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George Mason University

Forms

Prospective Advisor Form for Program Applicants

DNP Departmental Form (Prospective Advisor Form). See Advisor Requirement for more information.

Mandatory Graduate Student Annual Report Form

(Required of ALL graduate students)

As a reminder, all students are required to fill out the annual report form by September 1. The purpose of this form is for the ESP Graduate Program Office to assess your academic progress.

Graduate Student Annual Report

Master's Concentration

All MS students declare a concentration when they apply to the program. To switch concentrations, a Change of Program (Graduate) form from the University Registrar must be submitted: https://registrar.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/GCP-Graduate-Change-of-Program-0421.pdf

Transfer of Credits

George Mason University permits the transfer of certain credits earned for a relevant post-baccalaureate degree prior to admission to the current Master’s or Doctoral program. Up to 12 credits for the MS degree or 30 credits for the PhD degree may be transferred to reduce the number of credits needed (more than half of all credits must be earned at Mason). The credits must have a minimum grade of B-; the student must provide official transcripts from other institutions and if the transcript is from an institution outside of the United States it must be accompanied by an official transcript evaluation and translation (if not in English). The Transfer of Credits process can be initiated after one successful semester in the graduate program and must be completed before one year has passed since admittance for the MS degree or two years have passed for the PhD degree. To transfer credits, complete the Graduate Transfer of Credits ESP Worksheet and submit it and your transcripts to the ESP Grad Office for review and approval. Then you can complete the Dynamic Form for the Office of the Registrar, which will automatically send your request to others for approvals. Your approved transfer credits will be added to your Mason Degree Audit.

Coursework Planning Forms

PhD Students

A very important planning tool is, in consultation with your advisor, to prepare a Coursework Proposal, laying out the sequence of courses you will use to achieve your academic and research goals and to meet program requirements. Before the end of the second year of graduate study but no later than consideration for advancement to candidacy, doctoral students must submit a Program of Study for approval by the Dean of the College of Science. The program of study must include major courses and supporting courses to be completed, research skills required subject areas to be covered by the candidacy exam, and a proposed date for the candidacy exam. Any changes in the program of study must be documented with an amended Program of Study. The final approved program of study must be signed by your advisor, committee members, and the ESP Graduate Program Director. This becomes the “official” document to submit to the Dean of the College of Science to recommend advancement to candidacy.

Coursework Proposal Form (Start Date Prior to Fall 2024)
Program of Study (Start Date Prior to Fall 2024)

Coursework Proposal (Start Date Fall 2024 and Beyond)
Program of Study (Start Date Fall 2024 and Beyond)

MS Students

Beginning Fall 2020, there are no Program of Study forms required as per the new program structure outlined in the University Catalog: https://catalog.gmu.edu/colleges-schools/science/environmental-policy/environmental-science-policy-ms/#requirementstext

Seven current MS concentrations (links to the catalog) are offered and requirements are detailed in the catalog.

MS students  must form a supervisory committee  (chair and two committee members) and submit their Graduate Committee Formation/Amendment form by the end of the second semester.

Committee Formation and Amendment

All thesis, dissertation, and project students must form a committee by the end of their fourth semester of course work.  In consultation with your primary advisor, MS students must form a committee of three members.  PhD students must form a committee of four members. The committee must include one ESP Faculty member; other members may be from other GMU departments or up to one (for MS students) or two (for PhD students) from external universities, agencies, or organizations (be sure to include their current CV so they can be appointed as an ESP Department Affiliate and to Mason's Graduate Faculty). To change a committee member (due to retirement, etc.), please use the form below to amend your committee.  Please consult the appropriate Guidelines and Timelines document for MS or PhD for details.

Individualized Study Courses

ESP graduate students may take EVPP 693 (Directed Studies in Environmental Science and Public Policy) or EVPP 793 (Research in Environmental Science and Public Policy) to gain individual knowledge or research experience that can help them prepare their project, thesis, or dissertation proposals (e.g., conduct literature review, develop methods). The faculty member who will supervise the student during the course and enter the final grade in PatriotWeb submits this Individualized Study template for the study plan or research proposal developed with the student to the ESP Graduate Office at espgrad@gmu.edu for review and approval by the Graduate Program Director. After approval, the student receives the CRN for this course to register for it. Please submit the template well in advance of the semester start date.

Internship for Credit

Internships (EVPP 894) may be taken for credit for students admitted to our degree programs. Work must be related to environmental science and policy. Supervisors must have a terminal degree or the student must be supervised by someone with a PhD. Students must complete an Internship Contract and submit it to the ESP Graduate Office at espgrad@gmu.edu to be considered for an internship and give it to the host supervisor for signature. Once the host supervisor has agreed to the internship, the student should give the Supervision of Internships form to the host supervisor. After careful review by the ESP Graduate Program Director, the student will be registered by the ESP Graduate Office. When the student has completed the internship and the written material has been graded by the host supervisor, the host supervisor must send the final grade to the ESP Graduate Program Director.

Internship Contract
Supervision of Internships

MS and PhD Proposal Signature Pages

Submit both the approved proposal and signature page to the ESP Graduate Office with all committee members’ signatures using the correct signature page:

Doctoral students must defend their proposal in a public presentation with their Advisor and Committee members. See the College of Science PhD Student/Faculty Handbook, page 12, https://science.gmu.edu/media/2021-22-cos-phd-handbook. Instead of an email announcing the title, date, time, committee members, and abstract, submit the ESP Dissertation Proposal Defense form (link provided below under "Defense...Announcement Abstract Templates" to espgrad@gmu.edu 15 days prior to the date.

Advancement to PhD Candidacy Process and Proposal Defense

Before you can register for your research credits, the following must be satisfied:

1) You must have completed all your coursework.
2) You must have an established committee using the Graduate Committee Formation/Amendment Form.
3) You must have an approved Program of Study form which includes signatures by all committee members.
4) For doctoral students, you must have passed both written and oral qualifying exams. This has to be completed before you defend your proposal. Your advisor must email the ESP Graduate Office at espgrad@gmu.edu and provide the dates on which you passed the exams. These dates are added to your Program of Study form.
5) You must defend your proposal before advancement to candidacy. See the COS PhD Student/Faculty Handbook. To announce your proposal defense, send the completed PhD Dissertation Proposal Defense Template to espgrad@gmu.edu. 
6) When you dissertation proposal has been successfully defended, your advisor must inform the ESP Graduate Office at espgrad@gmu.edu so that your paperwork can be sent to COS for approval.

Full-Time Equivalency Status

ALL STUDENTS who are working on dissertation research (999) must register for a minimum of 3 credits of 999 per semester (excluding summers) until they have completed the minimum number of credits of 998 and 999 required by the university and their degree program. Then, they can register for 1 credit of 999 until the dissertation is complete and has been officially submitted to the library. See the Full-time classification section of the University Catalog for more information. PhD students must maintain continuous enrollment in 999 while writing and submitting a dissertation. The student, advisor, and the Department Chair must certify by completing the Full-Time/Half-Time Equivalent Status - Doctoral Dissertation Research form that the student is working full time on their dissertation. 

Students registered in 998 or 999 are graded IP until work in 998 or 999, respectively, is complete; at that time they are graded S/NC, and previous IP grades are updated by the Office of the University Registrar to reflect the final S or NC grade. Please contact the ESP Graduate Office to initiate a change of grade through the Department.  Degree conferral is dependent on all grades reflecting S or NC. International students must submit a Doctoral Dissertation Research form (DDR) to maintain their student visa status each semester after they qualify to register for 1 credit of dissertation research (999) as stated above.

MS students must maintain continuous enrollment in 799 while writing and submitting a thesis. MS students who are working on a thesis (799) must register for a minimum of three credit hours in their first semester. After that semester, students may enroll for one credit of 799 per semester and be considered full time. The student, advisor, and the Department Chair must certify by completing the Full-Time/Half-Time Equivalent Status - Master’s Thesis Research form that the student is working full time on their thesis. Students registered in 799 are graded IP until work is complete; at that time they are graded S/NC, and previous IP grades are updated by the Office of the University Registrar to reflect the final S or NC grade.

Dissertation/Thesis/Project Readiness to Defend and Evaluation Forms

The SACSCOC mandates that all academic programs evaluate the performance of graduate students with regard to the stated learning outcomes and objectives of the respective programs. In this department, the Fast Assessment, Understanding and Continuous Improvement (“FAUCI”) Committee, composed of the ESP Graduate and Undergraduate Program Directors and one or two Program Faculty representing each level of the Department’s academic degree programs (BS, MS, PhD), is responsible for providing annual reports and, every 5 years, the SCHEV Program Productivity Review and SACSCOC accreditation reaffirmation, reporting to Mason’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning. 

To provide data to the FAUCI Committee for use in curriculum quality assessments, graduating graduate students and their advisors must submit the completed appropriate form to espgrad@gmu.edu at least15 calendar days prior to their scheduled public presentation or submission of final project product(s):

The graduate student will complete the top lines on the first page of the form. Then they will indicate in the self-evaluation column of the table how well their coursework, research, and other experiences prepared them in relation to ESP’s Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), following the directions above the table. On the second page, they will copy and paste the Abstract from their dissertation/thesis/or project. Then they will send the form to their advisor, who will complete the advisor evaluation column, collect the final signatures from all committee members, and send this form to espgrad@gmu.edu. 

In addition to this form, each graduating graduate student must also submit a PDF copy of the dissertation or thesis to be defended or the final project product(s) and their completed Dissertation, Thesis, or Project (comprehensive written and oral examinations OR public presentation) announcement abstract template (see below).

Defense (PhD Dissertation Proposal or PhD Dissertation or MS Thesis) or Presentation (MS Project) Announcement Abstract Templates

“Notice of a defense must be circulated to the university community two weeks before the defense date. The public defense should demonstrate the candidate’s maturity of judgment and intellectual command of the chosen branches of the field of study.” – AP 6.10.8 in the University Catalog at http://catalog.gmu.edu/policies/academic/graduate-policies (click on Ap.6.10 Requirements for Doctoral Degrees).

The templates below are the most current abstract templates.  ALL STUDENTS writing a thesis or dissertation are required to submit an abstract to the ESP Graduate Office at espgrad@gmu.edu two weeks before the public defense. This is a University requirement and the only way your defense will be advertised and is the only way it can be included in the departmental abstract archive.

Students completing the MS Project option for their degree may, if approved by their Advisor and committee, do a public presentation of their project instead of comprehensive written and oral exams. They must also submit an abstract using the MS Project Presentation Abstract Template to the ESP Graduate Office at espgrad@gmu.edu two weeks before the public presentation, so it can be advertised.

Final Submission Signature Pages and Process

All students are required to submit their thesis or dissertation to University Dissertation & Thesis Services in the library to Sally Evans, the UDTS Coordinator. A format review is mandatory for all students who are writing a thesis or dissertation. All ESP students are required to print one hard copy of their thesis or dissertation, include the signature page (signed), and submit it to Sally Evans for binding.  She will send a bound copy to the Department to be included in the ESP Conference Room Library (Room 3006).

All paperwork must go through the ESP Graduate Office, which will obtain signatures from the Department Chair and Graduate Program Director.

  • All graduate students, current or prospective, should refer to the appropriate Guidelines and Timelines document (there is one for MS and one for PhD). You will learn a lot about how to succeed in this program.
  • Are you an applicant looking for a Teaching Assistantship? Please visit the Graduate Student Funding page for more information and how to apply.
  • For all other forms not found on this webpage, please visit the Office of the Registrar’s forms page.

* The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.