| Minimum Requirements A total of 36 semester hours is required and 18 hours of courses are at the 6000 level. There are four categories among which to distribute the 36 hours: Professional Component; Methods Component; Applied Research Component; and Interdisciplinary Component.
The Professional Component requires 21 semester hours of courses. Examples of these topics include Hazardous Materials, Technology, Legal Issues, and Hazards Analysis.
There is one three-hour course required to complete the Methods Component. The course, Research Design and Methods, examines research design, qualitative and quantitative methods, and analysis methods to solve real world problems.
The Applied Research Component consists of six hours and offers two options. One is a Thesis and the other is the Practicum. A Thesis allows individual research with a supervising professor and committee on a formal basis. Students pursuing the Practicum Option work on an Action Research Project with a supervising professor and committee. It should be noted that most graduate schools consider a non-thesis option a terminal degree.
The final Interdisciplinary Component consists of six hours of electives. These courses are tailored to the student’s interests and career objectives. |
