MS DEGREE OPTION IN HYDROGEOLOGY INCREASES RECRUITMENT, GRADUATION NUMBERS, AND DIVERSITY

A MS Degree option added in 2003 in hydrogeology in the Department of Geological Sciences at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) has bolstered MS enrollments of students from underrepresented groups and from non-geological baccalaureate degrees. The new degree option has increased recruitment and graduation rates, helped fill undergraduate core classes with acceptable numbers, while increasing ethnic and gender diversity in the department. The degree option requires makeup courses in physics, calculus, and chemistry and 5 geological core courses including physical geology, historical geology, mineralogy/petrology, sedimentology, and structural geology. Summer geology field camp is not required. Most students entering this degree option have baccalaureate degrees in chemistry, biology, or environmental science, and only need to take the geological makeup courses. A few students with baccalaureate degrees in social sciences or liberal arts enroll and complete the full makeup program. From 2005 to 2010 approximately 60% of the MS degrees awarded in the Department of Geological Sciences at CSULA were in the hydrogeology option, and 80% of the hydrogeology MS graduates had baccalaureate degrees in disciplines other than geology. The new curriculum has bolstered diversity; 65% of the students enrolling in this option are women and 40% are ethnic minorities. Infusion of curriculum funding from a Department of Education FIPSE grant has bolstered coursework and other opportunities for students.