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. The Department participates in the East Carolina University Integrated Coastal Programs unit and in the Integrated Coastal Sciences, PhD .

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

Thesis option requirements are as follows:

Equivalent of the East Carolina University bachelor of science degree 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 degree 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 .