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2019-2020 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]
Geology, MS
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College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics > Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences > Geology, MS
The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) will provide all of its students with educational programs that encompass the fundamental principles of the geosciences and the body of knowledge associated with the application of these principles to the study of the Earth and planetary materials. Masters-level students will receive specialized instruction in the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of geoscience data and the application of geoscience methods to problem-solving. Students successfully completing the MS program will be prepared for a career as a professional geoscientist and prepared to pursue a more advanced degree.
For further information, please visit http://www.uh.edu/nsm/earth-atmospheric/.
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Admission Requirements
Admission to our graduate program is based on a competitive selection process. Meeting the minimum requirements published does not guarantee admission to our program.
- Candidates for the Master’s of Science in Geology are required to have successfully completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Geology equivalent to one at the University of Houston.
- A complete graduate school application (link: www.uh.edu/graduate-school/admissions/how-to-apply) must be submitted.
- Applicants must submit scores from the General GRE examination taken in the last 5 years.
- Individuals with a lower cumulative GPA but elevated GRE’s may also be admitted conditionally.
- Letters of recommendation are also given considerable weight in the evaluation process.
- Students who did not earn a prior degree from a U.S. institution or a country where English is the medium of instruction (see list in the General Admission Policy ) must meet minimum test scores to demonstrate English language proficiency.
Visit International Students to learn more.
- International applications also require an application fee.
The admissions committee and the department chair will evaluate the credentials of each applicant for the MS program, considering a broad range of criteria, including:
- Content of the undergraduate program and, if applicable, graduate programs and grades earned, particularly in the areas of Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry
- A cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better in the last 60 hours.
- Letters of recommendation from three (3) individuals (preferably faculty members), who are able to judge the candidate’s academic abilities and potential for scholarly research.
- GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing; advanced GRE is recommended but optional).
- English proficiency test score, when applicable.
In addition to these requirements, graduate admission may also be contingent upon a faculty advisor agreeing to supervise the applicant’s research. Therefore, prospective students are strongly encouraged to contact faculty members in the applicant’s field of interest prior to the application deadline.
All part-time (6.0 Credit Hours per term or less) students will be admitted into the MS non-thesis track.
Prerequisites
Candidates are expected to have the necessary science and mathematics background and should have successfully completed coursework deemed equivalent to that of the BS in Geology degree at the University of Houston. These courses include:
- GEOL 1330 (Physical Geology)
- GEOL 3370 (Mineralogy)
- GEOL 3330 (Paleobiology)
- GEOL 3372 (Petrography)
- GEOL 3340 (Geologic Field Methods)
- GEOL 3350 (Stratigraphy)
- GEOL 3373 (Igneous/Metamorphic Petrogenesis)
- GEOL 3345 (Structural Geology)
- GEOL 3374 (Sedimentary Petrogenesis)
- GEOL 4330 (Introduction to Geophysics)
- GEOL 3355 and 3360 (Field Camp)
Allied required courses include:
- 3 semesters of Calculus
- 2 semesters of Calculus‐based Physics
- 2 semesters of Chemistry
The department will determine what deficiencies - if any - are present, and the acceptable means of removing those deficiencies (e.g. course work within and/or outside the department, directed study, research papers). Substitution of courses equivalent to those listed above as well as waivers of requirements will be considered on an individual basis. Applicants with a few deficiencies can satisfy those requirements while also taking graduate courses at the University of Houston; these requirements will be listed in an offer letter should the student be admitted. It is normally recommended that a student with 6 or more deficiency courses-e.g., those whose Bachelor’s degree was in another discipline-work toward a second Bachelor’s degree in Geology prior to graduate work.
Degree Requirements
The Master of Science (MS) degree will be awarded after students have successfully completed requirements specified in one of the two following plans:
Plan I: Thesis Option
All students completing the thesis option must complete and defend a thesis acceptable to the department.
This option requires a minimum of 30.0 approved Credit Hours, to include
- Formal Earth and Atmospheric Science courses (GEOL) at the 6000 level or higher Credit Hours: 15.0
- Thesis courses (GEOL 6399 & GEOL 7399) Credit Hours: 6.0
- Elective course Credit Hours: 9.0
- Courses can be selected from approved courses outside the area of Earth and Atmospheric Science, but relevant to the degree program, with prior permission of the Geology Graduate Faculty Advisor.
- No more than 6.0 Credit Hours of special problems courses can be counted towards the required 30.0 Credit Hour minimum.
Plan II: Non-Thesis Option
Completing a thesis is not required, but students must take additional course work and have the option of completing a capstone research project.
Students may satisfy the MS Plan II degree requirements by satisfactorily completing a minimum of 36.0 approved Credit Hours, to include
- Formal Earth and Atmospheric Science courses (GEOL) at the 6000 level or higher Credit Hours: 30.0
- Elective courses Credit Hours: 6.0
- Selections should be courses at the 6000 level, or above, and can be selected from approved courses outside the area of Earth and Atmospheric Science, but relevant to the degree program, with prior permission from the Geology Graduate Faculty Advisor.
- Students can petition to have a 3-hour elective course substituted for a capstone project (GEOL 7301 - Capstone project)
Note: Research hours do not count toward this degree.
After completion of 18 hours, students with a cumulative GPA of 3.40 or above and demonstrated abilities to conduct research may petition to switch to a thesis-based degree. In order to do this, the student must have an advisor and committee members willing to supervise them. The thesis research advisor, Geology Graduate Faculty Advisor, and Department Chair must sign a petition indicating approval of the change to a thesis-based MS degree and it must be filed with the department academic advisor. The student must successfully defend their thesis proposal (as outlined below) after they have completed their core course requirements and prior to completion of 27.0 Credit Hours of course credit. This change will not extend the 5-year limit to complete the MS degree.
Core Category Course Requirements
In order to ensure breadth, all MS students in Plan I are required to take 3 core courses, and students in Plan II are required to take 5 core courses, with at least one course from 3 of the 4 categories of graduate core courses. Students are encouraged to consult with the Geology Graduate Faculty Advisor to make their selections of the remaining graduate courses. These core categories are:
Category 1 (Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology/Geochemistry)
Category 2 (Sedimentary Geology/Stratigraphy)
Category 3 (Structure/Tectonics)
Category 4 (Applied/Analytical)
Scholastic Requirements
Graduate students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.00 in all course work to be considered in good standing. Students not in good standing cannot receive a graduate degree and can be declared ineligible for support with a graduate assistantship (IA, TA or RA).
Research (Thesis) Advisor/Committee
- Advisor
- A formal thesis topic and thesis advisor must be chosen prior to the completion of 15.0 Credit Hours.
- The student and the advisor will together plan the remainder of the student’s course work.
- The 30 required hours are a minimum and, for a specific area of interest, it may be necessary for the student to complete additional course work.
- The initial selection of an advisor is not binding on the student or the faculty member.
- The student may change his/her thesis advisor pending approval by the Geology Graduate Faculty Advisor, but it is the responsibility of the student to review his/her degree plan and prepare for potential changes in the department and/or faculty support with the new advisor.
- In addition, if the student has already formally proposed their project, they may have to present another thesis proposal of their new project(s).
- Committee
- Students must specify a thesis committee and have the names on file in the NSM Office of Academic Affairs at least one semester prior to their graduation.
- The committee must consist of
- a minimum of two faculty members who have their primary appointment within EAS and
- one approved external member, outside of EAS, from industry, or other academia, who is acceptable to the department and approved by the College.
- A faculty member with a joint appointment in the major department is considered as an outside member unless he/she chairs the committee. In this case, an additional external member outside the major department is required.
- After these minimum requirements for committee members are satisfied, additional committee members may be approved from industry or academia, but at least 50% of the committee must be tenured/tenure‐track faculty at the University of Houston.
- Research faculty or instructional faculty may serve on thesis committees, but not chair the committees. However, a research professor may serve as a co‐advisor with a tenured/tenured‐track faculty.
Thesis Proposal
Students must present a thesis proposal.
- Timeline and Scheduling
- All full-time students and students financially supported by the University must propose prior to the end of their second term in the program.
- by the first Monday in November in the Fall term, or the first Monday in April in the Spring term.
- Scheduling of the thesis proposal is done by each applicant through the department academic advisor.
- Proposals (and re-proposals) can be scheduled Monday‐Friday, with starting times between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., during the Fall and Spring terms.
- Proposals cannot be presented during Summer terms, vacations, reading days, weekends, or final examination periods (nor over spring break or inter‐semester breaks).
- Two hours should be allocated for the thesis proposal presentation and questions.
- Presentation
- Proposals are preceded by the distribution of a 5 to 10 page (10 page suggested maximum for text) written description of the thesis project to the thesis committee.
- A one page abstract must be posted and distributed to all EAS faculty members at least seven calendar days prior to presentation, and a copy of the full proposal filed with the department academic advisor at that time.
- The proposal abstract must contain the title, time and place of the proposal, and the names of the committee members.
- The thesis advisor and at least one other member of the committee must initial the abstract prior to posting, indicating that they approve of the presentation of the proposal.
- Upon successful presentation of the proposal, a copy of the complete proposal with the thesis advisor’s signature indicating approval must be placed in the student’s permanent academic file.
Thesis Defense
Upon completion of the research and the writing of a thesis deemed acceptable by the thesis committee, a defense of the thesis is scheduled by the student.
- A public defense of the complete thesis research will be presented to the faculty-at-large and may be attended by any other interested parties.
- Preparation
- An abstract, which lists the time and place of the defense, must be distributed to the department faculty and posted publicly at least seven calendar days prior to the scheduled date.
- The thesis advisor and a least one other departmental committee member must initial the notice of defense, thus indicating that they approve of the defense.
- An unbound copy of the thesis draft, including all illustrations, must be made available in the EAS office at least seven calendar days prior to the defense date for inspection by the EAS faculty.
- Scheduling
- MS defenses can be scheduled Monday‐Friday during the Spring, Summer, and Fall terms with starting times between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
- Defenses cannot be given during vacations, reading days, weekends, or final examination periods (nor over spring break or inter‐semester breaks).
- Scheduling of defenses is done through the department academic advisor.
- Decisions
- A vote to pass by a majority of the thesis committee is required for successful defense of the thesis.
- Once approved by the committee, the thesis must be submitted to the NSM Office of Academic Affairs no later than the deadline posted on the College website each semester.
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