Overview of the Program
The non-resident MS degree program is identical in requirements to the resident M.S. program, in which a student will take 24 graduate credit hours of coursework and write a thesis (6 research credits). While the resident M.S. is designed for students to complete the degree in 2 academic years, non-resident students will typically extend the time to obtain the degree by reducing the number of classes/semester to fit their person work-life balance and available finances. It should also be noted that on the Tulane transcript, the M.S. degree will not distinguish by mode of instruction (resident versus non-resident). The program is well suited as a stepping stone for students considering pursuing a Ph.D. degree program at Tulane or elsewhere in this discipline or related areas. The program is also useful for students planning to enter more advanced professional degree programs (e.g., law, public health, business, natural resources management, etc.). It is most useful to students in existing employment with environmental agencies of federal, state, and municipal government; non-governmental organizations; education; and in private industry, including environmental consulting firms. All RCSE graduate coursework is available remotely to facilitate the non-resident student, but most classes will be a blend of resident and non-resident graduate students.
Unless approval at the time of application is received by the student from the RCSE Graduate Advisor and Department Chair, a student must first complete the Graduate Certificate in River-Coastal Science and Engineering before being allowed to apply to the non-resident M.S. In practice, this should not slow the pace of a student’s completion of the eventual completion of the M.S. and gives students and RCSE an opportunity to pause mid-stream before committing to the full degree program. It also gives the non-resident student time to arrange external (generally employer) funding for the program. Costs for the non-resident M.S. program for part-time students will be equivalent to rates for the Graduate Certificate on a per credit hour basis.
Degree Requirements
A synopsis of general requirements is outlined below. Detailed RCSE departmental procedures can be found in the RCSE graduate handbook. Prospective students are also encouraged to examine overarching School (SSE) guidelines for graduate degrees.
General Course Requirements
All students must complete 24 graduate credit hours in order to obtain the degree, over the course of 4 (or more for non-resident students) semesters.
- M.S. students can transfer up to 12 credit hours from previous graduate-level coursework to the degree. The RCSE Graduate Advisor and Department Chair must approve all transfer credits.
- Students hoping to transfer graduate credits should prepare and submit the paperwork at the start of their second semester at Tulane. SSE will only transfer credits when the student has completed one semester (it is at that point that a Tulane transcript is available).
- Academic graduate electives from other departments (see approved courses list here) can be applied to the degree up to a limit of 9 credit hours. All other courses must originate from RCSE. If a class is not on the approved list, a student may petition the Graduate Advisor for it to be accepted as an elective. Note that some of the approved classes external to RCSE are not available remotely and should not be registered for by non-resident M.S. students.
- Note that thesis MS students typically do NOT register for any credits over the summer (Ph.D. students must, due to health insurance reasons, but not MS students).
- Unless students have been exposed previously to the material offered, thesis committees will strongly urge students to take two introductory technical course offered by RCSE—the existing RCSE 6800 Introduction to River Science and Engineering, and RCSE 6805 Introduction to Coastal Science and Engineering.
Masters Research Credits
Students must enroll in 3 credits of Masters Research (RCSE9980) over two successive semesters (6 credits total). Typically, students do this is the 3rd and 4th semesters, although this may extend to later for non-resident students depending on the pace of their class taking. The student may register for more Master's Research credits if desired in previous semesters; however, these credits do not count toward the 24 course credits necessary for the degree. Master's Research credits are an additional, and different type of credit, and they bring the total credits up to 24+6=30. Note that if all other credit requirements are met, a student can enroll in ONLY 3 hrs of Master's Research to maintain enrollment, i.e. this maintains full time enrollment (because course credits are costly this can save money).
Research Seminar
M.S. students must enroll in three semesters of the 1 credit Seminar course (RCSE7010). The goal of this is to expose students to state-of-the-art research topics and methodologies in concert with the departmental seminar series. All seminars will be made available remotely for non-resident students to access either live or recorded.
Technical Writing Requirement
M.S. students must enroll in the 3 credit Technical Writing course (RCSE 7020) that is offered each Fall. Generally students take this class in their third semester as a degree-seeking student. This class is also required of non-resident students but their timing of enrollment may occur later depending on the individual pace of class completion.
Quality of Work Requirements
- Students must maintain a GPA > 3.0 in order to complete the program. Any students with a GPA below this threshold will be placed on academic probation.
- Students must earn a grade of B- or better in any individual class for the class to count toward the 24 hour credit requirement. If a grade below B- is received, the course will not count toward the requirement. If a student receives one B- grade, the student is immediately considered for probation by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in consultation with the appropriate department/program. If a student receives two grades of B-, or one grade less than B-, during his/her tenure in the School of Science and Engineering, the student is placed on probation and considered for dismissal by the Associate Dean in consultation with RCSE’s graduate committee. The terms of the probation are to be worked out by RCSE’s graduate committee in consultation with the Associate Dean. The above guidelines will be applied to all graduate students (master and doctoral degree candidates).
Thesis Committee and Research Prospectus
- Students must form a thesis committee by the end of their first semester of matriculation at Tulane. This includes non-resident students—their first semester after they transition from the Graduate Certificate program to enrollment as a degree-seeking student. This early formation is designed to help guide students in their class selection and goals given the interdisciplinary nature of the department, and to begin early on selection and research for their thesis to avoid extending their matriculation beyond 2 years.
- The student is required to submit a written thesis prospectus to their committee by the beginning of their third semester of matriculation after becoming a degree-seeking student (in the case of non-resident students) that focuses on the individual novel research project. Initial drafts of the thesis prospectus will be anticipated to have been produced in the required RCSE 7020 Technical Writing course. This prospectus will be approved by the student’s thesis committee, at which point the student will be considered to have completed all but the thesis and can transition to research hours only.
For any inquiries or more information, please contact RCSE Graduate Advisor Dr. Mead Allison email: meadallison@tulane.edu.
