisory committee form signed by the committee members and deliver it to the Warnell Graduate Office. Who serves on the advisory committee? The major professor and at least one other member of the committee must be appointed members of the UGA graduate program faculty. If more than the required number of members are appointed to the committee, a majority of the committee must be members of the UGA graduate program faculty. All UGA committee members should possess a terminal degree and hold one of the following ranks: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, academic professional, public service assistant, public service associate, senior public service associate, assistant research scientist, associate research scientist, or senior research scientist. One committee member should work in a study area outside the student’s area of concentration. This member may be from another school or college at UGA. A non-UGA member with a terminal degree may serve on the committee but no more than one non-UGA committee member may be appointed as a voting member. The outside representative could be a person who is employed at another institution and has no official relationship with the University of Georgia. To nominate a non-affiliated member, the major professor must submit to the Warnell Graduate Office the nominee’s CV and a letter addressed to the dean of the Graduate School, co-signed by the graduate coordinator, explaining why that member’s services are requested. A person nominated must have distinguished credentials in the field of study. Major professor: The major professor is chair of your advisory committee and is your primary source of advice on academic, scientific, and professional matters. The major professor must be a member of the UGA graduate program faculty (no adjunct members may serve) and work in your study area. Co-major professors (optional): A limit of two co-major professors may be appointed to an advisory committee. Both must be members of the UGA graduate program faculty and must sign all forms requiring the chair's signature. Together, they count as one member of the committee. Therefore, an additional faculty member must be added to the advisory committee. At all times, a majority of the committee members must be graduate program faculty members. Advisory Committee Form If you would like to add a non-UGA committee member, you must submit a letter of justification and provide the committee member's CV. To receive the letter from our office with the required Graduate Coordinator's signature, please complete the Non-UGA Committee Member form providing the justification. The Graduate School will validate the member if they have a terminal degree in their field. Program of Study Your academic coursework is determined by your advisory committee. These classes are specified on the program of study form, which is approved by the advisory committee, signed by the major professor, and delivered to the Warnell Graduate Office for the graduate coordinator’s signature before the end of the first semester of study. We strongly recommend that the graduate program administrator reviews the program of study before getting signatures. All courses on the program of study must fall within a 6-year time limit and all but 6 hours of course credits must be taken at the University of Georgia. These are courses that are registered through the ATHENA system so they appear on your official transcript without a mutual transfer process, and any courses taken under the cross-registration policy. You must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 with no grade below a C on any course. The MS program of study requires at least 30 semester hours of graduate-level credit that must form a logical whole and meet the following requirements: Course Requirements for MS Degree Hours FANR 7000 (Master’s Research) 6 FANR 7300 (Master’s Thesis) 3 Graduate-level coursework (1) 12 Any graduate-level coursework (2,3) 9 Total 30 (1) Coursework only open to graduate students. Must include: 3 hours of Scientific Research (FANR 8200). 4 hours of Experimental Methods (FANR 6750). Statistical Methods II (STAT 6220), or a higher-level statistics course can replace FANR 6750 or this requirement can be satisfied by an equivalent graduate-level statistics course taken previously. 1 hour of Forestry and Natural Resources Seminar Series (FANR 8060). Repeatable, but no more than 1 hour may count toward the program of study. (2) No more than 3 hours each of Problems (e.g., FORS 7980) or Applied Research (FANR 9200) under one faculty member, with no more than a grand total of 6 hours in these courses. (3) No more than 2 hours of graduate seminar may be used to satisfy the 12-hour requirement. (Majors in Fisheries and Wildlife are required to take 1 hour of graduate seminar (e.g., WILD/FISH 8300).) Program of Study Form Research Prospectus All candidates for the MS degree are required to write a research prospectus for approval by their advisory committee before any significant research work is undertaken. The Research Prospectus Form, with abstract, should be signed by the committee and submitted to the Warnell Graduate Office no later than the end of the first calendar year of study. Your thesis: The MS thesis should demonstrate that you can perform research, the results of which represent a contribution to the discipline of forestry and natural resources. Please note the following details regarding thesis submission: All theses submitted to the Graduate School as a requirement for the MS degree must be submitted in digital format using the Graduate School Theses and Dissertations Guidelines You must submit the thesis to the Graduate School for a format check before the deadline listed each semester on the Graduate School website. Students must submit a complete thesis to the advisory committee at least two weeks prior to the thesis defense (see below). But note that some changes in the thesis are often necessitated by information that comes to light during the thesis defense. Deadlines for ETD submission are found on the Graduate School website (grad.uga.edu/) To print and bind a copy of your final thesis, visit Tate Print and Copy Services’ website (tate.uga.edu/print-and-copy/) for pricing and ordering information. Research Prospectus Form Final Oral Examination and Thesis You must submit a Notice of Examination Form to the Warnell Graduate Office at least three weeks prior to the examination. The final oral examination may be separate from, or included with, the thesis defense at the discretion of the advisory committee. The exam includes questions related to courses on the program of study and must be administered by the advisory committee. It is open to all members of the faculty and is announced by the Warnell Graduate Office. All members of the advisory committee must be present for the entire defense. If a member cannot be present, the student must choose one of the following options: The absentee member may participate via a teleconference or video conference in which all participants can hear each person’s comments. In this case, the major professor must sign the approval form for the absentee member, register their vote, and indicate their participation was by teleconference or video conference (the major professor signs the absentee member's name followed by the major professor's initials). A substitution may be made with another faculty member who can replace the former member in expertise of the subject field and who has knowledge of the student’s area of interest. In this case, a revised advisory committee form must be submitted to the Warnell Graduate Office prior to the examination. The exam may be canceled or rescheduled. In any of these cases, you must notify the Warnell Graduate Office. Thesis defense: If the thesis defense is separate from the oral examination, an additional Notice of Examination Form must be submitted to the Warnell Graduate Office at least three weeks before the defense. In this case, you must present an announced public seminar summarizing thesis research to immediately precede the thesis defense. The thesis defense focuses on issues of thesis design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation and follows the following protocols: Approvals / Dissentions The advisory committee must approve your thesis and defense with no more than one dissenting vote and must certify their approval in writing. The major/co-major professors’ vote of approval is required for you to pass the examination. An abstention is not an appropriate vote for the thesis or defense. If a vote of approval with suggested changes is selected, the major professor must review the corrections and submit the final signature before the form is submitted to the Graduate School by the deadline. For all graduate requirements to be met, the Graduate School must receive the Thesis Defense and Final Examination Approval Form signed by the committee, the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Submission Approval Form signed by the student and major professor, and the final corrected copy of the thesis submitted by the student. The final thesis/defense approval deadline is posted at the UGA Graduate School Website three semesters in advance. Notice of Examination Form
