2021-22 Academic Catalog

Forestry

This is an archived copy of the 2021-22 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.msstate.edu.

Department Head and Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Donald Grebner
105A Thompson Hall
Box 9681
Mississippi State, MS 39762-9681
Telephone: 662-325-2949
E-mail: dgrebner@cfr.msstate.edu

Graduate study is offered in the Department of Forestry leading to the degrees of:

  • Master of Science (M.S.) in Forestry (Main Campus and Distance Campus) and
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Forest Resources with a concentration in Forestry

Specialized areas of study include the following:

  • Ecohydrology
  • Forest biometrics
  • Forest business and finance
  • Forest ecology
  • Forest ecophysiology
  • Forest genetics
  • Forest harvesting and operations
  • Forest hydrology and soils
  • Forest management and economics
  • Forest recreation
  • Forest restoration
  • Silviculture
  • Spatial technologies in natural resource management
  • Urban and community forestry
  • Wildlife and other natural resource economics

Graduate teaching and research assistantships are available to qualified students.

Admission

M.S. in the Department of Forestry

Admission to the M.S. program in the Department of Forestry requires:

  1. a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university;
  2. a grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or higher for the last 60 hours of undergraduate study (for regular admission) or a GPA between 2.5 and 2.99 (for provisional admission);
  3. a TOEFL score of 550 PBT (79 iBT) or IELTS score of 6.5 or higher for regular admission of international students or a TOEFL score between 477 and 549 (or IELTS equivalent) for conditional admission; and
  4. acceptance by a faculty member who will serve as the student’s major professor. 

In addition, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores may be requested of applicants who do not meet regular admission requirements or international students applying from non-accredited universities or colleges.

Ph.D. in the Department of Forestry

Admission to the Ph.D. program in the Department of Forestry requires:

  1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university and an M.S. degree in a related field (or approval for exceptions to the Master’s requirement);
  2. GPA of 3.10 or higher on prior graduate courses or 3.25 or higher for the last 60 hours of undergraduate study (for exceptions to the Master’s requirement);
  3. TOEFL score of 550 PBT (79 iBT) or IELTS score of 6.5 or higher for regular admission of international students or a TOEFL score between 477 and 549 (or IELTS equivalent) for conditional admission; and
  4. Acceptance by a faculty member who will serve as the student’s major professor. 

In addition, GRE scores may be requested of international students applying from non-accredited universities or colleges. There is no provisional admission to the doctoral program.

Provisional Admission

Provisional admission does not apply to doctoral applicants. Only Master’s degree applicants who have a GPA between 2.50 and 2.99 for the last 60 semester hours of their undergraduate program may be admitted under provisional status, if accepted by a faculty member in the department.  

The provisionally admitted student is eligible for regular status after receiving a 3.00 GPA on the first 9 hours of graduate courses at Mississippi State University (with no grade lower than a C). The first 9 hours of graduate courses must be within the student's program of study. Courses with an S grade, transfer credits, or credits earned while in Unclassified status cannot be used to satisfy this requirement. If a 3.00 is not attained, the provisional student shall be dismissed from the graduate program. A student admitted with provisional status should contact the graduate coordinator for the program’s specific requirements. While in provisional status, a student is not eligible to hold a graduate assistantship.

Academic Performance

A graduate student must maintain a 3.00 GPA to remain on a graduate assistantship and must have a 3.00 GPA or greater to receive his/her degree. A main campus student who begins the program in regular status and falls below a 3.00 cumulative GPA at any time following the start of the program will be placed on probationary status in the following semester and must regain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 within the next two subsequent semesters or within 9 credit hours of graduate coursework, whichever comes first (providing that the student attains a minimum GPA of 3.00 in all semesters during the probationary period). A distance education student who begins the M.S. program in regular status and falls below a 3.00 cumulative GPA at any time following the start of the program will be place on probationary status in the following semester and will be allowed 9 credit hours of graduate coursework to bring his/her cumulative GPA back to 3.00 regardless of the number of semesters (providing that the student attains a minimum GPA of 3.00 in all semesters during the probationary period). If this is not accomplished, the student will be dismissed from the graduate program. A student admitted on provisional status will not be allowed a probationary semester but will be dismissed if the GPA falls below 3.00.

A student receiving any grade of D or F in any course taken after admission to the graduate program will be placed on academic probation and will be required to maintain satisfactory academic performance in all subsequent semesters of his/her graduate program or will be dismissed from the graduate program and lose eligibility for readmission. A student receiving a grade of U will have one semester to bring his/her performance back up to satisfactory or will be dismissed from the graduate program and lose eligibility for readmission.

Prerequisite and Core Courses

There are no prerequisite or core graduate-level courses required of all graduate students in the Department of Forestry. Each area of emphasis, and each student’s research or professional paper assignment, will influence what courses are required.

Accelerated Program

Highly qualified undergraduates in the Department of Forestry are encouraged to consider applying to the Accelerated Program. This program permits students to earn up to 15 hours of graduate level coursework during their final year of undergraduate studies. Students take graduate level courses and earn both undergraduate credit and graduate credit simultaneously. Students need to consult with a potential graduate advisor to ensure graduate credit could be applied to a Program of Study for the graduate degree. Application to this program may be made as early as the end of the sophomore year (i.e., after completion of 60 or more hours of graded undergraduate courses). Student interested in applying to the Accelerated Program should contact the Department's Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Don Grebner for more details.

// ex: printoption:/pdf/undergraduate.pdf|Undergraduate Catalog|A PDF of the entire Undergraduate catalog.|/undergraduate/