Program of Study

The advisor must be a member of the advising faculty of the GDPE faculty.  All faculty members with an academic appointment in a CSU department may serve as co-advisors and graduate committee members.   All members of the student's committee must maintain a current appointment with CSU in order to continue to serve as a voting member of the committee.  For the MS degree, the student's graduate committee must include at least two members of the GDPE faculty (including the advisor) plus one outside member.  The outside member represents Colorado State University, ensuring that CSU’s expectations are met, and that the student’s needs are being met by GDPE.  For these reasons, the outside member must be from a different college than the major advisor, and must be a regular faculty member. The committee for PhD candidates includes a minimum of three members of the program faculty (including the advisor) and one outside member.  CSU allows only CSU faculty (which includes affiliate faculty) to be voting members of students committees; scientists without an appointment at CSU can be non-voting members only.  The Director of the GDPE serves as an ex officio member of all graduate committees.  Student offices are in the department of their advisors.  Advisors are responsible for allocating resources such as office space, mailboxes, etc.

The student, advisor, and committee collaborate to develop a program of study and are jointly responsible for monitoring the progress toward completion.  Each student's graduate committee is also responsible for determining whether satisfactory progress is being made toward completion of the degree.

For the Master's degree, 30 hours of graduate credits are required (up to 6 hours may be transferred from other institutions), with 16 hours in 500- or 600-level courses, and 12 of these in regular courses (a "regular" course has a number >500 and <580, or > 600 and < 680).  Colorado State University offers both thesis and non-thesis tracks for obtaining MS degrees, at the option of each student and her/his committee.  All MS students take a qualifying/comprehensive examination.  The exam should generally be taken at least one semester before the final exam (thesis defense).  Students may pass the exam, may pass but be required to take additional course work, or may fail.  Failed examinations may be retaken once, at least one semester before the final examination.  The examination evaluates the student's breadth and depth of knowledge in basic ecology and other disciplines related to the student's interdisciplinary focus. The examination may have oral or written components, and are administered each student's committee.  Students should check with committee members well in advance of the exam date to discuss expectations for the exam.

       The PhD degree requires a minimum of 72 hours.   Up to 10 credits from graduate work can be transferred into a PhD program for students without an MS degree.  Students with MS degrees may be credited with 30 hours toward this 72-hour requirement, regardless of the actual credits involved in the MS program.   At least 21 hours of credit in 500+ level courses is required.  Regulations regarding the distribution and sources of these credits are detailed in the Colorado State University Graduate and Professional Bulletin.

       The PhD preliminary examination determines if a student is qualified to continue toward the doctorate in ecology.  This determination is based on an assessment of the student's depth of knowledge in a particular area of ecology and closely related areas; the breadth of knowledge of other areas of ecology and relevant disciplines; and especially, the student's ability to integrate important components of ecological systems to develop well-synthesized ideas.  The preliminary examination for the PhD follows the procedures described in the Graduate and Professional Bulletin, and includes both written and oral portions.  The written exam is usually taken over a period of 3 or 4 days, followed within 10 days by the oral examination.  The form and focus of the preliminary examination are determined by the student's graduate committee, and this information should be discussed well in advance of the scheduled examination date.  Each student must present a formal research proposal prior to embarking on thesis or dissertation research.  This proposal is submitted to the student's graduate committee for approval.  The Final Examination for the MS and PhD degrees include a formal oral presentation of the research findings. This seminar and examination is open to all faculty, students, and the academic community.