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Developing Leaders and Improving Lives in the World's Developing Countries

Minimum Degree Requirements

  1. A minimum of 2 residence units

    2. Each residence unit corresponds to one academic term of satisfactorily completed full-time study. One unit may be earned by successfully completing a minimum of 12 credit hours in a single semester. The Special Committee chairperson is responsible for evaluating the student's progress and approving residence units.

  2. Satisfactory completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours related to the candidate's professional interest as agreed upon with the Special Committee.
    1. At least 24 credit hours of the required 30 must be in courses numbered 400 or higher
      • 20 credit hours of the required 30 must be within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
      • A petition to the MPS committee for exceptions may be submitted by individuals or by the Director of Graduate Studies. English language courses will not normally be considered toward the credits required for the degree.
    2. A minimum of 18 hours of the required 30 must be taken at Cornell with letter grades.
    3. A maximum of 6 credit hours of the required 30 may be earned in the problem-solving project [i.e., INTAG 599 for the field-based option or the 2-course package designed for the course-based option].
    4. 1 semester (for the course-based option) or 2 semesters (for the field-based option) of the INTAG 699 seminar.
    5. A maximum of 6 credit hours earned outside the program at Cornell University or elsewhere may be counted toward requirements at the discretion of the Special Committee. These credits must be appropriate to the subject of the chosen field of study and completed not more than 5 years prior to admission.
  3. Satisfactory completion of a problem-solving project under the supervision of the Special Committee.
    • This project may be the execution of an action program, the development of materials or methodology suited to the student's situation, or development and execution of research appropriate to the profession.
    • A copy is presented to the College MPS Committee and will be placed in Mann Library.
    • A copy is also requested for the International Programs/CALS office.
  4. A minimum grade point average of 2.5
  5. Completion of the degree within 4 years of admission

The Special Committee members are responsible for advising the student in the development of a comprehensive plan of study consistent with the formal requirements of the degree. The committee also approves and guides the problem-solving project and may appraise the student's progress by means of oral or written examinations. The student must have at least 2 members on his/her Special Committee by the beginning of the second semester of study. More information is available about forming the Special Committee.

Special Project (All MPS students are rquired to write a project paper)

A special project requirement allows students to develop a practical project paper that can be useful to other practitioners and to candidates' future responsibilities. The project may evaluate past work experiences or could be designed as a novel program element for the candidate's current employer. The MPS special project is developed in conjunction with the Special Committee. The special project paper must be approved by the Special Committee and the CALS MPS Committee. (listing of project pagers)

Special project papers of past IARD graduates have focused on specific issues and problems pertaining to agriculture, development and the developing world. Examples of these MPS IARD project papers include: