M.Agr. in Poultry Science

Program Description

The Poultry Science M.Ag. degree plan offered through the Poultry Science Department consists of 36 hours of course work, a professional paper (which is a scholarly report of a problem solving nature), and a comprehensive final oral examination to be administered by the advisory committee.

Admission Requirements

All applicants must meet minimum entrance requirements as set by the Texas A&M University Office of Admissions and Records and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Satisfying the minimum criteria qualifies an applicant for consideration but does not guarantee admission to the program. The faculty will review each applicant taking into consideration:

1. Undergraduate academic record

2. Recommendation forms

3. GRE test scores

4. Applicant statement

For more information please visit the TAMU Office of Admissions and Records web site.

In some cases, additional prerequisite course work may be required before full admission to the program can be granted. It is recommended that you contact the Poultry Science Department Distance Education Coordinator and discuss your background with a faculty advisor before you apply. Questions about the MAG program, potential benefits to your career, and the application process can be answered at this time.

To allow time for processing, applications should be filed by the following deadlines.

• May 1 - for the fall semester
• September 1 - for the spring semester
• February 1 - for the summer term

Degree Program and Course Requirements

The courses are selected by the students and his/her advising committee to develop skills and expertise in specific academic areas to meet the student's career objectives. These areas may include but are not limited to Live Production (nutrition, physiology, diseases, waste management, etc.), Nutrition (nutrition, feed formulation, vitamins, minerals, etc), Processing/Safety (poultry meat processing, microbiology, HACCP etc). The degree plan is created during the first year of graduate study and is filed with the Office of Graduate Studies. Some courses may be transferred from other academic institutions and used in the degree plan if approved by the Office of Graduate Studies and your committee. Please refer to the TAMU Graduate Catalog for complete details.

Distance Education Delivery Platforms

The primary delivery system for course materials and student-teacher communication is the Internet. Using the WebCT Vista platform as the interface for the course, students can view streaming videos of lectures, access supplemental notes, slide presentations, and resource materials through the TAMU Library. Required textbooks may be purchased online as well. All lectures are presented in an asynchronous format, in other words, you do not have to be logged into the course website at the same time as the class here on campus. You may view the lectures online at anytime of the day or night. Another added benefit to viewing streaming videos is that you can view the lecture more than once. Other learning tools used by some instructors include threaded discussions where the instructor posts a topic and the discussion of that subject is supplemented as students post their own thoughts on the topic. Of course no class would be complete without interaction between the instructor and the student which is usually accomplished through emails and telephone conversations.

Access to a T-1 line or a cable modem is recommended for quality purposes. Those who have a 56K modem should still be able to access the streaming video but download time may be long and the video quality may be poor. Because the computer plays an important role in distance education, it is recommended that students acquire basic computer skills (word processing, email, and internet access) as soon as possible.

For Additional Information

Visit the online M.Ag. in Poultry Science website for additional information, or contact:

Dr. John Carey
Interim Department Head
TAMU Poultry Science Dept
(979) 845-1931

or

Liz Hirschler
Distance Education Coordinator
TAMU Poultry Science Dept
(979) 862-7694