Students admitted to MS OR PhD degree program fall into one of two categories:
(1) full admittance, or
(2) provisional status.

A student on provisional status must satisfactorily remove the deficiencies requiring provisional status within one year, or the student will be asked to leave. Provisional status does not restrict students from receiving an assistantship.

Degree Requirements
The Department of Horticulture grants an Option I MS degree and an Option II MS degree. For Option I, a minimum of 30 credit hours must be earned with 6 to 10 hours as thesis and a minimum of 8 credit hours in 900 level or 800 level without a 400 level counterpart courses (see Department Graduate Level Courses). You are required to take at least half of your 30 hours in the Department of Horticulture. The final thesis draft must be turned in to be stamped for approval at the Graduate College at least 2 weeks prior to the thesis defense. An abstract of the M.S. thesis is also required. Specific deadlines for a thesis defense will vary from semester to semester and are available from the Graduate College. If you did not get a copy of the guidelines, see your major professor's copy or the one posted outside Rm. 383.

An Option II master's degree is usually considered a terminal degree. Students who have taken the master's degree under Option II and later elect to continue in graduate work for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must give evidence of ability to carry on independent research.

Under this option (option II) a student must earn a minimum of 36 semester hours of credit in courses representing a major and either one or two minors. A program consisting of a major and one minor must include not fewer than 18 hours in the major and 9 hours in the minor. If two minors are elected, the major must total at least 15 hours and the minors at least 9 hours each. In either case, at least 12 of the 36 hours must be earned in courses open exclusively to graduate students (900 level or 800 level without 400 or lower counterparts). A list of proposed courses, a list of the student's advisory committee and a project title and plan must be submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval. The "Procedure Summary for the Masters Degree" is a 10-step process all Masters students MUST follow. It is found on in the Graduate Studies Bulletin in the section entitled Requirements for Graduate Degrees/GENERAL INFORMATION. (P. 18-25)

Major Professor and Committee
To be accepted into the graduate program in Horticulture at UNL, a professor has to be willing to serve as your major advisor. The major advisor or major professor is there to help guide the student through the degree program. A flow chart and necessary forms follow this section.

Methods for accomplishing this will vary with advisor. Communication between student and professor is paramount. However, the student is ultimately responsible for making adequate progress toward their degree and producing high quality research. At least two other professors should be selected to be on your master's committee. Professors may be selected by their ability to advise the graduate student on some portion of their research. It is essential that suitable experimental designs and statistical analyses be used when conducting graduate level research. It is usually necessary for students to rely on their major professor and/or committee members for this information. Consultation with statistical personnel in the Department of Biometry is also recommended. Course selection should be based on the advice of your committee so members should have both the list of courses previously taken and the proposed list. In addition to course work, the research proposal should be discussed at an initial meeting of your committee. This initial committee meeting may also occur simultaneously with the taking of the Master's qualifying exam. See your major professor as to the specifics of this exam.

Once the thesis is in final form (and the thesis defense passed), a diskette copy of the student's thesis should be given to the seminar coordinator, for filing in the department archives. A printed copy is also requested for the Horticulture Department Library currently located in the Conference room (Room 375 Plant Sciences).

Masters Degree with Double Major
The professional/scholastic goals of some masters students may be enhanced substantially by acquiring more knowledge of a second field than is currently provided by the option of earning a minor, yet they may not need a dual degree (i.e., two masters degrees in separate majors, typically 60+ credit hours).

The UNL Graduate Council has approved the concept of providing Masters degree students with the option of attaining a double major within the same degree (e.g., Master of Arts in two different majors). For instance, a student may be permitted, with proper approvals, to pursue a Master of Science degree in the majors of civil engineering and geology because these majors lead to the Master of Science degree. One could not attain a double major in geology and geography because these majors lead only to the Master of Science and the Master of Arts degrees, respectively.

Applicants choosing the double major will submit one application and fee and clearly specify that they are seeking a double major. In addition, the applicant must specify which department/area will pass the application to the second graduate committee with the results of its decisions (recommendation for acceptance with support, recommendation for acceptance without support, refusal of admission). The prospective student should be aware that a decision to recommend admission by one of the graduate committees does not affect the decision of the other. The criteria for acceptance may differ between programs; admission to one or both of the department's programs does not guarantee acceptance for a double major masters degree. Final approval of all applications rest with the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Students accepted into a double major must meet, at least, the minimum requirements for each of the majors. This includes course work of no less than 18 to 24 credit hours in each of the two disciplines, but never fewer than 18 credits, excluding cross-listed courses in the second major. The precise number of credits may vary depending on he total required hours for a particular major. For each of the two majors, students must take at least eight credits in courses open only to graduate students (900 level or *800 level), excluding thesis hours.

The student is required to successfully satisfy the comprehensive examination schedule (written an/or oral examination(s) administered for each major. The examination committee for students electing for the double major masters shall consist of two graduate faculty members from each of the major department/areas. The committee shall be co-chaired by a faculty member from each of the major departments. All professors on the examining committee must either be on the graduate faculty or be non-graduate faculty approved to perform specified graduate faculty duties. At least one of the two members from each department must be a graduate faculty fellow.

If a student is already pursuing a major in a degree program, then decides he or she would like to obtain a second major, a new application and admission fee is required. The new application must be approved by the original graduate committee prior to review by the second graduate committee. However, once the master degree is conferred, a second major cannot be attained. Students then would be required to apply for admission to a second master degree program, and upon acceptance, complete all requirements of a full independent program.