Thursday, July 14, 2016

Undergrad Course Prerequisites

Many undergraduate courses depend on previously-taken courses (prerequisites) as described in the UArk undergraduate course catalog Here the interrelationships are shows as directed graphs created online at Ajax/Graphviz

These graphs allow quick resolution of prerequisite questions without digging through the full course catalog. They are hard to see and read in a browser, but can be downloaded as gif files for full resolution viewing. 


Geology undergraduate course prerequisites as a directed graph. 


Geography undergraduate course prerequisites as a directed graph. 

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

GEOL/GEOG MS Thesis Committee notes

Update note on composition rule to achieve a valid committee:

"We require a minimum of three UA faculty with the appropriate graduate faculty status.  Others may serve on committees in an ex officio capacity, as long as this minimum is met."
Patricia R. Koski, Associate Dean Graduate School

This means, for example, a valid MS committee can be composed as follows:
Advisor    Group II or III adjunct
Member    Group II or III adjunct
Member    Group II or III adjunct

A current list of graduate faculty and their group status can be found here.

---- original post 6/21/2016 ---- 
With respect to the Geology MS Thesis Committee, the GEOS Department website states:

All course work, a thesis topic, and the final thesis must be approved by the student’s thesis committee. This committee is selected by the student and the student’s thesis director and will consist of a minimum of three members. At least two of the committee members will be chosen from the geology faculty whose areas of expertise coincide with the research interests of the student.
(accessed 6/21/2016)

The key issue considered here is the highlighted phrase 'geology faculty' (same language for Geography case). In particular, what is the 'geology faculty' status of emeritus and adjunct faculty who often populate GEOS thesis committees? The UA Graduate School maintains four Groups (I-IV) of Graduate Faculty Status with authority roles for each.

A current list of graduate faculty and their group status can be found here.

For GEOS:

  • Group I 
    • Can chair or serve on PhD committee
    • Can chair or serve on MS committee
    • All tenure-line faculty
    • Emeritus faculty who were Group I at retirement
      • Geology: Brahana, Guccione, Konig, Manger, Steele, Zachry
      • Geography: Cleveland, Graff
  • Group II
    • Can serve on PhD committee 
    • Can chair or serve on MS committee
    • Group I and adjunct faculty with PhD degree
      • Geology: Macgilvery, Paillet
      • Geography: Bragg, Burnett, Fye, Oglesby, Patton
  • Group III
    • Can chair or serve on MS committee
    • Group II and adjunct faculty with MS degree
      • Geology: R. Liner, Melton, Milligan, Moyer, Pollock, Quick