GRADUATE PAMPHLET

This pamphlet describes the graduate programs of the Mathematics Department at Oregon State University and provides students with a road map of the steps necessary to earn a Master's degree or Doctorate. The Mathematics Department is of moderate size with about 24 graduate faculty and 40-50 graduate students. About 40 graduate students are supported by teaching assistantships or research assistantships. The fields of the faculty are diverse but special areas of strength are algebra, analysis, applied mathematics, differential geometry, mathematics education, numerical analysis, probability, and topology. The Master's program also has an option for study in financial math and in actuarial science. Areas of expertise of the faculty can be found at the end of this pamphlet, in the OSU Graduate Catalog, and in more detail on the department's web site at:

http://osu.orst.edu/dept/math/docs/faculty_research.html

General information about Oregon State University and about the Mathematics Department is available via the home pages:

http://osu.orst.edu http://osu.orst.edu/dept/math

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CHECKLIST OF SOME REQUIREMENTS FOR GTAS AND GRAS

Specific requirements for the Master’s Degree, the Ph.D. Degree and additional requirements for GTAs and GRAs are listed in this pamphlet. It is the student’s responsibility to read this pamphlet and be aware of all requirements. The following is a checklist intended to remind GTAs and GRAs of some of the requirements.

Fall Term:

File a course plan for the year with the graduate committee.
(See the sample form at the end of this pamphlet.)

Each Term:

General Requirements:

File a degree program in a timely manner. See the specific sections on Master’s or Ph.D. degrees for details.
Sign up for and take the qualifying exam in a timely manner if you are getting a Master’s degree under the non-thesis option or a Ph.D. degree. See the specific section on the qualifying examination.
Take the correct number of core courses and other courses required for your degree. See the See the specific sections on Master’s or Ph.D. degrees for details.
Be aware of Graduate School requirements for the degree that you are working on. Check with the graduate school for details.

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THE GRADUATE COMMITTEE

A list of current members of the Graduate Committee is posted in the graduate student/faculty room and is available from the graduate secretary. The Graduate Committee has general oversight responsibility for the academic aspects of the graduate program. In particular, it is responsible for approving or denying petitions for changes to the normal departmental requirements for advanced degrees. The committee advises students throughout the year on any aspects of the graduate program. The Graduate Committee is responsible for advising and approving the study plans, including course work taken each year, of all graduate students in mathematics until they find major professors and file official degree programs with the graduate school. At that time, major professors and degree committees assume primary advising and approval responsibility for their students.

It is recommended that those students interested in a particular area of mathematics meet with the faculty in that area upon entering the graduate program.

Students with questions are encouraged to meet directly with individual members of the Graduate Committee or to contact the full committee via e-mail. The e-mail address gradcomm@math.orst.edu sends e-mail to members of the graduate committee. In particular, petitions to the graduate committee should be sent to this e-mail address. However, before submitting a petition, a student may wish to discuss the situation with a member of the committee. This procedure will expedite action on the petition.

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DEPARTMENTAL AND INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Graduate students must satisfy both departmental and institutional (general university) requirements for a particular degree program. This pamphlet describes the departmental requirements. Institutional requirements are given in the Graduate Catalog and the Graduate Student Survival Guide, both available from the Graduate School. Specific information may be obtained by calling the Graduate School at (541) 737-4881. Some of the institutional requirements are mentioned in this pamphlet. However, students are responsible for obtaining complete and up-to-date information on the current institutional requirements from the Graduate School.

In what follows some course requirements distinguish between "blanket" and "non-blanket" numbered courses. See “A Synopsis of Institutional Requirements” later in this pamphlet for the meaning of these terms.

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CORE GRADUATE COURSES

The mathematics department faculty have designated 15 courses as core graduate courses. Core courses typically have midterm and final examinations and problem assignments. All of these courses are intended to be accessible to a first year graduate student with a standard undergraduate mathematics degree. The table below lists the core courses and the terms when they are typically offered.

CORE GRADUATE COURSES
FALL	WINTER	SPRING
Analysis 1 (Mth 511)	Analysis 2 (Mth 512)	Complex Analysis (Mth 611)
Linear Algebra (Mth 543)	Algebra 1 (Mth 644)	Algebra 2 (Mth 645)
Applied Mathematics 1 (Mth 621)	Applied Mathematics 2 (Mth 622)
Numerical Analysis 1 (Mth 551)	Numerical Analysis 2 (Mth 552)
Topology 1 (Mth 631)	Topology 2 (Mth 632)	Geometry (Mth 674)
	Probability 1 (Mth 664)	Probability 2 (Mth 665)

Note: Numerical Analysis III (Mth 553) may be substituted for Numerical Analysis I in requirements listed below.

All graduate students must take the 4 courses listed in boldface above, (Mth 511, 512, 611, and 543). Master’s students must take at least 4 additional courses from the core, including at least one additional two-term sequence. Ph.D. students must take at least 8 additional courses from the core, including at least 3 additional two-term sequences. More details on the requirements for the various degrees are given in the sections below.

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REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTER'S DEGREE

Oregon State University offers both an MA and an MS degree in Mathematics. The essential difference between the two is that the MA has the additional requirement of second-year proficiency in a foreign language, as determined by the Graduate School. A student must complete the following steps in order to earn a Master's degree. (Check with the Graduate School directly to verify the institutional requirements and time frames for some of the steps outlined below.)

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A. Acceptance into the Master's Program.

A notice of admission to the Master's Program in Mathematics comes from the University Office of Admissions. A student remains in the program as long as satisfactory progress is made toward the degree, with completion expected in two years. Occasionally, additional time may be granted upon petition to the Graduate Committee, particularly in those cases where additional undergraduate background is required.

B. Selection of a Major Professor and Degree Committee.

By the end of Spring term of the first year in residence, a student must choose a major professor from the graduate mathematics faculty. This is done by mutual agreement. The Degree Committee consists of the major professor, minor professor, and another member of the mathematics faculty. For the thesis option, a fourth (non-mathematics) faculty member is chosen from a list provided by the Graduate School.

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C. Master's Degree Program.

A student and major professor develop an official degree program, subject to the institutional and departmental requirements in D below. The degree program should include one of the following:

(i) a Master's Thesis,

(ii) a Master's Expository Paper,

(iii) the non-thesis option.

A student who chooses the non-thesis option is required to earn the grade of "pass" on the Ph.D. qualifying examination and is required to take three additional core courses. The student records the chosen program on a Master's Program Form obtained from the Graduate School. The program must be approved and signed by both the major and minor professors, initialed by the Graduate Committee Chair, and finally approved and signed by the Department Chair. The Graduate School requires that a Master's program be filed before completing 18 hours of graduate credit. A student who does not file a program by the specified deadline will not be allowed to register for the following term.

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D. Institutional and Departmental Course Requirements.

The Graduate School requires that a Master's degree program include at least 45 credit hours of course work of which approximately 15 hours is in a minor, which may be in mathematics. If an outside minor is chosen, a representative from the minor field must approve that portion of the Master's program.

The Department requires that each student complete four required core courses,

Real Analysis I (Mth511)	Real Analysis II (Mth 512)
Linear Algebra (Mth 543),	Complex Analysis I (Mth 611).

Four additional core courses from the following list must also be completed. The four additional courses must be chosen to include a two-term sequence from one of the five groups:

Abstract Algebra (Mth 644, 645)	Applied Math (Mth 621, 622)
Numerical Analysis (Mth 551, 552)	Probability (Mth 664, 665)
Topology, Geometry(Mth 631, 632, 674)

All of these courses are intended to be accessible to a first year graduate student with a standard undergraduate mathematics degree. All eight courses must appear on the Master’s Degree Program (hence, none may be taken S/U). Numerical Analysis III (Mth 553) may be substituted for Numerical Analysis I in satisfying the core course requirement.

A Master's degree program with the thesis option requires 6-12 hours of Mth 503 (Thesis). The Master's paper option requires 3-6 hours of MTH 501 (Research). The non-thesis option requires passage of the qualifying exam, as explained in the next section. None of the courses Mth 581-582-583 can be used in a graduate program in mathematics. Each Master’s candidate must complete at least 42 credits of non-blanket numbered, graduate-level course work, which may include non-MTH courses that are essential for the degree program. These courses must be approved by the student’s degree committee and by the Chair of the Graduate Committee. Occasionally a student has inadequate background to successfully begin and complete Mth 511 and/or Mth 543 during their first term in our program. Such a student should meet with the Chair of the Graduate Committee no later than the end of the first week of Fall Term to discuss the situation and to devise a plan of study to propose to the Graduate Committee.

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E. Thesis, Paper, or Examination.

Each Master's candidate must either write a Master's thesis, a Master's paper, or pass the Ph.D. qualifying examinations as described below.

If a student chooses to write a Master's thesis, a copy is provided to the Graduate School and a Graduate Council Representative is chosen to represent the Graduate School on the Degree Committee. The thesis must be printed and bound according to Graduate School requirements.

If a student chooses to write an expository paper, there is no need for a Graduate Council Representative. The Graduate School requirements concerning the format of a thesis need not be followed. However, a Master's paper must be prepared with a word processor capable of producing standard mathematical symbols and equations and be printed on high quality paper. In either case, the Department of Mathematics and each member of the Degree Committee must receive a copy of the thesis or paper at least one week in advance of the defense date.

In lieu of writing a thesis or paper, a student must take three additional core courses beyond the requirements in subsection D and also earn a grade of &q