Biology Education

School/College: College of Arts & Sciences
Degree(s) Offered: Master of Science
Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Perpetua Muganda Email: pmmugand@ncat.edu Phone: 336-285-2190
Department Chair: Dr. Mary A. Smith  Email: smithma @ncat.edu Phone: 336-285-2160

The Department's primary objective for the Masters of Science degree program is to prepare students to enter and complete doctoral and health professional programs in order to become productive teachers, researchers, and health professionals. To support this objective, this program will develop in all participants, through research experiences and other enrichment activities, independent thinking, creativity, critical judgment, and personal integrity. Specifically, this program is designed to enhance the student's ability to design experiments, to analyze results, to become competent using state-of -the art research equipment, enhance manipulative skills, and to improve the student's proficiency in oral and written communication. An additional critical objective is to enable students to score at or above the 50th percentile on the GRE Subject Test in Biology after their first year in residency.

Additional Admission Requirements

• A Bachelor's Degree in Biology or a related discipline from an accredited institution.
• Chemistry through Organic II
• One year of Calculus, One year of Physics and Cellular and molecular Biology
• GRE (General and Biology subject tests)

Program Outcomes

• SLO 1: Knowledge of the Biological Discipline.  During the course of study in the Master of Science Degree Program in Biology, students integrate biological concepts from a variety of sub-disciplines on the required comprehensive examination prepared by instructors of courses that students have taken inthe first year.
• SLO 2: Communication.  During the course of study in the Master of Science Degree Program in Biology, students will present research findings in standard formats used by biological scientists and the guidelines of the NC A&T School of Graduate Studies.
• SLO 3: Critical Thinking (Masters Level).  During the course of study in the Master of Science Degree Program in Biology, students will conduct critical reviews of scientific papers according to guidelines of the instructor.
• SLO 4: Scientific Research.  During the course of study in the Master of Science Degree Program in Biology, students will implement an original research project based on the standard guidelines for biological research and a proposal approved by a faculty research advisor and committee.

Degree Requirements

Master of Science in Biology (Thesis Option): requires a total of 30 semester hours, including 12 hours of thesis research. Fifty percent of the accumulated hours must be at or above the 700 level.

Master of Science in Biology (Non-Thesis Option): requires a total of 33 semester hours, including 6 hours of a master's project. Fifty percent of the accumulated hours must be at or above the 700 level.

Subject Core Course(s)

• BIOL 701, 702  Seminar, 2
• BIOL 651, 652 Biochemistry, 5
• BIOL 749 Recent Advances in Cell Biology, 3
• BIOL 703 Experimental Method in Biology, 4
• BIOL 862, 863 Thesis Research, 12
• BIOL 788 Comprehensive examination, 0

Electives:

Minimum of 4 additional semester hours (Thesis option) and min of 13 additional credit hours (Non-thesis option).  Courses for graduate credit in Biology may be selected from biology courses at the 600-800 levels.   Fifty percent of credit hours must come from courses at or above the 700 level.

BIOL 700(Environmental Biology) 3 credit hours; BIOL 703 (Experimental Methods in Biology) 4 credit hours; BIOL 336 (Cell and Molecular Biology) 3 credit hours; BIOL 710 (Introduction to Research in the Biological Sciences) 3 credit hours; BIOL 712 (Master's Project) 6 credit hours; BIOL 720 (Environmental Influences on Human Disease) 3 credit hours; BIOL 749 (Recent Advances in Cell Biology) 3 credit hours; BIOL 750 (Microscopy Technique) 3 credit hours; BIOL 755 (Systems Biology) 3 credit hours; BIOL 759 (Experimental Developmental Biology) 3 credit hours; BIOL 762 (Molecular Pathogenesis of Cancer) 4 credit hours; BIOL 785 (Writing for the Biological Scientist) 3 credit hours; BIOL 788 (Comprehensive Examination) 0 credit hours; BIOL 862 (Biology Thesis I) 6 credit hours; BIOL 863 (Biology Thesis II) 6 credit hours.

Seminar Courses

• BIOL 701(Biological Seminar) 1 credit hours)
• BIOL 702 (Biological Seminar) 1 credit hours)

Project Option: 27 Coursework hours, 6 Project hours

Thesis Option: 19 Coursework hours, 12 Thesis hours

Comprehensive Exam: Required

Additional Details

• BIOL 788 (Comprehensive Examination, 0 semester hours). This is the recording mechanism  for students to meet the Comprehensive Examination requirement. The student must register for this 'course' the semester he/she will take the Comprehensive Examination and the student must earn a P for pass. To sit for this examination the student must have a grade point average of 3.0 or greater and must have successfully completed 18 credit hours of graduate course work.
• If three C's are earned, the student will be permanently dismissed from the program, regradless of the student's overall GPA.

Application for Degree

The applicant must have completed the required number of courses with a 3.0 minimum grade point average, and have at least one academic year of residence at NC A&T SU. The applicant must have attended a majority of departmental seminars and journal club meetings, and satisfactorily completed and defended the thesis or project research.

Advising

The Graduate Coordinator serves as the academic advisor and mentor for all students in the graduate program.  The Graduate Coordinator assists the students in identifying a Graduate Advisor.  The Graduate Advisor serves as a thesis or project advisor, and chairs the student's Advisory (thesis or project) Committee.

Committees

Each student must have a graduate advisory committee. The advisory committee is comprised of at least three members of the faculty. One of the committee members can be a faculty member from another department at North Carolina A & T or from another university. The graduate advisor serves as the chair or co-chair of the committee. The graduate committee members should be selected in conjunction with the graduate advisor and final appointment of committee should be approved by the Graduate Coordinator.   The Graduate Advisory Committee should meet at least once a semester.  At these meetings, the student should present a PowerPoint presentation of work completed.

Research Opportunities

The Master of  Science in Biology Program affords all students the opportunity to conduct research,  either in the form of a reseach thesis or project,  under the supervision of a graduate advisor.  Students will have opportunity to conduct in various areas, including cancer research, diabetes research, molecular genetics, microbiology/immunology, genomics/bioinformatics, physiology, evolution, toxicology, and health disparities research.

Enrichment activities for graduate programs in Biology

Graduate Pre-matriculation Program: The Department of Biology Graduate Pre-matriculation Program is designed to ease the transition of our incoming graduate students from their undergraduate programs or from the workforce into our Master of Science in Biology program. The pre-matriculation program is held one week prior to the beginning of the academic year. Program activities focus on the School of Graduate Studies requirements and expectations, the Department of Biology requirements and expectations, introduction to library resources (database searches and use of Endnotes), pointers on reading scientific journal articles, preparing effective research presentations, developing graduate level test taking skills, serving as an effective Teaching Assistant, improving time management skills, as well as introduction to various research tools, and health disparities. Each faculty member who is available to serve as a graduate advisor also presents an overview of his/her research and the requirements and expectations of graduate students completing thesis or project research under his/her supervision

Department of Biology Graduate Retreat: The retreat is held at an off-campus location each year, and usually includes at least one overnight stay. The retreat is usually facilitated by a scientist who has a wealth of experience that he/she can share with our students to help them develop the proper attitude and commitment to successfully complete the Master of Science Program and to continue on to earn a doctoral degree.

Journal Club: Graduate students are expected to participate in the Departmental Journal Club. The Journal Club is designed to provide a forum for graduate students to read, discuss, and critique select journal articles.

Directory of Faculty

• David W. Aldridge, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies,  B.S., University of Texas, Arlington; Ph.D., Syracuse University
• Goldie S. Byrd, Nathan F. Sims Endowed Professor and Dean of College of Arts & Sciences, B.S., North Carolina A&T State University; Ph.D., Meharry Medical College
• Roy J. Coomans, Associate Professor and Associate Chairperson, B.S., Eckerd College; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Doretha B. Foushee, Associate Professor, B.S., Shaw University; M.S., North Carolina Central University; Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park
• Gregory D. Goins, Associate Professor, B.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.S., Ph.D., North Carolina State University
• Andrew G. Goliszek, Associate Professor, B.S., University of West Florida; M.S., Ph.D., Utah State University
• Jessica (Jian) Han, Assistant Professor, B.S., M.S., Nankai University; M.S.,University of Hawaii at Manoa; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
• Scott H. Harrison, Assistant Professor, B.S., Ph.D., Michigan State University
• Randall Hayes, Assistant Professor, B.S., University of Kentucky, Lexington; Ph.D., University of Rochester
• Patrick Martin, Assistant Professor, B.S., Virginia Union University; Ph.D., University of Virginia
• Perpetua Muganda, Professor, B.S., Lock Haven State College; M.S., Howard University; Ph.D., Indiana University School of Medicine
• Robert H. Newman, Assistant Professor, B.A., McDaniel College; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
• Elimelda M. Ongeri, Assistant Professor, B.S., Egerton University; M.S., Ph.D., Purdue University
• Checo Rorie, Assistant Professor, B.S., Clark Atlanta University; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Catherine D. White, Associate Professor, B.S., Johnson C. Smith University; Ph.D., Wayne State University
• Mary A. Smith, Associate Professor and Chairperson, B.S., M.S., Morgan State University; Ph.D. Cornell University
• Joseph J. Whittaker, Associate Professor, A.B., Talladega College; Ph.D., Meharry Medical College