2013-2014 Graduate Catalog Downloadable PDF (10.71MB)

Degree Information/The Degree of Master of Agriculture 81The student must demonstrate problem solving capabilities. Degree candidates maygain such capabilities by completing a professional internship that is designed to providemeaningful, applied, practical experiences, and which may vary in duration from threeto nine months depending upon departmental requirements.The degree may be earned in select academic departments of the College of Agricultureand Life Sciences and in four interdisciplinary areas: food science and technology,agricultural development, and plant protection.Residence (See Residence Requirements, page 34.)A student must complete 12 credit hours in resident study at Texas A&M University tosatisfy the residence requirement for the Master of Agriculture degree.Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill totalresidence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester.In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waiversand Exceptions along with verification of his/her employment to the Office of Graduateand Professional Studies.Student’s Advisory CommitteeAfter receiving admission to graduate studies and enrolling for coursework, the studentwill consult with the head of his or her major or administrative department or chairof the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable, concerning appointment of the chair of his orher advisory committee. The student’s advisory committee for the master’s degree willconsist of no fewer than three members of the graduate faculty representative of thestudent’s fields of study and research. The chair or one of the co-chairs of the advisorycommittee must be from the student’s department or intercollegiate faculty, if appropriate,and at least one or more of the members must have an appointment to a departmentother than the student’s major department.The chair, in consultation with the student, will select the remainder of the advisorycommittee. The student will interview each prospective committee member to determinewhether he or she is willing to serve. Only graduate faculty members located on thecampuses at College Station, Galveston, Qatar, Texas A&M University–Temple Campusor Institute of Biosciences and Technology–Houston may serve as chair of a student’sadvisory committee. Other graduate faculty members located off-campus may serve as amember or co-chair (but not chair), with a member as the chair. The chair of the committee,who usually has immediate supervision of the student’s degree program, has theresponsibility for calling required meetings of the committee, and for calling meetings atany other time considered desirable.If the chair of a student’s advisory committee voluntarily leaves the University andthe student wants the chair to continue to serve in this role, the student is responsible forsecuring a current member of the University Graduate Faculty, from her/his academicprogram and located on the College Station campus, to serve as the co-chair of thecommittee. If the committee chair is on an approved leave of absence, s/he can remainas chair without a co-chair for up to one year with written approval of the DepartmentHead or chair of the intercollegiate faculty. Extensions beyond the one year period canbe granted with additional approval of the Dean.