Option in Industrial Health and Safety
The graduate program option in Industrial Health and Safety provides instruction and research opportunities for those interested in obtaining advanced knowledge in the field. Well equipped research laboratories support projects in the areas of noise exposure assessment and control in underground coal mines, mine safety, evaluation of the performance of respirators, development of instrumentation for measuring organic vapors in breath and ambient air, work physiology and occupational biomechanics, and optimization of loss prevention and safety systems.
Admission Requirements
Scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) are required for admission, though this may be waived at the discretion of the academic programs. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces available for new students. Students will be accepted by the academic programs and at the discretion of a graduate program, a student may be granted provisional admission. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.
Admission to the academic programs in the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering is competitive. Entering students must hold a bachelor's degree in a science or engineering discipline. Students with 3.00 or better (out of 4.0) junior/senior cumulative grade-point average and appropriate course backgrounds will be considered for admission. Exceptions to the minimum 3.00 grade-point average may be made for students with special backgrounds, abilities and interests. Entering graduate students in Energy and Mineral Engineering for whom English is not the first language are required to have the following score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination: a score of 550 on the paper test, a score of 213 on the computer based test, or a total score of 80 on the Internet test. Letters of recommendation and a statement of purpose written by the applicant are also required.
To apply on-line see the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering's Graduate Program Admission Requirements.
M.S. Degree Requirements
The required minimum number of course credits for the Petroleum and Mineral Engineering M.S. degree is 30, including 6 credits of research. In addition to the 10 PME credits of core competency courses, all students who choose the industrial health and safety, mining and mineral process engineering, and petroleum and natural gas engineering research options are required to take a minimum of 14 course credits from the list of corresponding specialty option courses. At least 12 of the required course credits for the graduate program must be at the 500 level.
The candidate must also write a thesis on independent research and defend that thesis.
Ph.D. Degree Requirements
30 additional credits of course work beyond the M.S. are needed for graduation. This makes the required minimum number of course credits for the PME Ph.D. degree 42, including 12 credits of research beyond the MS. At least 12 of the required course credits for the graduate program must be at the 500 level.
An oral comprehensive exam is administered for the candidate following completion of coursework. The candidate must write a thesis on independent research and present and defend the thesis in a final oral examination.