Geology, MS

Program Coordinator: Eric Horsman (101 Graham Building; 252-328-5265; horsmane@ecu.edu)

The Department of Geological Sciences offers a Geology, MS with both a thesis and non-thesis option. In the non-thesis option, a major paper is substituted for the thesis and 3 s.h. additional course work is required. Course prerequisites listed are for ECU courses; equivalent courses from other schools will be accepted. The Department also participates in the East Carolina University Integrated Coastal Programs unit and in the Integrated Coastal Sciences, PhD program.

The degree requires a minimum of 30-33 s.h. of credit as follows.

Thesis option requirements are as follows:

Equivalent of the East Carolina University bachelor of science in geology or progress toward elimination of deficiencies defined at the time of entrance into the Graduate School.
Passing a graduate qualifying examination.
A total of 30 s.h. of course work, of which a maximum of 6 s.h. may be from outside the Department. At least 15 s.h. must be above the 5999-level.
Completion of a 6 s.h. research skills option is required. The research skills option consists of GEOL 6900 , GEOL 7000 . (GEOL 7000 may be repeated, but a maximum of 6 s.h. can be counted toward degree.)

Nonthesis option requirements are as follows:

Equivalent of the East Carolina University bachelor of science in geology or progress toward elimination of deficiencies defined at the time of entrance into the Graduate School.
Passing a graduate qualifying examination.
A total of 33 s.h. of course work, excluding GEOL 6522 , GEOL 6523 , GEOL 6532 , GEOL 6533 , GEOL 7000 , GEOL 7001 , GEOL 7007 , and GEOL 7008 . A maximum of 6 s.h. may be from outside the Department. At least 17 s.h. must be above the 5999-level.
Completion of a 6 s.h. research skills option is required. The research skills option consists of GEOL 6900 , GEOL 6998 .

GEOL courses:

To view GEOL courses, go here .

Comprehensive assessment requirement

A comprehensive assessment is required for all graduate programs at ECU. The comprehensive assessment for the non-thesis option is the completion of a written document describing a research project supervised by a faculty member, plus an oral presentation of that research project to a committee of ECU graduate faculty. Finalizing this work takes place within the course of GEOL 6998 , which students pursuing the non-thesis degree option take in their final semester. The successful completion of the course is the last major requirement for the non-thesis Geology, MS. A student whose research project paper and/or presentation is unsatisfactory will earn a grade of I (incomplete) in the course. In that case, revisions to the paper and/or presentation are required to complete the course. The comprehensive assessment for the thesis option is the successful completion of a thesis .