Graduate Special Committees – General Guidelines
The Director of Graduate Studies is charged with ensuring that special committee membership complies with both Field and Graduate School requirements.
M.S. students must have at least two graduate faculty members on their special committee by the end of their second registered semester. Each committee member must represent a different subject within a graduate field. One in the major subject (chair) and one in the minor subject (minor member). Ad hoc special committee members serve in addition to the two required graduate faculty members.
Ph.D. students must have at least four graduate faculty members on their special committee by the end of their third registered semester. This requirement of four committee members for Ph.D. committees is a specific requirement of the Field of Natural Resources. Each committee member must represent a different subject within a graduate field. One in the major subject (chair) and three in minor subjects. At least two members of the committee must be general members of the graduate faculty. The composition of the committee will reflect appropriate breadth and depth in support of our objective that students graduate with an understanding of how their particular research and their expertise relate to the broader field of natural resources science, management and policy. There is no restriction against having the fourth committee member an ad-hoc member for Ph.D. students, but we strongly encourage students to choose an ad-hoc member that is a Ph. D. level scientist.
M.S. /Ph.D. students (i.e. students completing a M.S. degree and continuing for a Ph.D. degree) must meet the M.S. requirement and after they complete the master’s portion of their program, the student would be responsible for constituting a valid full Ph.D. committee.
MPS students are required to have one advisor added by the third week of the semester they are enrolled. Although some students chose to add a second minor advisor, which is not required.
Graduate Fields, Subjects, and Concentrations
Natural Resources and the Environment is the major field for graduate students in Natural Resources and the Environment, and the chair of the special committee must be a general member of the graduate faculty in Natural Resources and the Environment. The faculty member who represents the subject on a special committee determines the specific requirements for that major or minor. Some field members may have course requirements for the major and minor subjects.
Natural Resources and the Environment graduate students commonly choose minor subjects from the following fields: Biometry, Development Sociology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Communication, Global Development, Dyson School, and International Agriculture and Rural Development.
Fields are divided into one or more subjects. The subjects in turn are divided into concentrations. Currently, Natural Resources and the Environment has only one subject, i.e., Natural Resources and twelve concentrations: https://dnr.cals.cornell.edu/graduate/.
Cornell’s system of graduate fields, subjects, and concentrations must be considered when choosing members of a graduate special committee. Cornell is divided into departments for the purposes of undergraduate instruction and many administrative functions. Graduate fields are formed to facilitate broader interaction of faculty and graduate students whose interests overlap but are not necessarily housed within the same department. Therefore, the Graduate Field of Natural Resources and the Environment includes faculty from the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment and other departments.