Master of Geographic Information Sciences | Michigan Tech Graduate School

The master’s degree demonstrates advanced ability, usually in both coursework and research. The master's student must comply with the degree requirements on this page, and submit any necessary forms for their degree option to document their progress with the Graduate School. Individual programs may have higher standards. Students are expected to know their program’s requirements.

Master’s Path Program—may have additional credit requirements.

Residency Requirements

The residency requirements are satisfied when both of the following conditions are met:

A minimum of two-thirds of the required non-research coursework credits required for the degree must be taken through Michigan Tech. PhD students must take at least 20 credits beyond the master's or 50 credits beyond the bachelor's through Michigan Tech.
Research credits used to satisfy degree requirements must be taken through Michigan Tech and must be supervised by a member of Michigan Tech's graduate faculty.

Courses that meet the "through Michigan Tech" requirement are defined as courses listed in the Michigan Tech course catalog and taught by Michigan Tech faculty.

Credit Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Programs may have stricter requirements than listed here and may require more than the minimum numbers of credits listed here.

Thirty credits beyond the bachelor’s degree are required for a master’s degree.
Thirty credits beyond the master’s degree are required for a PhD.
Maximum of 12 credits may be at the 3000 or 4000 level (with program approval).
- MEng allows a maximum of 14 credits at the 3000 or 4000 level.
One-third of the non-research credits may be transfer credits as long as they were not applied toward another degree.
Research credits are the only non-graded classes that may be counted toward a degree.
All credits must meet the Scholastic Standards of the Graduate School in order to be counted toward the credit requirements.

Unallowable Credits

Courses numbered below 3000.
Audited courses.
Continuous enrollment courses (ex: UN5951, UN5953).
Non-research courses taken for pass/fail courses.
Credits applied toward another degree (see exceptions below).

Special Exceptions

A portion of the non-research/non-practicum credits earned at Michigan Tech may be reused to earn an additional master's degree in accordance with Graduate School policy.
Students in an accelerated master’s program may apply up to nine approved credits earned while an undergraduate toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accordance with University policy. Each program may set limits on the type and number of credits.

Academic Progress

Students must be in good standing to earn a graduate degree.

Time Limits

All work must be completed within the specified time frame starting from the first enrollment in the degree program or earliest course listed on the degree schedule, whichever is earliest.

Master’s degree must be completed within five (5) calendar years.
PhD must be completed within eight (8) calendar years.

Requests for extension must be made by the advisor to the Graduate School.

Responsible Conduct for Research Training

The University requires that all students complete basic responsible conduct for research training. Students completing a dissertation, thesis, or report will also complete advanced responsible conduct for research training. See our Responsible Conduct of Research Training page for details on how to complete the training.

Advisor

All master's students must have an advisor that meets the requirements of the Graduate School. These individuals advise students on course selection, supervise their research, and play an important role in their professional development.

Initially, students may be advised by the graduate program director for their degree program. However, students must choose a permanent advisor prior to the end of the second academic-year semester in residence or a registration hold will be placed on their account.

Advisory Committee

Master's students completing a thesis or report option must have an advisory committee that meets the requirements of the Graduate School. The purpose of the advisory committee is to provide the student with multiple independent viewpoints to guide the research project, provide advice on the student’s path to the degree, and assess the student’s work.

Options

Each student must submit any necessary forms for their degree option to document their progress with the Graduate School. Individual option requirements and options available for the Master of Geographic Information Sciences degree are as follows.

Thesis Option

This option requires a research thesis prepared under the supervision of the advisor. The thesis describes a research investigation and its results. The scope of the research topic for the thesis should be defined in such a way that a full-time student could complete the requirements for a master’s degree in 12 months or three semesters following the completion of coursework by regularly scheduling graduate research credits. The thesis must be prepared following the current procedures.

At least two weeks prior to the oral examination, students must

Schedule the final oral examination by completing a scheduling request on your Degree Progress Checklist
Submit a draft thesis to the Graduate School
Distribute the thesis to the examining committee

The Degree schedule form must be approved before a defense is scheduled.

Students must also report the results of the oral examination and submit a final thesis to the Graduate School prior to completing their degrees.

The minimum requirements are as follows:

Total Credit Requirements
Option Parts	Credits
Coursework (minimum)	20 Credits
Thesis research	6-10 Credits
Total (minimum)	30 Credits

Distribution of Coursework Credit
Distribution	Credits
5000-6000 series (minimum)	12 Credits
3000-4000 (maximum)	12 Credits

Report Option

This option requires a report describing the results of an independent study project. The scope of the research topic should be defined in such a way that a full-time student could complete the requirements for a master’s degree in 12 months or three semesters following the completion of coursework by regularly scheduling graduate research credits. The report must be prepared following the current procedures.

At least two weeks prior to the oral examination, students must

Schedule the final oral examination by completing a scheduling request on your Degree Progress Checklist
Distribute the report to the examining committee
Submit the report to the Graduate School

The Degree schedule form must be approved before a defense is scheduled.

Students must also report the results of the oral examination and submit the final report to the Graduate School using the current procedures.

Of the minimum total of 30 credits, at least 24 must be earned in coursework other than the project.

Total Credit Requirements
Option Parts	Credits
Coursework (minimum)	24 Credits
Report	2-6 Credits
Total (minimum)	30 Credits

Distribution of Coursework Credit
Distribution	Credits
5000-6000 series (minimum)	12 Credits
3000-4000 (maximum)	12 Credits

Coursework Option

This option requires a minimum of 30 credits be earned through coursework. Use of limited number research credits in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a coursework degree may be allowed in exceptional cases. Students wishing to apply research credits toward a coursework degree must obtain approval from their advisor and department. The department must then obtain approval from the Graduate School. Approval will only be granted when there is evidence that an appropriate body of work has been completed, sufficient deliverables have been produced, and circumstances beyond the students' control have made it necessary for them to change from a research-based to a coursework-based degree program.

A graduate program may require an oral or written examination before conferring the degree.

Distribution of Coursework Credit
Distribution	Credits
5000-6000 series (minimum)	18 Credits
3000-4000 (maximum)	12 Credits

Degree Completion Timeline

The degree completion timeline pages show a summary list of the items required to complete a thesis, report, or coursework option.

Students can view their Degree Progress Checklist for a list of items that are complete or pending for each degree they are pursuing. See the Graduate School's online tutorial for help with their Degree Progress Checklist.

Final Oral Examination

For students completing a thesis or report option, a public final oral examination ("defense") is required. At a defense, the candidate should justify the validity of the methods and conclusions contained in the thesis or report and should demonstrate familiarity with the significance of the study in relation to the existing body of knowledge.

Two weeks before the defense, students must:

Submit a scheduling request for the defense on your Degree Progress Checklist, student tutorial
Submit a copy of the dissertation to the Graduate School (via Canvas), and
Submit copies of their dissertation to the advisory committee (via a method of their choice).

After the defense, the results must be reported to the Graduate School on the Report on Final Oral Examination Form. After the student has passed the exam and completed the technical corrections required by their committee, they will need to submit their final thesis or report using the current procedures to satisfy their degree requirements.