Environmental, Safety and Health, M.S.
Admission Requirements
Applicants should follow the admissions process described in this catalog or at the Graduate Admissions website: www.marshall.edu/graduate/admissions/how-to-apply-for-admission.
Each applicant must satisfy at least ONE of the following criteria:
- Score at the mean or above on the verbal GRE
- Score at the mean or above on the quantitative GRE
- Score at the mean or above on the analytical GRE
- Score at the mean or above on the Miller Analogies Test
- Have an undergraduate GPA of 2.50 or above
- Have passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and/or the Professional Engineering exam
In addition to the general requirements all students entering the graduate Environmental Science program must have completed prior to admission the following courses or their equivalent:
CHM 205 General, Organic, and Biochem and MTH 130 College Algebra with a grade of C or better, and a minimum total of five (5) courses/ competencies, relevant to environmental, safety and health, from the following:
- Chemistry (200 level or above);
- Physics (100 level or above);
- Biology; Geology; Geography; Statistics; Soil Science; Law; Health and Economics; or
- 10 years of relevant work experience.
Program Requirements
Students must complete 30 graduate credit hours at the graduate level, including at least 18 credit hours at Marshall University. The degree consists of 15 credit hours of core courses; 3-6 credit hours of required courses; and 9-12 credit hours of electives. At least 15 credit hours must be at the 600 level.
Students may choose to complete either the project option or the thesis option, after consultation with their academic advisor. Students must have a project or thesis proposal approved by their project or thesis advisor prior to enrolling in project (TE 699 Comprehensive Project or SFT 679 Problem Report) or thesis (ES 680 or SFT 681 Thesis).
Project Option. The comprehensive project involves the application of coursework completed as part of the degree to a practical problem. Students will work with their advisors to identify an appropriate project and scope. Students must prepare a formal written report and deliver an oral presentation to a committee. Students register for a Comprehensive Project (TE 699, 3 hrs.) during the semester in which their project will be completed and presented, but preliminary work on the project may commence before that semester.
Thesis Option. The thesis option involves the completion of 6 hours of research (ES 680) under the direction of an advisor on an approved project. Students must summarize their work in the form of a formal, written document and successfully defend the thesis before a committee. Thesis work is typically conducted over two semesters.
Plan of Study
Students must complete 30 graduate credit hours at the graduate level, including at least 18 credit hours at Marshall University. The degree consists of 18-21 credit hours of core and required courses and 6-9 credit hours of electives. At least 15 credit hours must be at the 600 level.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| SFT 610 | Intro to Prof Safety & Health | 3 |
| SFT 554 | Indust Hygiene I | 3 |
| SFT 647L | Quan Indus Hygiene Lab | 3 |
| ES 514 | Risk Assessment and Toxicology | 3 |
| ES 550 | Environmental Law & Policy | 3 |
| Required Courses | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3-6 | |
| Comprehensive Project | ||
| Problem Report | ||
| Thesis | ||
| Thesis | ||
| Electives | 9-12 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 27-33 | |
On completion of the M.S. in Environmental, Safety and health degree program the student should have the requisite scope of knowledge and competency in specific environmental, safety and health subject matter. Students are required to take 9-12 credit hours of elective courses and use them to satisfy proficiency courses. At least 6 credit hours of SFT Electives and 6 credit hours of ES Electives are required. As students may not have the requisite background in the subject matter from their undergrad curriculum, some courses will be required based on the students background. Students that do not have a Safety undergraduate background or that cannot otherwise satisfy the requirement will be required to take SFT 660 and SFT 598 as part of their M.S. Plan of Study. Students that do not have an ES undergraduate background or that cannot otherwise satisfy the requirement will be required to take at least one of ES 604, ES 630, ES 640 or ES 665. Electives can be chosen from Safety, Environmental Science or any program within CECS. Additionally, electives from the College of Science, Department of Public Health, or Department of Geography may be approved. Graduate courses from other programs will be considered. The required and elective courses should be outlined in the Plan of Study. The Plan of Study should be developed in cooperation with and signed by the student's advisor and should be completed prior to registration for the 12th credit hour.
To fulfill the Required Course requirement, 3 credit hours must be satisfied by the TE 699 Comprehensive Project or SFT 679 Problem Report (to complete a comprehensive project) or 6 credit hours of ES 680 or SFT 681 Thesis (to complete a thesis). Comprehensive projects and the resulting write-up tend to be based on the application of the Environmental, Safety and health Science degree to professional projects, whereas a thesis is written as an output of a research project. Students may choose to complete either the project option or thesis option after consultation with their academic advisor.
Thesis Option
The thesis option involves completion of 6 CR of research (SFT 681 or ES 680 Thesis) under the direction of an advisor. The student must prepare a formal thesis proposal (including a statement of work, extensive literature search, and proposed timeline) in consultation with his or her advisor and present the proposal to the graduate thesis committee, which is formed in consultation with the advisor. The thesis proposal must be defended and approved by the thesis committee prior to the final semester of study (typically completed during the first semester of SFT 681/ES 680 Thesis). Students must then summarize their research work in the form of a formal, written thesis and successfully defend it before their thesis committee in order to fulfill the requirements for the degree (typically completed during the second semester of SFT 681/ES 680 Thesis). Thesis work is typically conducted over two semesters.
Project Option
The project option involves completion of 3 CR of comprehensive project (SFT 679 Problem Report or TE 699 Comprehensive Project). The comprehensive project involves the application coursework completed as part of the degree to a practical problem. Students will work their advisors to identify an appropriate project and scope. Students must prepare a formal written report and deliver an oral presentation to a committee. Students register for SFT 679 Problem Report or TE 699 Comprehensive Project (3 CR) during the semester in which their project completed and presented, but preliminary work on the project may commence before that semester.