Current Students FAQs

Your advisor’s information should be included in your admission notice. You can also find it through Stellic (within PatriotWeb), the Mason Degree Audit system. Log in to Patriot Web and click the “Student Self-Service” tab to open your student dashboard. Your advisor’s information will appear under the “Advisors” section on your student profile page. You can click on your advisor’s name to view their email address and contact them directly.

The advisor listed on Stellic is your assigned advisor with your admission (if you have never changed it). Students can change their advisors at any time for any reason or for no reason at all. Advisor changes usually take place when you select your committee chair for your MS Exam or MS thesis. GGS considers the chair to be your academic advisor.

During your application, we encourage you to learn about our faculty to identify one or more faculty members with whom you would like to work. After you start your program, you may change your advisor by contacting individual faculty members to find common interests. The web site managed by the College of Science is a good place to learn about GGS faculty. Graduate assistantships (GTA/GRA) and any other financial support are often associated with an advisor. Please be mindful of this if you are considering changing your advisor.

There is no formal procedure to change your advisor.  GGS considers the chair of your committee (MS exam, MS thesis, or PhD dissertation) to be your advisor, and the advisor change is recorded on the corresponding committee formation form. 

Unfortunately, this can happen from time to time. Due to the volume of email that faculty receive, research travel, and other responsibilities, faculty may be delayed in responding to or may not respond to emails. In that case, please reach out to at ggsform@gmu.edu. If your questions relate to general academic information, such as course selection and academic procedures, you should check this FAQ or contact the department’s Graduate Coordinator at ggsgrad@gmu.edu. 

According to the Mason Catalog, AP.6.5.2, students may transfer certain credits from other institutions. We strongly recommend that students review this catalog section (AP.6.5.2) for details. In summary, transferred credits must be graduate-level credits earned “within ten years prior to first enrollment as an admitted student in the specific certificate or degree program” with a grade of B- or higher (or Pass or Satisfactory if graded that way). “The number of transferred credits earned at another institution cannot exceed one credit less than half of the maximum number of credits required by the doctoral or master’s degree or certificate program.” Please pay special attention to the timeline for credit transfers. You should do so within one semester, one year, or two years after admission to the certificate, master’s, or doctoral program, respectively. University policy also states that credits may not be used more than twice toward degrees, including certificates.

To start the credit transfer process, please complete the GGS Transfer of Credit Worksheet (a .doc file) first. The university requires a Mason equivalent course to be identified for each course being transferred. Core requirements can be satisfied if the transferred course is determined to be equivalent to a core course. If you cannot find a corresponding GGS course, you may identify a non-GGS course, including courses outside the College of Science. 

Based on the Mason Catalog, AP.6.5.2 Transfer of Credit, students must provide transcripts with the credit transfer request. If transcripts are already on file, the department will verify them. If not, you will be asked to provide them. If the course title does not clearly indicate the course content, you may be asked to provide a course description. Please submit the completed worksheet and transcripts to ggsform@gmu.edu. Once the department evaluates the request, we will submit the online transfer form on your behalf.

Please note that credit transfer requests require multiple levels of approval. After departmental approval, the request is then sent to the COS Graduate Director and the University Registrar. This process can often take months. During this time, students are responsible for checking their academic status via Stellic. The GGS Graduate Coordinator and the department are not notified of decisions made by COS or the Registrar and cannot make inquiries on behalf of students. If you believe the wait has been unusually long, please send any inquiries to ggsform@gmu.edu

Generally, as long as a course is treated as a graduate course and can be used toward a graduate degree at the home institution, GGS will honor the credits. However, some non-STEM courses may not be approved for transfer into a STEM program. Please discuss this with your academic advisor.

If you want to apply your Mason graduate credits toward a GGS graduate program, you may need to submit a substitution request. This may apply when a course not listed as an elective is used as an elective or as a substitute for a required course. Please refer to the FAQ entry “Can I substitute one course for another?” for more details. 

We understand that some popular topics, such as GIS and RS, are covered in many courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. However, university policy states that undergraduate credits cannot be used toward graduate degree requirements. Therefore, undergraduate courses cannot be used to fulfill the required graduate core courses. If you believe you have sufficient knowledge of certain fundamental courses (such as 500-level RS and GIS courses), you are encouraged to take higher-level and more specialized courses. Generally, credits earned in these higher-level courses with satisfactory grades can be used to satisfy the required core courses. A substitution request is needed in this case. You are encouraged to discuss this option with your academic advisor or the GGS Graduate Coordinator before acting.

Our general advice for all GGS graduate (certificate, MS, or PhD) students is to follow the core course requirements closely and complete core courses first. After completing the core course requirements, you should select electives based on program requirements and personal interest. Please consult your advisor, other students, or the GGS department to confirm course availability. Some core courses may be offered only once a year or every other year.

Previously offered courses and their syllabi can be found here. You may use the lists to estimate how frequently a course is offered. While individual offerings may occasionally change, the overall pattern should remain consistent.

For students in the ESS MS program, the course syllabi from AOES can be found for GEOL and CLIM courses 

In addition to completing core courses first, we also strongly suggest that new PhD student complete Form SW - Program of Study (in consultation with their advisor) as early as possible. Please download the form here.

Once the Program of Study is completed, you should have a clear idea of which courses can be transferred from previous studies and which courses you will need to take at Mason. Please note that the Program of Study form is intended as a planning document. Adjustments may be necessary due to changes in course offerings and/or personal interests. The completed form does not need to be submitted to the department until after you successfully defend your dissertation proposal. At that point, the number of GGS 999 credits and the timeline will be estimated based on your plan.

Course offerings are typically available well before the start of a new semester. Log in to Patriot Weband click the “Registration Self-Service” tab to open the registration dashboard. Select “Browse Classes” to view available courses. Choose the target semester and enter “GGS” in the “Subject” field to see all GGS course offerings. You can also apply filters such as campus location, instructor, and meeting days to refine your search.

GGS relies on individual instructors to determine their preferred teaching modality (online, in-person, or hybrid). Therefore, we cannot guarantee that any course will be offered online within a specific time frame, or at all. If you would like to know this information, we suggest that you contact individual instructors about their plans. Occasionally, an instructor may provide virtual access to students who cannot be present in person to join a class.

If you need only one online course to graduate and the course is not available online in the coming semester, a substitute course may be considered.

Graduate students can request course substitutions for core and elective requirements. The courses used for substitution must be graduate-level courses with an earned grade of B- or better (or Pass or Satisfactory if graded in that way). In your final semester (graduating semester), you may submit the substitution request without a grade. Please discuss your request with ggsgrad@gmu.edu and/or ggsform@gmu.edu. After departmental approval, GGS will submit the request on your behalf.

Course substitution is based on a course-by-course basis, and one may submit more than one request as needed. 

Please note that a substitution request requires multiple levels of approval. After departmental approval, the request is then sent to the COS Graduate Director and the University Registrar. This process can often take months. During this time, students are responsible for checking their academic status via Stellic. The GGS Graduate Coordinator and the department are not notified of decisions made by COS or the Registrar and cannot make inquiries on behalf of students. If you believe the wait has been unusually long, please send any inquiries to ggsform@gmu.edu.

Substitution requests should be approved by the GGS Graduate Coordinator first and then by the College of Science (COS) and the university. The coordinator will review the course content before making a decision and may discuss options with students. Here are some simple guidelines used by the coordinator: 1) If a GGS faculty member (e.g., your advisor or a course instructor) supports the substitution, the coordinator will sign off on the request. 2) For any CONS courses (especially those in the GIS Conservation certificate program jointly offered by GGS, ESP, and the Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation), approval from the CONS program (currently, Dr. Joe Kolowski kolowskij@si.edu) must be obtained before the form is signed off on by the GGS Graduate Coordinator.

Generally, yes. Credits may be used when moving upward from a graduate certificate to an MS, and then to a PhD, or downward from a PhD to an MS, and then to a graduate certificate. Please note that university policy states that credits may not be used more than twice. Students in the BAM program should note that some credits used for both your undergraduate degree and your planned MS degree cannot be applied toward an additional certificate. If you plan to pursue a PhD in the future, there may also be a potential loss of transferable credits.

The general answer is yes. However, for the graduate certificate and MS programs managed solely by GGS, a substitution request is needed. The ESGS PhD program requires that at least half of the electives taken at Mason must be from GGS. Students should carefully follow the requirements for the joint programs: the Environmental GIS and Biodiversity Conservation Graduate Certificate and the Earth Systems Science MS. Substitution requests for these programs may require approvals from other academic units.

Please note that the department handles academic issues only, such as Individual Sections approvals, probation removal, and thesis/dissertation registration. For general course registration issues, you should visit  the registrar website first.

Yes, there are mainly two individually tailored courses: GGS 698, Directed Readings and Research, and GGS 695, Geography and Geoinformation Science Graduate Internship, for graduate students who have internship opportunities and would like to earn credits for the internship. Both courses are treated as individual sections (IS).

Many GGS courses (including GGS 695, 698, 700, and 798) are offered as Individual Sections (IS). To register for an IS, you should identify an “instructor” (for GGS 700, this is typically your exam committee chair), contact the instructor to obtain a course title (GGS 698 only), and discuss the number of credits (1-6 credits) and the reporting requirements with the instructor. After that, you should complete the IS form and submit it to the GGS department (ggsform@gmu.edu). 

You should ask your instructor to notify the department of their consent to supervise the IS. The department will have the chair to sign the form and will process the form on your behalf. You will be notified of the CRN when it is ready. You are also encouraged to check Patriot Web periodically to see whether the CRN has been assigned. Once the CRN is ready, it is just like a regular class for registration and grading. 

Recently, COS has raised the requirements for IS approval in both timing and content. Please submit your IS form as early as possible, as it may be too late to add an IS after the semester has already begun.

In rare cases, a required core course may not be offered in a particular semester when you need it to complete the core requirements for graduation or to advance to PhD candidacy. You should discuss this situation with your advisor or the GGS Graduate Coordinator to identify a suitable substitute course. You may take an IS to fulfill the requirement with an approved substitution request. However, there is an upper limit on the total number of IS credits within a program (e.g., 12 credits for the ESGS PhD program excluding GGS 998).

The CRNs for GGS 799, 998, and 999 are assigned and sent to all GGS faculty who may serve as thesis or dissertation committee chairs. The CRNs are not available directly from Patriot web. Students should ask their advisors (the “instructors” for their 799, 998, or 999) for the CRNs. The registration procedure is the same as for other regular classes, except that you may need to know the number of credits you would like to enroll in and make sure you choose the right number of credits (see the following entry).

Please note that a student can register for GGS 799/999 only after their thesis/dissertation proposal has been approved by the thesis/dissertation committee and the corresponding paperwork has been approved by department, college, and university administrators. 

Based on the Mason Catalog, the first 799 (AP.6.9.3 Master's Thesis) and 999 (AP.6.10.6 Dissertation Registration) registrations must be for at least three credits, and students must continuously register (excluding summers) for at least one credit of 799/999 until graduation.

Log in to Patriot Web and click the “Registration Self-Service” tab. Select “Register for Classes” and choose the target semester to view your planned schedule. Go to the “Schedule and Options” tab. Under the “Hours” column, click the number of hours and enter your desired number of credit hours. Click “Submit” to save your changes.

ZREG 200 is a special registration option for special situations. Please see the details on the university website.

a. ZREG 200 Registration for thesis and dissertation submission:

If a student files their thesis or dissertation when the university does not have any active course sections (a brief period from early/mid-December to the start of the spring semester, and some periods in May and August when summer sections have gaps), the student is not required to enroll in 799/999. However, the student needs to register for ZREG-200 for this filing in the following semester, and the graduation date will be the end of the following semester. When school is in session (even in summer), a student must enroll in at least one credit of 799 or 999 to file the thesis or dissertation.

b. ZREG 200 Registration for maintaining your active status:

If a student would like to remain in active status but does not intend to enroll in any courses in a semester, prior to the start of that term, the student can register for ZREG 200. 

Please note:

Students who have started GGS 799 or 999 must continue to register for 799 or 999 until the thesis/dissertation is successfully defended, and therefore, cannot take any break with ZREG 200 in regular spring or fall semesters.

You need to complete your section of this Special Registration form and send the completed form to ggsform@gmu.edu.

For the form to be processed and sent to the University Registrar, please prepay the amount of $45.00.  This amount includes a fee of $45.00, plus any current balance due on your account. 

Any changes to your account, or delay in payment, may result in additional fees and/or charges.

If you’d like to pay online, please do so using the Bill & Payment System.  A link has been provided below for your convenience.  You will not see the total amount due online, since you are required to prepay before the Special Registration to Retain Active Status Form can be processed.  Once you have logged into the Bill & Payment System, click “Make a Payment.”  The system will prompt you to select “Make a Payment” again.  Then, on the following page choose the “Current account balance” option on the left-hand side and you will be given the opportunity to enter the dollar amount you need to pay in the box on the right-hand side.
 Access the payment link. 

The MS in Earth Systems Science (ESS, offered jointly with the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic & Earth Sciences) provides a global systems approach to the study of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The degree emphasizes the observation and quantitative analysis of earth systems. The MS in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences (GECA) focuses on techniques to compile, display, and analyze spatial data. The MS in Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence (GeoI) focuses primarily on computational approaches that support the synthesis and analysis of diverse spatial data types to identify and monitor complex events and phenomena that manifest themselves over space and time.

Yes, you can change from one GGS MS program to another GGS MS program by filing the Change of Program - Graduate form. Please send the completed form to ggsform@gmu.edu. University policy does not allow a student to graduate in the same semester as any program change. In addition, the core course requirements among the three MS programs are different. Therefore, you should make this change as early as possible.

Students can add a secondary degree (a graduate certificate to an MS or PhD program, or an MS to a PhD program). If you are a COS student, you need to fill out the graduate “Secondary Certificate Application” or “Secondary Master’s  Application” form (go to Forms , and search for “secondary” to find the right form). Please send the completed form to ggsform@gmu.edu.

If you are not in the College of Science, you must apply to the target program while you are studying toward a graduate degree in another college.

Please note that the department does not enforce any additional policies on this, and we follow university/college policies only. Please read the bullet points in the form (and/or Mason Catalog AP.6.8.1) for details.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when adding a secondary “degree,” based on our understanding and interpretation:

a. The form instructions are misleading (for the certificate case only). Please fill out the second part, even though the directions say “(To be completed by Certificate Program Director or Advisor).”

b. You cannot receive the added certificate or degree in the same semester in which you add it. For example, if you were to add the certificate in Fall 2025, you would not be able to receive the certificate until Spring 2026, even if you had completed all requirements.

c. You cannot use this form to get your certificate or degree after you graduate with your primary degree. In other words, you must receive your secondary graduate certificate or degree before or at the same time as your primary degree graduation.

d. The university catalog says, “No credits can be applied to more than two certificates and/or degrees.” This means that you cannot use the same credits for a certificate, an MS degree, and a PhD; only two are permitted.

e. There are unique credit requirements: 6 credits for an MS and 24 for a PhD. However, “The embedded master's does not have a unique credit requirement” (AP.6.9.5), and all GGS MS degrees are embedded in the ESGS PhD.

Per AP.6.8.1: Students may be enrolled in one graduate certificate program at a time while they pursue a master's or doctoral degree. Students may share coursework between their primary degree program (master's or doctorate) and a secondary graduate certificate.  No credits can be counted three times. 

Students not admitted to any graduate degree program (master's or doctoral) may be admitted to two graduate certificate programs at the same time. The graduation application for each graduate certificate must include a minimum of 12 credits that apply only to that certificate and not to another. 

Please note that GGS does not enforce any policies on multiple programs. We simply follow the policies set by the university and/or college.

Graduate students are considered full-time if they are enrolled in at least nine (9) graduate credits per semester or hold a full-time assistantship (totaling 20 hours per week) and are enrolled in at least six (6) graduate credits per semester. Graduate students are considered half-time if they are enrolled in at least 4.5 graduate credits per semester. For details, please visit the University Catalog, AP.6.2. 

Once you have satisfied the provisional conditions, you should apply to remove your provisional status as soon as possible by contacting ggsform@gmu.edu. Failure to do so may delay other procedures, such as credit transfer and graduation.

According to the University Catalog, AP.6.4.3, students in MS and PhD programs “who have not enrolled in at least 1 credit for one or more consecutive semesters” must re-enroll. The requirements for graduate certificate students are “two or more consecutive semesters.” If you become inactive, you must complete re-enrollment paperwork. Please visit Forms and search for “Re-enrollment Application” to find the current form. Please submit your form to the GGS department: ggsform@gmu.edu.

We encourage you to apply for admission to your target certificate or degree program as soon as possible. The university allows a maximum of 12 credits taken in non-degree status to be applied toward a degree and/or certificate. No credits can be used more than twice in any case.

Students should apply for graduation for all degrees and certificates in the graduating semester. Details, including the timeline and graduation process, can be found here. Please note that “Students who have filed their intent to graduate have only six weeks from the date of degree conferral to resolve any incomplete grades and have the final grades recorded by the University Registrar’s office.” If you know that you cannot graduate as planned after filing the graduation intention form, you should withdraw that application to avoid any potential issues.  

Yes, you should withdraw your graduation application by following the link provided here. Failure to do so could complicate your graduation process in a later semester and may cause delays.

Stellic sometimes shows incorrect information about your record. Often, this is caused by processing delays for credit transfer and course substitution requests. GGS approves these requests as quickly as possible, but processing by COS and the University Registrar often takes months. Therefore, we recommend that you submit your credit transfer and substitution requests as soon as possible. If you are close to graduation, please work with ggsform@gmu.edu on this issue. 

BAM students should take the recommended graduate courses first. If, for any reason, a student wants to take other graduate courses before finishing the recommended courses (which are all required core courses for the MS degree), permission will be given on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the department or the Graduate Coordinator for approval. Usually, 700 level and above courses for BAM students will not be approved.

The recommended courses to be taken as a BAM student can be found here for the Geographic and Cartographic Sciences and Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence BAM programs.

The graduate credits earned while you are in the BAM program will not show up in Patriot Web until you graduate from the undergraduate program.

Advanced standing coursework will be posted to the graduate transcript around the beginning to mid-October for anyone who was in the BAM program and graduated in the Spring or Summer from an undergraduate program.

If you graduate in a fall semester, it may take some time for your graduate credits to show up on your graduate transcript and Stellic, possibly by the middle of the following spring semester.

The BAM graduate credits earned as an undergraduate are treated as transferred courses. The only difference from regular courses is that transferred courses are not included in the GPA calculation. However, if the transferred courses are used to satisfy core requirements, a substitution request must be filed.

Presently, GGS offers graduate courses in-person and online on a rotating basis. While students can complete a certificate or MS degree fully online, they should expect it to take longer than if they were attending classes in person.Presently, GGS offers graduate courses in-person and online on a rotating basis. While students can complete a certificate or MS degree fully online, they should expect it to take longer than if they were attending classes in person.

With that said, please note that GGS relies on individual instructors to determine their preferred teaching modality (online, in-person, or hybrid). Therefore, we cannot guarantee that any course will be offered online within a specific time frame, or at all. If you would like to know this information, we suggest that you contact individual instructors about their plans. Occasionally, an instructor may provide virtual access to students who cannot be present in person to join a class.

If you need only one online course to graduate and the course is not available online in the coming semester, a substitute course may be considered.

Most students consider pursuing an MS degree before stopping or delaying their ESGS PhD program. Depending on your situation, you have two options:

Option 1: Delay the PhD program
If you hope to delay the PhD program for other higher-priority activities, you may pursue a secondary MS degree while remaining in the PhD program at a much slower pace. To do this, fill out the online "Secondary Master's Application" form (go to Forms and search for "secondary").

Please note that obtaining an MS degree may affect the number of credits available for your future PhD.

Option 2: Leave the PhD program
If you do not plan to complete the ESGS PhD at all, you can resign from the PhD program and transfer to an MS program by filing the online "Resignation and Transfer (Graduate)" form (go to Forms and search for "resignation").

In either case, you will need to decide which MS program you would like to apply to. You may check the FAQs for Current GGS Graduate Students to find a brief description of the three MS programs offered by GGS.

MS degree requirements:
You must satisfy the target MS program requirements, including core courses, total credits, and either an Exam and Research Project or a thesis, to obtain your MS degree.

• If you have passed your PhD Comprehensive Exam, you may use it as a substitute for your MS Exam. Even in that case, you still need to register for GGS 700 with the non-thesis option.
• If you have passed your PhD proposal, you may use it (GGS 998) as a substitute for your MS Research Project (GGS 798).
• For other core courses or electives, certain substitutions may be needed.

Please discuss the details with your advisor or the department (ggsform@gmu.edu or ggsgrad@gmu.edu ).

Here are a few general pieces of advice for all graduate students:

• Your primary contact on academic issues is your advisor, and you can find your advisor information online (see FAQs on Advisors)
• Beyond your advisor, you can contact ggsgrad@gmu.edu for academic advice such as course substitutions. For procedural issues, including form submission and academic status in the university system, you should contact ggsform@gmu.edu.
• Please note that the university constantly changes the required forms and the processing procedures. If what said in any entry of the FAQ is no longer valid, please let us (ggsgrad@gmu.edu and/or ggsform@gmu.edu) know.
• GGS follows the policies of the university and the College of Science closely. Therefore, in most situations, a student can find the information in the university catalog or other materials. Commonly encountered issues include, but are not limited to, leave of absence, skipping semesters without taking any courses, re-enrollment, program clock and time extensions, deadlines for thesis/dissertation submission, general credit transfer requirements and limits, and continuity of 799 and 999 enrollment.
• GGS-specific policies include: course requirements for core and electives, course substitution approval, composition of MS Exam, MS Thesis, and PhD Dissertation committees, and minimum GGS 999 credits.

The Mason Graduate Division provides extensive information for prospective students, newly admitted students, and international students. Please check the Student Resources for university-level information. One may also find a current version of the Mason Graduate Student Handbook. COS posts a dated version of the PhD Student/Faculty Handbook, which contains detailed information on PhD dissertations and dissertation proposals, defense, leave of absence, re-enrollment, etc. The handbook can be found via the COS Graduate Student Resources page.

All GGS graduate forms and some guidelines on the MS Research Project, MS Exam, MS thesis, and PhD dissertation are available on the GGS website. Please visit the GGS Student Resources page or the GGS Student Forms page to select your program level and see all the relevant materials. More program-related information, especially information on the MS Research Project, MS exams, MS theses, and PhD dissertations, is described in the corresponding guidelines. 

It is really a personal choice depending on your interest and potential career path. If you plan to work in an academic environment or continue to have a PhD, the thesis option is highly recommended. 

To see the differences between an MS thesis and an MS Research Project (GGS 798, required for the non-thesis option for the ESS MS or GeoInt MS), and to learn more about the Comprehensive Exam (GGS 700). Please check the corresponding guidelines on the GGS Student Resources page.

Both the university and the college provide some forms of financial support to graduate students. Please visit the COS Graduate Funding page and the Financial Support page by Mason Graduate Education. The Office of Fellowships also provides support for students seeking external funding.