Checklist for Master’s degree (with thesis) - Graduate Handbook : Department of Food Science : UMass Amherst

To do	Note	Check √
Course requirement	Students must get approval from your advisor on course selection A total of 30 graduate course credits are required Minimum GPA (final): 3.0	____
Thesis credits	Minimum 6 to a maximum of 10 thesis credits Maximum 9 thesis credits per semester	____
Category 1	At least 6 credits of Food Science courses at the 600 or 700 level are required Must include Research Methods (FS797R) Excluding Thesis, Independent Study, or Journal Club.	____
Category 2	1 credit of seminar (FS791A) for letter grade	____
Category 3	Select one course in each area (total 9 credits) Food Chemistry (FS541, 542, or Food Analysis 581) Food Microbiology (FS567) or Food Quality and Safety Control (FS521) Food Processing (FS561) or Elements of Food Process Engineering (FS575) Students who took the above courses (or equivalent) do not repeat but instead enroll in other 500-level or above courses. One course (3 or 4 credits, 400- level or above) can be from courses outside the Department. Note, the 400- level course must be outside the Department. Students can take Teaching Experience (FS796T), an additional seminar with SAT (satisfactory grade, no presentation), or 1 credit journal club (either letter grade or SAT, maximum 2 credits can be taken) toward their degree requirements (20 credits course credits).	____
Transfer credits	Maximum 6 qualifying credits can be transferred from a BS degree or another MS degree, if they were not used for the requirements of that degree. To transfer, you will need to submit a form to the Graduate School. Forms can be found at: https://www.umass.edu/graduate/policies/forms-documents For students completing five-year BS/MS program (Accelerated Masters), an additional 6 qualifying credits can be transferred from the BS degree (double counted). Please submit a form for ‘Transfer credits, Accelerated Masters’ to the Graduate School. Transfer credits should be done in the 1st semester	____
Continuous Enrollment	Students who take less than nine credits in a semester must first register for (GRADSCH 999) and then request an academic load override by emailing Moriah A. Fahey ([email protected]). This needs to be done at the beginning of each semester.	____
Form thesis committee	Ask your advisor to send an email to GPD requesting the appointment of the thesis committee (at least two faculty members, including the advisor) one month before the defense.	____
Defense notification	Student requests Moriah to send a defense notification to all members of the department 1-2 days prior to scheduled defense.	____
Defense	Ask your advisor to email Moriah and the GPD with the results of the defense, the date passed, and committee names.	____
Paperwork	After a successful defense, the student will submit their signed signature page to the Graduate School. They should also submit the Master’s degree eligibility form through the SPIRE system for review and approval.	____
Student files thesis electronically to ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst	____