Degree Requirements & Supervision

Department Requirements

Academic standings

Regardless of a student's category, the pass mark in any course taken for credit is a grade of C+.  In order to remain in a graduate program in Renewable Resources, a student must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 with no grade less than C+.  If a current student fails to maintain a satisfactory GPA, the Department will submit a Change of Category or Academic Standing form to the FGSR for approval, detailing conditions of the probation.  If approved, a comment of "On Academic Probation" is added to the student record and reflected on the student?s transcript.  Once the student has satisfied the conditions of probationary period, the department will recommend that probation be cleared.  If approved, a comment of "Cleared Academic Probation" is added to the student record and reflected on the student's transcript.

Renewable Resources graduate seminar courses (REN R 603 and 604)

The Department offers two graduate seminar courses, REN R 603, Graduate Research Skills, in the Fall term and REN R 604, Graduate Research Seminar, in the Winter term.  In REN R 603, lectures are used to provide students with knowledge of professionalism, research skills, and communication in a research environment.  The students are evaluated on the basis of an examination given at the end of the term.  In REN R 604, the students are given the opportunity to apply some of what they learned in the lectures as they are required to give a seminar, to moderate a seminar, to present a poster, and to provide a constructive critique of another student's seminar.  Attendance at the seminars and poster session is required.

Exit seminar

As part of the thesis degree requirement, students are required to orally present a thesis seminar at the time of thesis completion.  The seminar is normally presented just preceding the final oral examination. 

Academic integrity and ethics training requirement

All students who begin their program on or after September 2004 will be required to complete mandatory ethics training in order to convocate.

For students in the Department of Renewable Resources there are two components:

  • Completion of REN R 603. This course has been modified to include the equivalent of three hours of ethics training.
  • Completion of the Graduate Ethics Training (GET) Program, a web-based course offered by the FGSR, and is equivalent to five hours of training.  Visit FGSR for additional information about the ethics training component.

    Once students have completed RENR 603 and the GET WebCT course, a Completion of Academic Integrity and Ethics Training Component form will be forwarded by the Department to FGSR. This action will ensure that the student's transcript bears a notation indicating that they have successfully completed ethics training.

    • Graduate Research Supervisors

    Our Department offers exciting opportunities for research in many areas of Renewable Resources. Visit the academic staff profiles section to view information about our current graduate research supervisors' research and fields of interest. Additional information about our academics and their areas of research is available in the department Graduate Brochure.

    Graduate opportunities, postdoctoral and various research positions are routinely posted in Career Opportunities.

    English Languate Requirements

    All applicants with degrees/qualifications in a language other than English may need to demonstrate English Language Proficiency through one of the following exam scores. Please note that it is the responsibility of the applicant to request that the appropriate score be sent to the department.

    TOEFL: minimum score of 550 (paper-based), 88 (internet-based) with a score of at least 20 on each of the individual skill areas. University of Alberta Institution Code = 0963; Renewable Resources Department Code = 40.