General Requirements

All FER graduates students must satisfy specific requirements pertaining to transcripts from previous institutions, developing a plan of work, teaching responsibilities, course timing and more. These requirements are in addition to the requirements of the NC State Graduate School.  For a detailed description of requirements of the Graduate School for all advanced degree programs at NC State, please review the on-line NC State Graduate Administrative Handbook. Chapter 3 is particularly important. Many questions related to Graduate School policies and rules are addressed on the Graduate School Frequently Asked Questions website.

All Graduate School forms can be found in downloadable format online.  Click here for other resources.

See below for the following:

• Credit Requirements for Graduation
• Transferring Credit
• Continuous Registration/Leave of Absence
• Masters Graduation Requirements
• Masters Advisory Committee Requirements
• PhD Graduation Requirements
• PhD Advisory Committee Requirements
• Hints on Completing the Plan of Work
• Final Exam/Defense Procedures

Credit Requirements for Graduation

Degree	Minimum credits*	Minor required	Final product	Specific courses required**
Master of Forestry	40	no	project paper	40 cr
MS in Forestry	30-36	yes	thesis	2 cr
PhD in Forestry & Environmental Resources	72 beyond bachelors	yes	dissertation	2 cr
Master of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology	36	no	project paper	1 cr
MS in Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology	30	yes	thesis	1 cr
PhD in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology	72 beyond bachelors	no	dissertation	4 cr
Master of Natural Resources	30-36	no	project paper	11 cr
MS in Natural Resources	30-36	no	thesis	11 cr
Master of Environmental Assessment	30	no	project paper	24 cr

* The advisory committee can require additional credits beyond the minimum.
** See the specific degree program for details.

Transfer Credit

Masters students can transfer in up to 12 graduate level credits.  Courses considered for transfer must be completed in post-baccalaureate classification at an accredited graduate school with a grade of “B” or better as documented by an official transcript and approved by the student’s graduate committee.

Doctoral students can bring in up to 18 credits from a masters degree in a related field from another university or from NCSU with a break between programs and up to 36 credits from a masters degree in a related field from NCSU with no break in programs.

This credit is transferred in when the Plan of Work is submitted.

Continuous Registration/Leave of Absence

Students are required to maintain continuous fall/spring registration once they begin the degree program.  Leaves of absence are an exception to continuous registration and a total of 2 semesters leave of absence are allowed for a degree program. Leaves must be requested at least one month before the leave is to begin, initiated by student, endorsed by graduate advisory committee, endorsed by DGP, and approved by Graduate School. Leave time counts in total program time limit.

Masters Graduation Requirements

• Fulfill all course and credit requirements (see the specific major), see the Graduate Handbook for details on course level requirements.
• Fulfill all minor requirements, if applicable.
• Submit all outstanding documents, as listed in the initial admission letter, including transcripts showing post-secondary coursework attempted and degree(s) conferred to the Graduate School.
• Complete the Patent Agreement (found on the Plan of Work).
• Submit a Plan of Work through MyPack/Student Self Service. A Plan of Work (PoW) is an informal contract between the student and his or her graduate advisory committee and it includes the naming of the advisory committee. The PoW must be completed before half of all required courses have been taken. Once a PoW is approved, it serves as a record of what is required of the student for the duration of his or her program.
• Be continuously enrolled until they graduate (taking care to register for appropriate courses when it comes to upper 600- level classes).
• Meet all Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources requirements.
• Present a departmental seminar that summarizes their project (non-thesis candidates) or summarizes their thesis research. Seminars are normally presented as the first portion of the final oral exam.
• If earning a MS, submit an approved thesis/dissertation (per the Thesis and Dissertation Guide) to the thesis editor of the Graduate School.
• Complete all degree requirements within the limits set by the Graduate School, beginning with the date they begin courses carrying graduate credit applicable to the degree program.
• Attain a GPA of at least 3.00 for graduate course work at NC State.

PhD Graduation Requirements

• Fulfill all course and credit requirements (see the specific major), see the Graduate Handbook for details on course level requirements.
• Fulfill all minor requirements (a minor is required for PhD in Forestry & Environmental Resources and is otherwise optional)
• Submit all outstanding documents, as listed in the initial admission letter, including transcripts showing post-secondary coursework attempted and degree(s) conferred to the Graduate School.
• Complete the Patent Agreement (found on the Plan of Work).
• Identify an advisory committee to be appointed by the Graduate Dean upon the recommendation of the DGP. Approvals are done through the Plan of Work.
• Select a dissertation subject and submit an outline of proposed research to the advisory committee for review and approval.
• Submit a Plan of Work through MyPack/Student Self Service. A Plan of Work (PoW) is an informal contract between the student and his or her graduate advisory committee and it includes the naming of this advisory committee. Once a PoW is approved, it serves as a record of what is required of the student for the duration of his or her program. This must be done as soon as is feasible after completion of 18 hours of course work.
• Pass written and oral prelim examinations in all major and minor fields (if required) no earlier than the end of the second year of graduate study and no later than one semester before the final oral examination. The oral prelim requires and approved Plan of Work and prior approval by the Graduate School. Results are reported to the Graduate School. The prelim must be passed without conditions within four years of the start of the program.
• Submit a preliminary draft of their dissertation to the chair of the advisory committee for review.
• Give a dissertation to advisory committee members for review at least two weeks prior to the final oral examination.
• Submit a Request for Approval to Schedule the Doctoral Oral Examination to the DGP at least two weeks prior to its suggested date. This request should be submitted four or more months after admission to candidacy, and after the dissertation is complete (except for revisions triggered as a result of the final exam). Approval of this request must be granted by the Graduate School.
• Be continuously enrolled until they graduate (taking care to register for appropriate courses when it comes to upper 800- level classes).
• Meet all Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources requirements.
• Present a departmental seminar that summarizes their dissertation research. Seminars are normally presented as the first portion of the final oral exam.
• Submit the dissertation (per the Thesis and Dissertation Guide) in the format and time frame required by the Graduate School.
• Achieve a GPA of at least 3.0 to qualify for graduation.
• Complete all degree requirements within ten calendar years, beginning with the date the student commenced courses carrying graduate credit applicable to the degree program.

Masters Advisory Committee Requirements

As a Masters candidate, your advisory committee consists of at least 3 people who are members of the Graduate Faculty. The chair must have an appointment in FER (or be a member of the Fisheries and Wildlife faculty if you are a candidate in that area). Regardless of your degree program, your other two advisory committee members may come from other departments at NC State.

You may also choose to ask a member of the Graduate Faculty at UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Greensboro or Duke University to serve on your advisory committee as one of your three committee members. If you have a minor, your advisory committee must include a faculty member with an appointment in that curriculum. In the case of an interdisciplinary minor, the minor representative must have an appointment in a department in which at least one of the courses counted toward the minor is taught.

Persons outside of these universities can also be appointed as external members to your advisory committee, but they will not count toward your three required members. Typically these external members hold credentials similar to other members and participate in all aspects of the committee, including voting. A technical consultant or advisor may also be named in addition to your required committee members. He or she may not vote on the outcome of examinations, but can participate in examinations.

Doctoral Advisory Committee Requirements

Your PhD advisory committee must include four faculty members with appointments to the NC State Graduate Faculty. The chair must have an appointment in your major field. If co-chairs are designated, at least one of them must be a full member of the Graduate Faculty. One member of the committee must have an appointment in the curriculum that is your declared minor. If the minor is interdisciplinary, this committee member must have an appointment in the department in which at least one of the courses counted toward the minor is taught. You may also choose to ask a member of the Graduate Faculty at UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Greensboro or Duke University to serve on your advisory committee as one of your four committee members. Persons outside of these universities can also be appointed as additional members to your advisory committee, but they will not count toward your four required members. Typically these external members hold credentials similar to other members and participate in all aspects of the committee, including voting.

Hints on Completing the Plan of Work

The Plan of Work (POW) must be completed by all students – masters students should complete it after their first year and doctoral students should complete it after 18 credit hours. The POW is described in detail in the Grad Student Handbook. It is now submitted online and is relatively straightforward. Some hints follow:

• Do not start to work on your POW until you are officially in the program you want. For example, if you were admitted as a MS student in Natural Resources – Hydrology and want to earn a Master of Natural Resources – Policy & Administration, then this change needs to be fully approved by the Graduate School before you start working on the POW.
• Coursework should first be added from your transcript. After you have added all of these classes, then you can add your future courses.
• Courses taken while in Post-Baccalaureate status (PBS) at NCSU will need to be added from “my graduate non-degree transcript”.
• Doctoral students who are bringing in credits from their master’s programs should add these credits through the transfer credit process. Add a new row to the POW. Choose credits from transfer, then click on the only choice. Then add as the name of the course “transfer credits from masters”. Set the credits to 18. You do not need to list specific courses. These credits are in the category of “other”.
• If coursework changes after the POW has been approved, this will be fixed when you want to schedule your exams.
• If you change committee members, this requires a special form, with signatures by new and departing committee members.

Final Exam/Defense Procedures (on-campus programs)

• Final steps in completing your degree program (on-campus programs only, others should see the specific program website):
• Make sure your Plan of Work is correct, with the proper degree and program, current committee and all coursework.
• Schedule a date and time with your committee.
• Find a location for the exam.
• At least two weeks before the exam, tell the Graduate Program Coordinator the following so paperwork can be approved by the Graduate School:
  • date and time of exam
  • location of exam
  • draft exam title
  • if all committee members will be present for the exam.  If not, see below.

• Apply to graduate in MyPack.
• For information on graduation deadlines, click here.

Procedures when a committee member cannot be present:

• If a committee member cannot be present, you have three choices: (1) reschedule for a time when everyone can be present – this is the preferred option; (2) have the absent committee member participate remotely; or (3) find a substitute committee member – this is the least preferred option.
• All available rooms for exams in Biltmore or Jordan Hall are equipped to handle remote participation via Zoom.