M. Ag. in Hort Q&A

I recently received an email from a student who has completed Hort 6001 and has an approved project. She needs to complete Hort 6002 and also needs one additional credit to fulfill the requirement for 15 core horticulture courses. Her question was whether she could set aside her project and take the problem solving version of Hort 6002 for 3 credits. This would allow her to complete 6002 and also pick up the the additional credit she needs to complete the Horticulture core.

My response was yes, I will approve that change to her program. In the past, the three credit 6001/6002 sequence was taken in addition to the 15 core horticulture credits, but in this case because she is completing the new problem solving version of the course (which is really 4 credits worth of effort) I will allow her to register for 3 credits and apply one of those credits toward her Horticulture core.

This flexibility in Hort 6002 credits applies only to students who entered the program prior to Fall '09 and who are navigating their way through the transition from the old program to the new program. New students who begin the program in Fall '09 are required to complete Hort 6002 for 4 credits, and in addition are required to complete 15 credits of Horticulture core, as well as 11 credits in related fields.

If you have similar or other questions, be sure to post comments to this blog or email me directly and we can work out a solution for your particular situation.

Make sure that you officially request changes to your program on a program revision form. You can obtain these forms from Evonne.

Regards,

Tom

Posted by Thomas Michaels at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a comment to the last posting, Lorinda Balfanz asked whether Hort 5090 Directed Studies could be taken for more than 3 credits. The current wording regarding Hort 5090 is as follows:

A maximum of 3 credits of Hort 5090 (Directed Studies) may be applied toward the minimum horticulture core course requirements; additional credits may be taken over and above the minimum requirements.

My interpretation is that you can still only apply 3 credits of Hort 5090 to the 15 required Horticulture credits, but the door is open for additional Hort 5090 credits to apply to the "related fields" requirement, in consultation with your adviser and me.

I recognize that the lack of evening and distance courses creates difficulty for many M. Ag. students who are working or are otherwise engaged during the "usual" 8am-4pm academic day. The standard response to this problem is for the department to encourage students to find the flexibility in their day to take these courses at their usual times. However, department head Emily Hoover and I realize this is an ongoing problem and are committed to increasing the number of evening and/or online courses offered by the department. Frankly this will take some years before we can offer a substantial part of the M.Ag. program in evening or online formats, if ever. Another approach may be to apply coursework from other universities to your M. Ag. degree. If you find graduate-level courses offered online or in evenings from other universities, you may be able to apply these to your program credits. Get written approval from me before enrolling in these courses so that we are both assured that the credits will contribute to your degree.

Thanks, Lorinda, for your question. I will bring this issue of Hort 5090 credits to my steering committee for further discussion.

- Tom

Posted by Thomas Michaels at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)