Degree Information

Expectations for Graduate Study

The major goals of graduate education at Texas A&M University are to instill in each student an understanding of and a capacity for scholarship, independent judgment, academic rigor and intellectual honesty. Faculty and graduate students have a shared obligation to work together to foster these goals through relationships that advance freedom of inquiry, demonstrate individual and professional integrity, and encourage common respect.

Graduate student progress is guided and evaluated by an advisor and a graduate committee. These individuals give direction and support for the appropriate developmental and learning goals of graduate students. The advisor and the graduate committee also have the obligation of evaluating a graduate student's academic performance. The graduate student, the advisor and the graduate committee constitute the basic core of graduate education. It is the quality, scope and extent to interaction in this group that determine the significance of the graduate experience.

High quality graduate education requires professional and ethical conduct of the participants. Faculty and graduate students have mutual responsibilities in ensuring academic standards and quality graduate programs. Excellence in graduate education is achieved when faculty and students are inspired, have the academic and professional backgrounds essential to function at the highest level, and are genuine in their mutual desire to see one another triumph. Any action that negatively affects this interaction--from either faculty member or student--destroys the whole relationship. Mutual respect is critical to the successful process.

The requirements set forth in this catalog are defined as minimum University requirements. Departments and Colleges may opt to establish higher standards and/or additional requirements.

Student Responsibility

It is the responsibility of each student to:

Information about general degree requirements is available in this catalog. Specific degree requirements and procedural guidelines are available from the departmental graduate advisor(s).

Scholastic Requirements

Graduate students must maintain a grade point ratio (GPR) of 3.000 (B average based on a 4.000 scale) for all courses which are listed on the degree plan and for all graded graduate and advanced undergraduate course work (300- and 400-level) completed at Texas A&M and eligible to be applied toward a graduate degree. Graduate students will not receive graduate degree credit for undergraduate courses taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) basis. Graduate students may not receive grades other than satisfactory (S) or unsatisfactory (U) in graduate courses bearing the numbers 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 693 and 695. Any other graduate course taken on an S/U basis may not be used on a graduate degree plan. Graduate courses not on the degree plan may be taken on an S/U basis.

Only grades of A, B, C and S are acceptable for graduate credit. Grades of D, F or Unsatisfactory (U) for courses on the degree plan must be absolved by repeating the courses at Texas A&M University and achieving grades of C or above or Satisfactory (S). A course in which the final grade is C or lower may be repeated for a higher grade. The original grade will remain on the student's permanent record, and the most recent grade will be used in computing the cumulative and degree plan GPRs.

The cumulative GPR for a graduate student is computed by using all graded graduate (600-level) and advanced undergraduate (300- and 400-level) course work completed at Texas A&M University and eligible to be applied toward a graduate degree.

If either of a student's cumulative GPR or the GPR for courses listed on the degree plan falls below the minimum of 3.000, he or she will be considered to be scholastically deficient. If the minimum GPR is not attained in a reasonable length of time, the student may be dropped from graduate studies. The procedures for dismissal are explained in the Texas A&M University Student Rules (refer to the website student-rules.tamu.edu).

Departments or colleges may adopt specific guidelines pertaining to scholastic deficiency or dismissal.

Any course work not applied towards a prior graduate degree, and not exceeding time limits, will be included in the student's GPR for the subsequent degree program.

Residence Requirements

A major purpose of the residence requirements for graduate degrees is to ensure that the student has an opportunity to benefit from the advantages of a university environment. These advantages include not only the accessibility of library, laboratory and other physical facilities, but also the opportunity to participate in seminars and a variety of cultural activities. Equally important to the graduate student are the advantages of becoming acquainted with the faculty and other students on both a personal and a professional basis.

A student "in residence" is expected to devote most of his or her time and energy to graduate studies under the direction of the student's major professor and the advisory committee.

Another major purpose of the residence requirements for graduate degrees is to ensure the faculty the opportunity to properly evaluate the student and his or her development in order to guide and direct his or her studies and to determine competency.

The minimum time required to qualify for an advanced degree varies with the ability and preparation of the student. Students may find it necessary to extend their studies beyond the minimum requirements. For specific minimum residence requirements, students are directed to check the degree program description for the degree which they are pursuing.

Degree Plan

Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptable for degree plan credit. A graduate student must file a degree plan which includes those courses to be applied toward a particular degree. Changes in the approved degree plan may be made by petition to the Office of Graduate Studies. The student must submit the degree plan using the accepted degree plan format as it appears on the website at ogs.tamu.edu/OGS/currentForms.htm.

Lower division undergraduate course work (100- and 200-level) may not be used for credit toward a graduate degree. Course work may not be used to satisfy requirements for more than one degree . Additional course work may be added to the approved degree plan by the student's advisory committee if such additional course work is needed to correct deficiencies in the student's academic preparation. Specific details and requirements for each degree program may be obtained from the student's academic department.

Courses listed on the degree plan are subject to degree time limits. Please refer to the Time Limits section in each degree section in which the student is presently enrolled.

Petitions

Exceptions to published rules may be requested by proper petition to the Office of Graduate Studies. Each petition will be considered on its own merit by the Dean of Graduate Studies. The signature of the student and the signatures of all members of the graduate student's advisory committee, if appointed, are required on a petition. Furthermore, the signature of the department head, or his or her designee, is required on all petitions, and petitions from graduate students working on a degree supervised by a Faculty Senate-approved intercollegiate faculty require the signature of the faculty chair, in addition to that of the department head.

Specific forms for these types of petitions are found on the Office of Graduate Studies website address at ogs.tamu.edu/OGS/currentForms.htm and must be used.

Pre-Defense Publication of Thesis or Dissertation Material

Graduate students may publish material that subsequently will be used as part of the thesis, dissertation or record of study provided that they notify the Office of Graduate Studies in writing at the time the students submit the papers for publication. The notification should include the article title, the names of authors as they appear on the paper, the name of the journal, and the date of submission.

In addition, students should be aware of the agreement that is signed when a journal (hard copy or electronic) accepts an article for publication. At that time, the student assigns rights to the journal as publisher. The student must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to include the material in the thesis, dissertation and record of study.

Classified and Proprietary Information

Committee chairs should be cautioned about allowing students to use classified or proprietary information in theses or dissertations as these documents become available to the public upon submission to the Office of Graduate Studies. As a Texas public institution, the research conducted at Texas A&M University is ultimately for the benefit of the public. To support this goal, all theses, dissertations, and records of study are available through the Texas A&M University libraries. In addition, dissertations are microfilmed by UMI and are available from that source. The availability may be delayed temporarily only for patent/proprietary or publication issues.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property will mean individually and collectively, all forms of intellectual property including, but not limited to inventions, copyrightable works, trademarks, plant varieties, tangible research products, and know-how. In keeping with academic tradition, works created by students in the course of their education, such as dissertations, papers and journal articles are owned by the students. However, intellectual property created from activities related to an individual's employment responsibilities and/or with support from University-administered funds, facilities or personnel will be owned by the University. Ownership of intellectual property developed in the course of or resulting from research supported by a grant or contract with the federal government or state government or a nonprofit or for-profit nongovernmental entity, shall be determined in accordance with the terms of the sponsored grant or contract, or in the absence of such terms, shall be owned by the University.

Thesis, Dissertation and Record of Study-Thesis Office

The Thesis Office is responsible for reviewing each thesis, dissertation or record of study to ensure that the format requirements of the University are met. Guidelines for the preparation of the manuscript are available in the Thesis Manual which is available online at thesis.tamu.edu/thesismanual.php. Beginning with December 2004 graduation, all manuscripts must be submitted electronically; no paper submittals will be accepted. The Thesis Office is located on the sixth floor of Sterling C. Evans Library, (979) 845-2225.

Graduation

Graduate degrees are conferred at the close of each regular semester and the 10-week summer semester. Candidates for advanced degrees who expect to complete their work at the end of a given semester must apply for graduation by submitting the electronic application for degree to the Office of the Registrar and by paying the required graduation fee at the Fiscal Department no later than the Friday of the second week of a fall or spring semester or the Friday of the first week of the first summer term. The electronic application for degree can be accessed via the website degreeapp.tamu.edu.

Letter of Intent

Every student completing a graduate degree who wishes to continue to enroll in pursuit of another graduate degree may do so by filing an approved letter of intent with the Office of Graduate Studies. A letter of intent which has been approved by the head of the department (and chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if appropriate) in which the student intends to study will be viewed by the Office of Graduate Studies as an admission to the program specified in the letter. Students may use the letter of intent form which is available on the website at ogs.tamu.edu/OGS/CurrentForms.htm.

If there is a break in enrollment for one calendar year or longer following graduation, then students must apply for admission to another degree program through Graduate Admissions.

If there is no break in enrollment, or for breaks of less than one calendar year, the letter of intent may be used for admissions to a new program. This letter should be submitted prior to enrollment in additional graduate degree programs.

Graduate Programs Offered by Distance Education

Texas A&M University currently offers the following programs by distance education:

The delivery platform differs among programs. Most are web-supported with some interactive video. However, the delivery platform in most programs changes and depends on the course/program content, the needs of students and their geographic locations.

Only students who are admitted to Texas A&M University may enroll in these courses. Students wishing to enroll in any of the distance education programs must be admitted as a degree-seeking graduate student or as a post-baccalaureate non-degree seeking student. A student may take up to 12 hours in non-degree-seeking post-baccalaureate status and apply these hours to a master's program if all admission requirements to that master's program are fulfilled. Courses offered for extension credit may not be used on the student's degree plan. The department and/or college hosting the course must approve the use of any courses applied toward fulfillment of the requirements for the degree. Post-baccalaureate non-degree status does not establish eligibility for admission to degree-seeking status.

Texas A&M University provides students pursuing a graduate degree by distance a wide variety of student support services, distance education library support and purchase of books through the online bookstore. A complete listing of services, degree program descriptions, contact individuals within each program, cost and access to student applications are available through the distance education information page at www.tamu.edu/ode/disted. Because other programs are in development, students interested in distance education should check this page periodically. Students having questions should contact the Office of Distance Education, (979) 845-4282.

Detailed expectations for good practice in graduate education for graduate students and faculty members are discussed in a separate brochure entitled Expectations for Graduate Students at Texas A&M University . Copies of this brochure can be obtained in the student's department or the Office of Graduate Studies.

Teacher Certification

Programs leading to teacher certification are available through the College of Education. Initial teaching certificates, enabling candidates to teach in the public schools of Texas, can be earned through extended programs which commence with undergraduate studies leading to the baccalaureate degree and which culminate with the completion of selected graduate courses. Graduate courses used to satisfy certification requirements in these extended programs may be used toward satisfying the requirements for the master's degree. Candidates seeking teacher certification through extended programs must be fully admitted to graduate study as degree seeking candidates. For more information on these programs, please review appropriate material in the Texas A&M University Undergraduate Catalog or consult with advisors in the College of Education. Individuals who already hold a baccalaureate degree in a field other than education and who wish to acquire an initial teaching certificate should contact the Teacher Certification Office in the College of Education. Please see the program descriptions of these departments in this catalog.

Cooperative Graduate Programs

Texas A&M University has executed Memoranda of Agreement establishing cooperative graduate programs with the following universities: Baylor College of Medicine, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Southwest Texas State University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas Tech University and The University of Texas at Tyler. Details concerning the cooperative graduate programs are available from the graduate offices of the institutions involved.

Texas A&M University and The University of Texas System also have entered into an agreement relating to cooperative use of courses and facilities in graduate education. See section on "Texas A&M University, Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas System, Study Abroad" on in the Course Description section of this catalog.

Pathways to the Doctorate

The Pathways to the Doctorate is a program dedicated to increasing the number, quality, and diversity of Master's and doctoral graduates across all disciplines within The Texas A&M University System. Consisting of nine universities as well as the Health Science Center, the System spans the State of Texas. This enables the System to recruit top students from a variety of geographical, socio-economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural environments. The Pathways to the Doctorate is one approach to Closing the Gaps Program in Texas. The goal of the Pathways to the Doctorate Program is to attract high achieving students within The Texas A&M University System to pursue careers in higher education. This program will help produce some of the next generation of faculty.

Through a variety of activities such as seminars and workshops, inter-institutional exchange programs, a mentoring program and an annual research symposium with System-wide participation, the Pathways program aims to:

Additional information can be found at ogs.tamu.edu/OGS/pathways.

Academic Common Market

The purpose of the Academic Common Market (ACM) is to share between states specified academic degree programs located at southern public colleges and universities. This is accomplished through an exchange of students across borders at in-state rates. The motivation for this cooperation continues to be: 1) eliminating unnecessary duplication among the states, in that it is impractical for any institution or single state to develop or maintain degree programs in every field of knowledge, 2) to support existing degree programs that have the capacity to serve additional students, and 3) to provide access and encourage movement across state lines for programs not available in a student's home state.

For more information on the Academic Common Market, contact the Office of Graduate Studies at 302 Jack K. Williams Administration Building or call (979) 845-3631.

Graduate Certification Programs

A graduate certification program represents an emphasis area within a particular field or it could be interdisciplinary and involve several fields. Other certificate programs may exist in the various colleges or schools. Inquiries should be addressed to these colleges.

The Bush School Certificate Program in Advanced International Affairs packages critical graduate education experiences in a novel way. It involves a multidisciplinary series of graduate courses for people whose careers or personal interest cause them to seek a more complete understanding of world affairs, but who may not have the time or disposition for a longer, residential graduate degree. Students admitted to the certificate program complete 12 credit hours of study typically involving four graduate-level courses. The set of courses from which students select include intelligence, national security, diplomatic history, international business and government, geography and world systems, international law, and certain skill courses (e.g. cross-cultural negotiation).

An applicant, once admitted, can enter the certificate program at any time and must have a bachelor's degree and meet certain other qualifications. Inquiries may be addressed to the Bush School.

Individuals who successfully complete the certificate program will be awarded a certificate by the Bush School. Grades for courses taken as part of this program will appear on the transcript.

Dietetic Internship Certificate. The combined graduate degree - Dietetic Internship is accredited by the Commission on Dietetics Educations. The program integrates knowledge gained in coursework and laboratories with intensive training in professional settings. Students gain experience in community nutrition/outpatient, business/foodservice management, and clinical dietetics. Major affiliating institutions include Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Clinic and The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System. Upon completion of the program students are eligible to take the registration examination to become a Registered Dietitian.

Certificate in Entrepreneurship. A certificate in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization provides a base understanding of new business planning; key issues encountered when developing commercial applications for new technical discoveries; the general legal aspects of intellectual property protection; fundamental business start-up and securities laws; and the management of creativity and innovation in organizational settings. To complete the certificate program, you would need to take the following four courses, for a total of 12 hours. MGMT 632, MGMT 637, MGMT 638, MGMT 640. This certificate is open to Mays MBA students and other selected students.

Certificate in Environmental Hazard Management. This cross-disciplinary program is housed in the College of Architecture and is designed to provide students with an understanding of the interrelationship between the built environment and extreme events in the natural environment. The program consists of a series of courses that are open to students from any graduate degree program at Texas A&M University.

Certificate in Facility Management. This certificate program, while housed in the College of Architecture, provides students in any graduate degree program at Texas A&M University an opportunity to develop a body of knowledge in facility management that will further their career goals. The certificate assumes that facility management is a cross-disciplinary field. The program is designed to ensure that students gain a sense of mutual respect for others in the field, and appropriate awareness, understanding, and ability within a specific body of knowledge.

Certificate in Health Systems and Design. This interdisciplinary certification pro-gram was created by the colleges of Architecture and Medicine to promote research, innovation, and communication focusing on health facility planning and design. The program is available to students pursuing any graduate degree at Texas A&M University. Though the program emphasizes a cross-disciplinary perspective, it also ensures that students develop in-depth understanding and ability within the field of health systems design.

Certification in Hispanic Bilingual Education. The Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University offers a Certification Program in Hispanic Bilingual Certification. This certification can be transcripted and meets the requirements of the Texas State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC). This certification is appropriate for Hispanic Bilingual classroom teachers. It requires the following coursework: Hispanic Bilingual Assessment and Monitoring; Dual Language Programs Methodologies; Content Area Instruction for Hispanic Bilingual Programs; Biliteracy for Hispanic Bilingual Students; and Bilingual and Dual Language Classroom for Hispanic Students.

Certificate in Historic Preservation. Based in the College of Architecture, the Certificate in Historic Preservation is open to students in a graduate degree program at Texas A&M University. This cross-disciplinary program draws on strong discipline-based academic programs that prepare graduates to further their career goals. The certificate assumes that historic preservation is a cross-disciplinary field, and the program is designed to ensure that students gain a sense of mutual respect for others in the field, and appropriate awareness, understanding, and ability within a specific body of knowledge.

The Graduate Certificate in International Agriculture and Resource Management (IARM) is available to persons majoring in one of the 17 graduate programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (COALS). This emphasis area consists of 13 semester hours. For more information and to coordinate content of and participation in the certificate program with the content of their own degree programs, graduate students in COALS should contact the departmental advisor or the IARM certificate coordinator in their department. Additionally, students should register their intent to complete the requirements for the IARM graduate certificate with the Office of International Agricultural Programs.

Certificate in International Business (Mays MBA Students Only). The increasing globalization of contemporary business environment finds companies under pressure to change and adapt to new technologies and markets. Companies need MBA students that are sensitive to diverse cultures and understand global developments and ethics.

The Graduate Certificate in International Business provides you with the knowledge base and international exposure needed to meet the global business challenges today's organizations face.

The Certificate in International Business will be awarded to Mays MBA students that meet the following academic requirements:

Mays MBA students have several options available to fulfill requirement the overseas study and international business course requirements.

Graduate Certificate in International Business (Mays MS Students Only) is an in-novative program, both interdisciplinary and international in its orientation, offered by the Mays Business School. All graduate business students seeking a Master of Science degree are eligible to pursue the Certificate program, which requires a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of international business course work that can be accommodated within the regular graduate business program. For more information and to coordinate content of and participation in the certificate program, graduate business students should contact the departmental advisor of the MS program.

Graduate Certificates in Remote Sensing and in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are joint programs through the Departments of Forest Science and Geography.

GIS technologies are applied to wide-ranging fields with interests in spatially distributed information such as transportation, environmental/resource management, marketing, facility management, healthcare delivery, agriculture, and planning.

Remote Sensing (RS) technologies are applied to wide-ranging fields such as environmental/resource management, marketing, facility management, agriculture, planning, homeland security and intelligence. In addition, the synergistic linkages between RS technologies and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are rapidly increasing.

These certificate programs have been designed to meet the growing demand for qualified individuals. Each certificate requires 12 hours of coursework. For detailed information please contact a graduate advisor in the Department of Forest Science or the Department of Geography.

Certificate in Supply Chain Management (Mays MBA Students Only). Supply Chain Management (SCM) is, by its very nature, multidisciplinary. It draws heavily upon an expertise in operations management, business logistics, physical distribution, purchasing, channel management, information technology, and decision sciences. The program leverages SCM and information technology expertise to create an innovative and state-of-the art SCM program.

Such a focus parallels recent trends in industry, and provides significant differentiation and competitive advantages for Mays MBA students. The certificate requirement is completion of a four-course (12-hour) program beyond the SCM specialization course offered in term three of the Mays MBA Program curriculum.

Certificate in Sustainable Urbanism. Sustainable Urbanism is an interdisciplinary program based in the Center for Housing and Urban Development (CHUD) in the College of Architecture. The certificate has been designed to provide students with an understanding of the interrelationship between the sustainability, cities, and the environmental design professions. The Sustainable Urbanism Program consists of a series of courses that are open to students from any graduate degree program at Texas A&M University.

Certificate Program in Tree Improvement is offered through the Department of Forest Science and targets practicing tree improvement professionals who want to make a more significant contribution to the scientific management of tree breeding programs. It is also available to graduate students enrolled in a degree program. The certificate is structured around four courses and a field practicum and consists of 13 semester hours. The courses will emphasize applied tree improvement techniques, the principles of forest genetics, tree structure and physiology, and developments in biotechnology applied to tree improvement. These four courses are offered with a web based distance-learning format and have a short field practicum as a capstone. The certificate is designed to be completed in two years. For detailed information please contact a graduate advisor in the Department of Forest Science.

Computational Sciences Certificate Program was developed to meet the increased need for computational techniques to help solve complex science and engineering programs. This program is targeted to science and engineering students enrolled in graduate studies. The goal of this certificate program is to provide formal documentation upon a student's transcript that they have taken additional courses focused on the computational aspects that supplement a given degree in science and engineering. To fulfill the certification requirements, a student must complete four courses, as described by the program outline, and a capstone project in their home department.

This certification will provide graduate students with a broad-based multidisciplinary enhancement to their degree program as well as prepare them with the intellectual infrastructure to be the new leaders in computational science, engineering, and technology. By joining this certification program, graduates will receive an official certified transcript that will add value and marketability to their advanced degree. For more information, visit isc.tamu.edu/cscp or send an e-mail message to cspc@isc.tamu.edu.

International Graduate Certificate Program (College of Educational and Human Development). The College of Education and Human Development International Education and Graduate Certificate Program consist of coursework and field experiences that will give graduate students an international perspective on educational issues. The certificate program will give students an interdisciplinary basis from which to interpret and analyze global socioeconomic and cultural influences that shape educational systems. In order to meet the needs of an increasingly demographically-diverse society, U.S. educators and administrators must increase their knowledge about the various cultures that are part of our country. In addition, educators and administrators who work and live abroad need exposure to international theories and experiences in order to prepare them for leadership positions abroad.

Professional Internships

In those programs in which a professional internship is used [Masters programs: MAB, MAgr, MArch, MPIA, MBIOT, MARM, MBA, MCS, MEd, MEng, MLA, MPSA, MUP, MS (non-thesis option), MA (non-thesis option); Doctoral programs: PhD, EdD, DEng], a student will spend an appropriate period of time under the supervision of a practicing professional in industry, business, an educational institution or a government agency. The objectives of the internship are two-fold: (1) to enable the student to demonstrate the ability to apply both technical training and knowledge by making an identifiable contribution in an area of practical concern to the industry or organization in which the internship is served, and (2) to enable the student to function in a non-academic environment in a position in which he or she will become aware of the organizational approach to problems in addition to those traditional approaches with which the student is familiar. These may include, but are in no way limited to, problems of management, labor relations, public relations, environmental protection, economics, etc.

Internship agreements should be negotiated between the appropriate organization or industry and the appropriate academic department. The organization of the internship, the internship supervisor and the nature of the internship will be determined by mutual consent of the student, the head of the student's major department, the student's advisory committee and the supervising organization prior to the commencement of the internship period. The internship experience should be at a level commensurate with the particular degree objective.

An internship report should be prepared by the student in accordance with guidelines established by the student's major department, the student's advisory committee or other appropriate body. The report should be submitted to the advisory committee and to any other organization which may be specified for specific programs. The internship report must be the original work of the student.

An internship, if utilized as part of a student's degree requirements, should be undertaken near the end of the student's educational program, after the student has had the opportunity to establish a solid theoretical base for the internship experience.

The Graduate Teaching Academy

The Graduate Teaching Academy (GTA) is an organization that is supported by--and contributes to the fulfillment of the missions of-- the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Office of Graduate Studies . The mission of the GTA is to provide graduate students professional development in the area of college teaching.

To accomplish our mission, the GTA provides the following:

The GTA strives to supplement research-oriented graduate programs with a teaching oriented program that offers graduate students preparation for a career involving teaching in higher education. This is NOT teaching assistant training.

The GTA program is free for all graduate students who recognize that their career will include teaching in a college or university setting. This includes both teaching and research assistants and is not limited to students with teaching experience. The GTA is a one-year voluntary program that can be entered at the beginning of the fall or spring semester. Participants who complete a series of requirements set forth by the GTA are eligible to obtain a Certificate of Completion designating them as a "GTA Fellow".

Please visit the website www.tamu.edu/cte/gta to learn more about the GTA programs.