Thesis Option
Course Work
A candidate for a Master’s degree in Forestry or Wildlife and Fisheries Science must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit courses. Only courses listed in the Graduate Catalog are offered for graduate credit. The 30 hours must include: 1) 6 hours of Thesis (Forestry 500 or Wildlife and Fisheries 500); 2) 18 hours in the major (major course may be from any academic department but must be approved by the student’s committee as contributing the student’s major focus area) including the thesis hours; and 3) 20 hours of 500-level courses, including the thesis hours. All students are required to include a 1‑hour credit Seminar (Forestry 512 or Wildlife and Fisheries Science 512) in their programs twice while they are in residence. Graduate students must register for 6 hours of graduate course work to be a considered a full‑time student. Beyond these requirements, a student’s committee determines the distribution of the 30 hours. The wildlife health concentration requires 9 credit hours from wildlife health-related courses.
Forestry 593 and Wildlife and Fisheries Science 593 are Independent Study courses which offer graduate students the opportunity to pursue individualized study of a topic of interest to them under the direction of a faculty member. These two courses may be taken for a maximum of 6 credit hours each. They are not to be used to complete part of a student’s thesis research.
The School participates in a program designed to give graduate students an opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary specialization, examples include environmental policy and statistics. For details, consult the Graduate Catalog.
Thesis
All Master’s candidates in the thesis option are required to complete a thesis to the satisfaction of their graduate committee. The thesis represents the culmination of an original research project completed by the student under supervision of a major professor. Prior to initiating thesis research, the student must find a faculty member (including adjunct faculty) in the School willing to serve as Major Professor. The Major Professor will advise the student about courses, supervise the student’s research and facilitate communication within the School, with other departments, and with The Graduate School. With few exceptions, students will have been selected by a Major Professor for a particular research project before beginning their Master’s program. In the event a student has no Major Professor, the student should consult with the School Director and secure a Major Professor and research project during the first semester of attendance at The University of Tennessee.
The student must prepare a proposed outline of course work and a research plan. The plan should include the proposed research title, objectives, justification, procedures and tentative timetable. These documents must be presented to the committee for approval within the first two semesters of residence. Subsequent changes in course work or departures from the original research plan must be approved by the Major Professor prior to such actions. Research involving human subjects or live vertebrate animals must receive prior approval by the appropriate university committee.
Prior to graduation, students must present a school seminar regarding their research results. Presentation of the findings at a professional, technical meeting is encouraged as well. The required FOR/WFS 512 seminar presentation is considered preparatory to this professional seminar and not a substitute.
Before beginning to write the thesis, a graduate student is strongly encouraged to participate in a Thesis Workshop offered each semester by The Graduate School. The UT Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations provides the correct format for theses.
Exit Requirements
Before leaving The University of Tennessee, it is the responsibility of each graduate student to clean and organize all equipment and laboratories used during their research. Upon completion of their research, graduate students are strongly encouraged to work with their Major Professor to produce one or more technical publications. If the student does not follow through on publication, the use of these data is at the discretion of the Major Professor after a reasonable period of time. Students should realize that the research they conduct is part of approved research of the University of Tennessee. Unless other arrangements are specifically arranged in writing with research supervisors, original data sets must be deposited with research supervisors before leaving the University. Early discussions regarding authorship with all research collaborators (including peers and faculty other than the Advisor) and procedures for publication are encouraged. All sources of funds and any direct assistance with the research should be appropriately acknowledged in the thesis and publications.
Non-Thesis Option
A Master of Science degree with a major in Forestry is available under the non‑thesis option. Course requirements include: (1) 32 hours of course work with no more than 9 credit hours of the minimum can be below the 500 level, (2) Forestry 511: Problem Analysis in Forest Resources.
