Additional Requirements for Graduate Programs

Departmental Seminars

Seminars are part of graduate training and continued professional development. All students are required to attend a minimum of 10 seminars a year, which is documented on their annual Student Activity Report. Graduate students, like faculty, are expected to attend departmental seminars if their schedule permits. Seminars offered in other departments and universities are also permitted.

Graduate students are required to give one or more formal seminars depending on their degree program: MS students are expected to give a formal departmental seminar immediately prior to their scheduled final oral examination. PhD students give two formal departmental seminars. The first will be early in their graduate program on their review of the literature, proposed research, and research progress made to date. The second seminar is in conjunction with their final oral examination.

Teaching Experience

The Department requires all graduate students to fulfill a teaching requirement independent of their funding source. This involves working as a teaching assistant (TA) for one or more courses. MHS students are expected to serve as a teaching assistant at least one time during their degree program. MS students are expected to serve two times and PhD students serve TA three times. Any students on external funding (self-funded or solely on grant or scholarship funds) only have to TA once during their graduate program. Students in the MHS Distance Education program can fulfill their TA requirements by serving as a TA for one of the online courses offered by the department.

Outreach/Extension Experience

An Outreach/Extension experience has the same educational value to a graduate student as teaching and research experiences. It gives the student exposure to another area of potential employment and an opportunity to assess this type of work. It also adds to the student’s expertise in Horticulture. Equally important is the empathy gained for the industry and public we serve. Each student must participate in two Outreach/Extension experiences during their graduate degree program. To aid this requirement, each student will be assigned an Extension Mentor.