Program Policy
Student Admissions
The Admissions Committee is charged with identifying students most likely to be successful in the program and those who, if accepted, enhance the program due to their location, background, or diversity. The Admissions Committee meets shortly after the application deadline in the fall and spring to select new admissions for the upcoming academic semester. There are three different classifications for program acceptance: full, provisional, and restricted.
- Full
- A student who has been admitted to the program and has met all of the requirements for admission.
- Provisional
- A student who has been admitted to the program but does not meet all of the requirements for admission related to previous coursework. Once a student has completed deficient courses, the program will ask the Graduate College to modify the student's provisional status to full admission status.
- Restricted
- A student who has been admitted to the program but did not graduate in the upper half of their undergraduate degree program. Once a student has taken at least 9 credits of graduate courses at a GPA of 3.0 or above the program will ask the Graduate College to modify the student's restricted status to full admission status.
Program Participation
For a student to remain active in the Master of Science in Agronomy program, they must register for at least one course per academic year. If the student does not register for one course per academic year then they will be termed inactive. Inactive students will have to reapply to the program in the next application period if they would like to take additional courses. If a student does not maintain a 3.0 GPA they are placed on academic probation. If a student no longer wishes to be enrolled in the program, a student can be permanently withdrawn from the program. To graduate, a student must meet all program requirements in a given timeframe.
- Active
- A student that registers for at least one course per academic year.
- Inactive
- A student that does not register for one course per academic year. They will have to reapply to the program in the next application period if they would like to take additional courses.
- Academic Probation
- A student that does not maintain a 3.0 GPA in the program. Students on academic probation must have the Program Director or Major Professor request the Graduate College to allow them to register for future courses.
- Graduate
- A student that successfully completes all requirements for the degree. The Creative Component and completed coursework must be completed by Graduate College deadlines. More Info.
- Withdrawal (program)
- A student that successfully completes all requirements for the degree. The Creative Component and completed coursework must be completed by Graduate College deadlines. More Info.
Degree Completion Timeline
Graduate students at Iowa State enrolled in any Master of Science program have 5 years to complete their program. An example of this would be if a student enrolled and completed a course in the fall 2001 semester, they would have until the summer 2006 semester to complete the degree. Persons who do not complete the program within 5 years will need written permission by the DOGE (Director of Graduate Education) for each subsequent academic semester.
Course Completion
After students have registered for courses, they can complete the coursework, receive an incomplete, cancel registration, drop courses, or withdraw from the courses. More Info.
- Complete
- A student will be given an appropriate grade for coursework that has been completed in a given timeframe.
- Incomplete
- An incomplete mark may be assigned when a student is passing a course at the time of the request, but special circumstances beyond the student's control prevent completion of the course. In general, failing the final exam or project or not submitting course work as a result of inadequate preparation or learning are not valid excuses.
- Cancel
- A student that wishes to cancel their registration and drop ALL their courses before the first day of the term.
- Drop
- A student that wishes to cancel registration of a course on or after the first day of class. A drop will not appear on your permanent record or count toward the limit of dropped courses if it is done during the first week of classes.
- Withdrawal (courses)
- A students that wishes to drop all courses on or after the first day of the term. More Info.
Academic Misconduct
The academic work of all students must comply with all University policies on academic honesty. Examples of academic misconduct are:
- Attempting to use unauthorized information in the taking of an exam;
- Submitting as one’s own work, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, computer programs or other products
prepared by another person;
- Knowingly assisting another student in obtaining or using unauthorized materials; or
- Plagiarism.
Academic honesty policies are included in the Policy On Academic Dishonesty, Policies and Procedures On Academic Misconduct Investigations, and Code of Computer Ethics. These policies are contained in the Student Information Handbook. In addition, students are responsible for following ethical standards adopted by the various colleges and departments.
Plagiarism resources on-campus include The Writing Center website. Resource areas include:
Quoting and Citing Sources http://www.engl.iastate.edu/OWL/quote_cite.html
ISU Grading System
All academic programs at ISU use a 4.0 grading scale with a grade of A representing the highest mark.
For more information about ISU's grade point scale check out the The Grading System web page. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the program to avoid being placed on academic probation. Students are required to have a 3.0 GPA or higher to graduate.
*Some of the above information was gathered from the Student Information Handbook.