IV. DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.S.)

Students in the Ph.D. program are not required to obtain an M.S. degree. If a student elects to obtain an M.S. degree before continuing onto a Ph.D. degree, he/she should notify, in writing, the Chair of the Department and the Director of the Graduate Program about this decision no later than the end of the Fall quarter of the second year of residence and complete the M.S. degree requirements in 2 years of residence.

A. Requirements for the Degree

There are two options leading to the Master of Science degree. Under the thesis option, the requirements for the M.S. are a minimum of 9 courses, plus 3 units of research (710 590) and the completion of a satisfactory thesis. Students who follow this option are eligible for financial aid from the department. Under the non thesis option, the requirement for the M.S. is a minimum of 12 courses. Students following the non thesis option are not eligible for financial aid from the department.

Full time students will normally complete their M.S. course requirements in the first three quarters of residence. All courses presented must be approved 300, 400 or 500 level courses. All work towards the M.S. must be completed within 2 years for students receiving financial aid from the department.

B. Program Planning

An entering graduate student will consult the Graduate Student Advisor of the department prior to registration for assistance in selecting courses for the first quarter. Later in the quarter each student selects a faculty advisor and for those in the thesis option, a research topic. Thereafter, the student and the advisor share the responsibility of planning a balanced program of course work for the remainder of the M.S. program. Although they have considerable freedom in selecting courses, the department ensures balanced programs via the distribution requirements noted above

C. Grades

A student will be placed on probation at the close of any quarter, if his/her overall grade average is below 3.0. Failure to remedy that situation may lead to dismissal by the Graduate School. Recipients of research and teaching assistantships and fellowships maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5.

An incomplete grade (Y) for any course except research (710 590) must be removed within one year of the official ending of the course. At the research director's option, 710 590 may be graded as incomplete (K) until the research is finished. The time limit for removal of incomplete research grades is 5 years.

D. Thesis Requirements

The research topic and research advisor are selected during the first quarter of residence. For a student entering in the fall, this choice is made after a series of group meetings and individual conferences with faculty. New students will be notified of the schedule for these meetings at the beginning of the fall quarter. Although strong consideration is given to a student's first choice, all selections are subject to faculty approval.

The form of the M.S. thesis is the same as that required by the Graduate School for a doctoral dissertation. A bulletin of rules for the preparation of theses is available at the Graduate School. Typing and reproduction costs for the thesis are the responsibility of the student. After the thesis has been prepared, the original and two copies are given to the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and one copy is given to the research advisor. The original is kept in the student's departmental file, one bound copy is placed in the department library and another bound copy is placed in the university library. Thus, five copies are required, including the original and personal copy for the student.

E. Admission to Candidacy

After completing one quarter of graduate work, a student may apply for candidacy for the Master of Science degree. This application must be made no later than April 1 for June degree candidates and October 1 for December degree candidates. Application forms are available at the Graduate School office. The student is responsible for preparing and processing this application, which requires approval by the student's advisor.

F. Registration

All students using departmental facilities in any quarter must be registered or must be employees of the University. During the fall, winter or spring quarters, a full time registration of 4 units of courses and research normally should be elected. For M.S. thesis option students it is common to elect 4 courses in the fall, 3 in the winter and 2 in the spring, to complete the total of 9 required courses. Normal registration thus consists of 4 courses in the fall, 3 courses plus 1 unit of research (710 590) in the winter and 2 courses plus 2 units of 710 590 in the spring.

For quarters in which no courses are taken and full time is devoted to research, registration with reduced tuition, 890 588 (Resident Master's Study), should be elected. Please note that only one such registration is normally permitted for each student. If additional registration is necessary to complete the M.S. program, a request for permission to re register for 588 should be filed with the Dean of the Graduate School through the department Chair. Registration for the summer quarter should be discussed with your advisor.

G. Examinations

Under the thesis option, each Master of Science candidate is required to take a final oral examination based upon his thesis. The examination is conducted by his research advisor and at least two other faculty members appointed by the department chairman. The research advisor serves as chairman of the committee. Graduate degrees are awarded in June and in December. The examination should be scheduled at least 4 weeks prior to the desired date of commencement. The candidate should consult the department chairman's secretary at least 3 weeks in advance of the examination to make certain that all graduate school and departmental requirements have been satisfied. Note particularly that the application for admission to candidacy (see Section E) must be submitted and approved before the final examination can be held.