Non-Degree Admission: An individual wishing to take graduate aquaculture courses for personal or professional development, but who does not plan to pursue a graduate degree, may be admitted as a non-degree student. A non-degree student must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution.
Visiting Student Admission: Because of the uniqueness of the Aquaculture Program, Kentucky State University is attractive to many students who have been previously admitted to other accredited graduate programs. In order for a visiting student to be officially enrolled for graduate credit at Kentucky State University, the student must file an application form and submit an official Visiting Student Form.
During the first semester at KSU the student will be assigned an advisor who will work with the student to design a course of study based on the student's academic background, experience, and future aspirations in terms of employment or further graduate study. By the first month of the second semester the advisor and advisee will agree on, and document, whether the student will pursue the Thesis Option or Non-Thesis Option in the program. The student and advisor will then agree on the make-up of the student's graduate committee. The committee will consist of three voting members which will be members of the Division's graduate faculty. Additional committee members, from within or outside of the Division, can participate but will not vote. The committee will be responsible for establishing the courses required for this student's course of study.
To successfully complete the thesis option, 29 hours of Coursework and 6 hours of Thesis Credit (3 hours of thesis data collection and 3 hours for thesis writing) are required (total of 35 credit hours needed). Some of the courses can be taken as distance learning (interactive video or online), especially when students are in the field collecting data. Required courses and thesis topic must be approved by the student's graduate committee. The purpose of the thesis option is to demonstrate the student's ability to investigate a research topic and report the findings in proper scientific publication style. This enables the student to gain experience in a specific area of aquaculture and/or aquatic sciences and to report research results in a publishable document. Experience in literature review, experimental design, data collection, record-keeping, statistical analysis, and manuscript preparation are obtained by students completing the thesis option. Students who intend to further their graduate education (e.g. obtain a doctoral degree) should choose this option, because doctoral programs often require students to have demonstrated their ability to successfully complete a master's thesis.
To successfully complete the non-thesis option, 35 hours of Coursework and 3 hours of Internship (Work-Study) for a total of 38 credit hours are needed. Some of the courses can be taken as distance learning (interactive video or online) especially when students are in the field during an internship. Graduate students enrolled in the Non-Thesis Option are required to perform a work-study program as determined by their major professor and approved by their committee. Some settings where the student might work include an aquaculture/aquatic sciences facility such as a fish farm, processing plant, university, or a state or federal fisheries facility. Cooperative Extension work may also be chosen. A report would be written along with a review of literature for a specific aspect of the work-study experience. A detailed proposal will be written by the student and approved by the student’s committee before the work-study is performed.
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