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Department of Food Science and Human NutritionFST Graduate Handbook - Section 3 |
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Food Science and Technology Major Requirements The department offers the Food Science and Technology major for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. there are thesis and non-thesis options for the M.S. degree. There are specific minimum course work requirements for each degree and option. Your POS committee may determine you need additional coursework. Each student is required to consult with their advisor or major professor every term prior to registration for course work. The minimum requirements for the degree programs are listed below, but approval of the course work for the degree program requires approval of the POS committee, the FST DOGE, and the Graduate College as filed with the POS plan. The Plan of Study (POS) Committee: This committee is chosen by the graduate student and the major professor and is approved by the DOGE (Appendix A 2). This committee directs the types and number of courses taken. The agreed contract is called the Program of Study (POS) (Appendix A 3a) and POS Supplemental Form (Appendix A 3b). Any changes in your POS or in the composition of your POS committee can be accomplished by use of the form shown in Appendix A 5. Other changes may require memos and signatures. These are summarized in Appendix A 6. Master's POS Committee Makeup Thesis Option The Master's POS committee consists of at least three members of the graduate faculty. It must include two members, including the major professor, from the major or program. The committee must include members from different majors or different departments so as to ensure diversity of perspectives. One member of the committee must be from outside of the FSHN department to provide perspective and as an advocate, if necessary, for the master's student. A term member of the graduate faculty may participate in the direction of a student's master's research as a co-major professor if a member of the graduate faculty serves as a co-major professor and jointly accepts responsibility for the direction of a program of study. Non-Thesis Option Admission to non-thesis MS program: Students must apply for admission as graduate students to the Food Science & Technology (FS&T) program. The graduate admissions committee will evaluate the academic credentials of applicants. The applicant will be advised is they are academically qualified for our program but full admission will not be given until a major professor is identified. Applications of academically eligible students will be made available to the FST faculty for review. No research assistantship commitment need be made for non-thesis option M.S. students. POS committee composition: A minimum of four committee members is required. Since the non-thesis option trains the student in the 3 major areas of food science & technology, food microbiology, food chemistry and food engineering/processing, the POS committee must include 3 faculty members who represent each of the areas. Additionally, a faculty member from outside the Food Science & Technology program must be a member of the POS committee, per Graduate College regulations. Transfer to thesis option: A student in the non-thesis option may transfer to the thesis option at the same level, provided the major professor can supply a research assistantship. The approval of the non-these POS committee is required and rationale should be summarized in a letter to the FST DOGE. Transfer from thesis option to non-thesis option: To transfer to the non-thesis option, the composition of the student's POS committee must be evaluation and revised to conform with that required for non-thesis POS committees. The POS itself must also be revised to conform with the requirements of the non-thesis course requirements and be approved by the new POS committee. Doctoral POS Committee Makeup The POS committee for a Food Science & Technology doctoral program consists of at least five members of the graduate faculty. It must include at least three members, including the major professor, from within the student's major or program. The committee must include members from different majors or different departments so as to ensure diversity of perspectives. One member of the committee must be from outside of the FSHN department to provide perspective and as an advocate, if necessary, for the doctoral student. A term member of the graduate faculty may participate in the direction of a student's dissertation research as a co-major professor if a member of the graduate faculty serves as a co-major professor and jointly accepts responsibility for direction of the dissertation. Food Science & Technology Graduate Major Curriculum Minimum credit and course requirements Thesis Option MS:
Non-Thesis Option MS:
PhD :
Seminar Attendance: For both MS and PhD, satisfactory attendance at FSHN seminars is required every term, even if not enrolled in FSHN 581 or 681. Specific Course Requirements
Final Oral exam for non-thesis option MS: The final oral exam will consist of the master's candidate presenting a summary of their creative component project to the POS committee, and an oral examination of the candidate's competency in food science subjects including food microbiology, food chemistry and food processing/engineering (not related to the creative component) as well as coursework outside of food science. Return to top Food Science & Technology Doctoral Preliminary ExaminationFor the program in Food Science & Technology, the POS committee administers both the written and oral portions of the Preliminary Examination. A Request for Preliminary Examination Form must be submitted to the Graduate College two weeks prior to the date of the examination. The examination rigorously tests knowledge of the major, minor, and supporting academic areas. Preparation requires intense study. In general, the written portion will cover the core of basic knowledge in food science and technology that is expected of a doctoral candidate and professional. The format of both the written and oral Preliminary Examination for the Doctorate in Food Science & Technology is at the discretion of the major professor and the POS committee. Food Science & Technology Graduate Minor Curriculum
Return to top As noted in the Graduate College Handbook, a student is required to maintain a cumulative GPA ≥ 3.0; failure to do so will result in the loss of tuition support by the Graduate College and the Department or major professor. There is currently a one-semester grace period for students during their first term as a new graduate student before the enforcement of this policy. It should also be noted that the FSHN Department policy stipulates graduate students must earn a grade of B- or better in all courses within the major (i.e., Food Science & Technology or Nutrition), regardless of GPA. This issue of grades and GPA is discussed further at the end of the Handbook. All FST graduate students will present a defense seminar as part of FSHN 681 requirement. The seminar may be part of regular department seminar series, if during regular academic year, or may be prior to oral thesis/dissertation defense, if during summer session or seminar faculty (FSHN 681 instructors) cannot schedule during academic year. M.S. students should plan to present a 25 min seminar while Ph.D. students will give a 50 min seminar. While all research work conducted for degree may not fit into the seminar time frame, students should summarize the breathe of work accomplished for thesis/dissertation work in 2 or 3 slides so audience understands the scope of work accomplished. The overall thesis or dissertation hypothesis should be presented with the research objectives. Seminars will be given a letter grade. Recall that a B- is the minimum passing grade for FST coursework. Interdepartmental Majors and Co-majors For students that are in an interdepartmental programs (e.g., Toxicology; Genetics; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology) and declare FSHN as their home department, many of the requirements stipulated for graduate students within the department must be met by interdepartmental students as well. This includes a review of their graduate application by the FSHN Admissions Committee, FST or IGPNS depending upon the intended major professor's program affliation, submitting semester reports, and fulfilling the Teaching Assistant requirement. Students are highly encouraged to attend at least one seminar per week, either in the FSHN Department or as part of their interdepartmental program. Each Interdepartmental major will be evaluated yearly based on these accomplishments. Students that are co-majors must fulfill all of the requirements of both majors. The application file for co-majors must also be reviewed by the FSHN Admissions Committee following formation of the POS Committee. Both interdepartmental students and co-majors are eligible for relevant scholarships and other forms of support, such as travel grants. |
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Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, 2312 Food Sciences Building, Ames,
Iowa 50011-1061
Phone: 515/294-3011, Fax: 515/294-8181, fshnweb@iastate.edu.
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