B.S. in Biology - Ecology and Conservation Concentration

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Courses must be passed with a grade of C- (70%) or better.

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The requirement for BIO 490/BIO 491/BIO 492 is waived for students in the Accelerated (B.S. + M.S.) program.  It is replaced by an additional 3 credits of biology electives.  Students not completing a thesis (BIO 608-BIO 610) will be required to complete BIO 490/BIO 491/BIO 492.

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The recommended Physics sequence is PHY 130 & PHY 140. Students may substitute the PHY 170 & PHY 180 sequence, but PHY 130 may not be used as a prerequisite for PHY 180 and PHY 170 may not be used as a prerequisite for PHY 140.

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This course fulfills the Capstone requirement.

Accelerated B.S. in Biology - Ecology and Conservation Concentration to M.S. in Biology Program

To be considered for the accelerated program and enroll in BIO 608 (Thesis Research I), students must have attained (completed) 75 credits with a minimum of 18 biology credits.  Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 including a minimum GPA of 3.00 for biology courses.  BIO 608 requires departmental permission to enroll; students must arrange a committee meeting prior to enrolling in BIO 608 (e.g., during their third year).  The accelerated program in biology is only open to thesis students.  Any student wishing to switch out of the thesis option will be required to complete all requirements of the B.S. degree.  Once matriculated into the graduate program, graduate policies apply, including minimum GPA (3.00).  See the Graduate Catalog for further details.

Students in the M.S. Biology program are required to take 21 credits of electives from the following three categories, 12 credits of which will be used to satisfy the B.S. program. Students may not, under any circumstances, take any additional graduate courses beyond the 12 graduate credits until conferral of their undergraduate degree.

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Part-time students will be required to take the same group of courses as full-time students except they must complete BIO 608 by the end of their third year. As with the full-time students, part-time students cannot sign up for BIO 609 unless they have obtained a letter grade for BIO 608. In addition, they must sign up for BIO 610 by the start of their sixth year and complete it by the end of that year.

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A thesis committee must have been formed, met with the student to discuss course work and research ideas, and the “Committee Composition” form needs to have been completed and submitted to the graduate coordinator in Biology at least 1 week prior to the start of the semester, before the student may be enrolled in BIO 608.

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A letter grade must be assigned for BIO 608 before the student may be enrolled in BIO 609. All paperwork must be filed at least 1 week prior to the start of the semester the student wants to conduct BIO 609 work.

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A letter grade must be assigned for BIO 609 before the student may be enrolled in BIO 610. All paperwork must be filed at least 1 week prior to the start of the semester the student wants to conduct BIO 610 work. To complete BIO 610 successfully, the student must present the thesis research in an open seminar and also pass a final thesis defense before the thesis committee. The degree will not be awarded until the student’s committee has accepted the thesis and signed by the dean of The Graduate School.

To track their individual degree progress, students are advised to access their Degree Progress Report (DPR) via myWCU regularly. For more information, visit wcupa.edu/DegreeProgressReport.

The following is a sample suggested course sequence for this program; course offerings and availability are not guaranteed. Students should consult their academic advisor with any questions.

B.S. in Biology - Ecology and Conservation Concentration

B.S. in Biology - Ecology and Conservation Concentration to M.S. in Biology Accelerated Program