Initial admission to the online Master of Science in Agriculture degree program will be into the non-thesis plan type, which is generally more suitable for distance students. Students who wish to pursue the thesis option are invited to submit a thesis petition (see Appendix) for review by the director of the MSAG program. The director will assess the extent of the proposed project to ensure it meets the thesis expectations for the program and that acceptable arrangements are in place for mentoring the thesis research. Upon approval, the academic coordinator will facilitate the change of the student’s plan type.
The thesis degree is ideal for people who are interested in pursuing or expanding a professional career involving the scientific aspects of an agricultural discipline. The thesis degree is also suitable for individuals who intend to continue their graduate education. It is a research degree leading to the preparation and defense of a formal thesis based on a project conducted by the student with guidance from the committee. A thesis is a document that is prepared by the student and that presents the author’s original research findings.
Thesis Requirements – Section 5.a.
The purpose of a master’s thesis is to ‘demonstrate the candidates ability to conduct original research of a type appropriate to the academic discipline, to analyze the information obtained from the research, and to present the results in a form acceptable to the supervisory committee’. It is generally expected that a master’s thesis would also culminate in a manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal publication.
A thesis typically consists of a literature review of relevant background information on the topic, an introduction that explains the purpose and objectives of the research, materials and methods that describe the approach and statistical design used to conduct the research, a results section that describes the outcome of the research, a discussion section that interprets and relates the results to other relevant research, and a conclusion that concisely states the outcome and/or implication of the results. See Appendix for additional Thesis Project Guidelines (including project proposal). Also, download WSU’s official Thesis and Dissertation Formatting and Submission Guidelines from the Graduate School website.
Thesis Final Examination Requirements – Section 5.b.
There will be a two-part final exam for MSAG thesis degrees:
- Public seminar where the student presents the results of the research project
- Oral exam that focuses on defense of the research project, attended by all committee members
Students are required to be registered for 2 credits of AGRI 700 in the term in which the exam is held.