Goals of Problems Courses

The Professional Studies Option of the M.S. program, requires completion of projects under Geology 692: Non-Thesis Research. At least 2 problems courses (= projects) totaling at least 8 hours must be completed, plus 34 hours of formal graduate classes including classes from 5 different graduate instructors.

The Professional Studies Option is designed to develop problem-solving skills essential to a working geoscientist. Geol 692 simulates projects in which geoscientists have to find and report the answer to a well-defined question before an inflexible deadline. In contrast, a traditional M.S. thesis represents long-term, often open-ended research with few fixed deadlines. The Professional Studies Option is not recommended for students considering eventual doctoral research.

Goals of the Professional Studies problems courses are:

Step one is taken by the student, who should contact the faculty member or members best suited to advise work in a field in which the student wants to work. Together, the student and the Project Adviser design the project. The College of Arts and Sciences requires that the Project Adviser must be either a regular or associate member of the graduate faculty. Normally this adviser will be from the Geology Program, but graduate faculty in other programs may serve as Project Adviser if approved by the Geology Graduate Curriculum Committee. Students are expected to choose different advisers for each problem to insure some breadth in research experience. The student may petition the Geology Graduate Curriculum Committee to allow more than one problem course to be taken under the same Project Adviser, if the projects are significantly different in nature and only one faculty member has the appropriate expertise or inclination to advise the problems.

Although a project advisory committee composed of at least three members will oversee the project, most problems courses will revolve around student interaction with the Project Adviser. The committee must include at least one Geology  faculty member other than the Project Adviser. Adjunct faculty are considered Geology faculty for purposes of serving on the committee. At least one of the committee must be a regular graduate faculty member. No more than one member of the committee can be a non-member of the graduate faculty.

Completion of a problems course (Geology 692)
1. Final report: The final report of a problem must include a written report or an article prepared for publication in a refereed journal or government document. Any problem worth student and faculty time is worth preservation for future use. One bound copy of the written report must be filed with the Department (through the Professional Studies Coordinator) and copies must be filed with each member of the advisory committee for each project.

An oral presentation, including a defense of conclusions under questioning, is also required. A variety of other forms may supplement the written report and oral presentation. Such forms include a working and well-documented computer program or laboratory technique, an annotated bibliography, a documented data file, or set of maps, etc.

2. Notification of faculty: When the final report is completed, each full-time faculty member in the Department must be notified in writing, so that he or she is aware that the work has been done and the results are available for use. The form of such notification should be a handout, placed in faculty mail boxes. Use the enclosed form, or any other that includes the same information. A grade may not be turned in for Geology 692 until faculty are notified.

3. Deadline: The deadline should be chosen with care at the start of work on the problem, because an extension will be granted only under exceptional circumstances. The adviser will give the problem a grade of S or U based only on work turned in before 5:00 p.m. of the deadline day. An incomplete may be given only under one of two specific conditions: no notification and justifiable delay.

No notification: if notification is not given to the faculty as described above, a grade of "I" must be submitted. Notification is the student's responsibility. The "I" will be changed to "S" or "U" when notification is given. However, the grade must be based only on the work completed and turned in to the adviser before 5 p.m. of the original deadline day.

Justifiable delay: the deadline may be postponed once, and only once, to a specified date, only if both student and Project Adviser sign an explanatory letter to the Geology Graduate Curriculum Committee, and if the Committee approves postponement. The letter must state the original deadline, explain the reason for delay, estimate the length of delay and state the requested new deadline. Acceptable reasons for postponement include incapacitating medical condition of the student; a medical condition or death in the student's family that requires extended absence; unforeseen actions that legally require a delay (e.g. jury duty); unforeseen equipment failure; or unforeseen illness or absence of the Project Adviser during project. Unacceptable reasons include all foreseen factors, and heavy work loads in a job or other courses.

The letter requesting postponement must reach the Chair of the Geology Graduate Curriculum Committee at least 48 hours before the deadline, in time for a written reply before the deadline. Absence of a written reply by the deadline constitutes rejection of the request. The decision on the postponement request will include consideration of whether satisfactory written summaries and progress reports were turned in on time. Rejection of requests for postponement may be appealed to the Geology Program Chair. New projects problems may not be started until old problems are completed. All incomplete grades must be made up before a problem is started.

E. Checklist

____ 1. Student asks appropriate faculty member to advise problem. Together, they design problem and select project advisory committee. When: before, or very early in, the semester in which the work is to be done. Enroll in Geology 692.

____ 2. Student gives written summary of proposed work to project advisory committee and the Professional Studies Coordinator (2002: J.S. Kite). When: as soon as problem is designed and agreed upon by student and primary adviser, and in any case, very early in the semester in which the work is to be done.

____ 3.  First progress report to project advisory committee and the Professional Studies Coordinator. When: on or before 15 Sept., 1 Feb., or (if appropriate) agreed-upon date during summer.

____ 4. Second progress report to project advisory committee and the Professional Studies Coordinator. When: on or before 15 Oct., 1 Mar., or (if appropriate) agreed-upon date during summer.

____ 5. Third progress report to project advisory committee and the Professional Studies Coordinator. When: on or before 15 Nov., 1 Apr., or (if appropriate) agreed-upon date during summer.

____ 6. Final report to project advisory committee. When: on or before deadline set in problem proposal.

____ 7. Notification of all Geology faculty. When: as soon as final report is accepted by advisory committee.

____ 8. Submit a bound copy of the report to the Professional Studies Coordinator. Binding must match that of theses  filed in the Department. When: as soon as possible (no more than 1 week) after the final report is accepted by advisory committee.

 


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Form for Written Summary of Problem Design
WVU Geology Program M.S. Professional Studies Option

Student _______________________________ Date ____________________

Committee members ____________________________________

____________________________________

(Project Adviser) ____________________________________

Before completing this form, student and project adviser should read the departmental handout describing the problems option. It is the student's responsibility to meet deadlines and give the appropriate reports to the appropriate people on time. Completed copies of this form should be kept by student, the Project Adviser, all advisory committee members and the Professional Studies Coordinator.

1. Problem title ________________________________________________

2. Deadlines: progress report 1 _______ progress report 2 ______
                    progress report 3 _______ final report ______

Advisor: ___________

grade for semester ___________ (add at end of semester)

3. Description of problem:
 
 
 
 
 

a. Number of credit hours _________

b. Amount of field work needed, and where________________________

_________________________________________________________________

c. Description of methods, purpose, goal, etc. (50-100 words):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

d. Brief description of final report:
 
 
 
 
 
 

4. Limiting factors:

a. What background should a student have to do this problem?
 

b. Does the student have that background now? _______ If not, how and when will it be acquired?

d. Are those resources or facilities available to the student now? ______ If not, how and when will they be made available.

Other problems courses _(not normally allowed)_____

          formal courses _______
other _______,

total (including this problem) __________.
 

___________________________________________________________________

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