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Geography Department

GLOBAL SKILLS: COMBINED BACHELORS - MASTERS PROGRAM:

Minimum 33 semester hours:

The combined Global Skills Bachelors - Masters degree program in Geography is designed to allow students to complete combined undergraduate and graduate degrees in five years. Unlike our existing M.A. degree programs, this program is open only to existing undergraduates pursuing the Global Skills track in Geography. As such, all the requirements for that program are also requirements for this MA. This is a non-thesis track.  However, students will be required to write a final research paper based on their internship and their area of focus within Global Skills.

Eligibility and Logistics:

• Students may apply for this program in the second semester of their Junior year.  Such students must have completed a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 96 credit hours in their undergraduate programs, including credits earned from advanced placement.  Transfer students must have completed a minimum of two semesters as full time students at Towson University.
• A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.25 overall and in the major, at the time of application, is required for full admission to the program. All GPA calculations for admission are based upon the last 60 credits of undergraduate study.  Continuance in the MA program is contingent upon maintaining these GPA levels, and students who fall below them will be ineligible to continue graduate work. Students must receive a grade of B or better in the double-counted graduate-level courses;
• Nine credits taken at the 500 and 600 level in the Senior year will be counted towards fulfilling the 33 hours required for the MA.;
• GEOG 401 will not be required for the undergraduate portion of this program, unless for some reason the student does not proceed to the MA., in which case GEOG 401 remains a required core course. Students continuing into the combined degree program will take GEOG 601 only.
• Bachelors degree will be awarded after all degree requirements for the Bachelors are met, which should normally be at the end of the fourth year;
• Students who do not successfully complete the Bachelors portion of this track, or whose GPAs do not meet the requirements for this track, may not proceed to the MA-level unless such deficiencies are resolved;
• Students who complete the Bachelors but decide not to continue with the MA program will terminate their program with the fulfillment of all requirements for the Bachelors degree.  Students may withdraw from the combined Bachelors – Masters degree program in Geography and Environmental Planning at any time, by informing the Chairperson and Graduate Program Director in writing;
• A student who does not follow the approved plan of graduate work may become ineligible to participate in this combined degree program.
• If a student becomes ineligible to participate in the combined program, the Geography Graduate Director will inform the student in writing;
• A student who is ineligible to participate in or who withdraws from the combined degree program cannot double-count any courses for both Bachelors and Masters degrees.

Core Requirements (6 credits)

GEOG 601 Seminar on Geographical Perspectives  (3)

GEOG 621 Research Techniques (3)

Planned Elective Courses (18-21 credits)

12 credits will count towards satisfying requirements of both the Bachelors and MA programs. Only 9 of those credits can be taken at the 500 level.  3 credits can be taken outside the discipline of Geography, with approval of the Graduate advisor.

Internship (3-6 credits)

GEOG 796 (New Course) Internship in Global Skills

Students taking the Global Skills accelerated MA program will need to undertake an internship, usually in the summer after the senior year.  This can be for either three or six credits, depending on the time demands of the position.

Research (3 credits)

GEOG 797 Research Paper (6)

How it will work

Click here to see the Bachelors requirements for Global Skills track.  This explicates what courses students will complete in partial requirement for the accelerated MA.  The subsequent chart outlines a hypothetical scenario for completing the MA in five years.

Hypothetical Scenario for student completing the accelerated

MA program in Global skills:

Red = BA Core courses

Blue = Other BA Courses

Olive = Crossover courses

Green = MA Courses

[brackets] indicate which requirement is met