Admission
Prospective graduate students should apply using/visiting the TTU Graduate School Admissions page. All prospective graduate students need to take the GRE and non-domestic students will need to take the TOEFL. Applicants should send a letter of interest (DOC) including the name of the faculty member with whom they wish to work (if known) and have three letters of recommendation sent to the Graduate Advisor. The graduate advisor is Dr. Richard Zartman, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-2122 (806) 742-1626, Richard.Zartman@ttu.edu.
Committee
Graduate students should select their committee in consultation with their major professor. The M.S. and M.Ag. degrees require two graduate faculty members from the Department of Plant and Soil Science and one external member. The Ph.D. degree requires three graduate faculty members from the Department of Plant and Soil Science and two external members. The committee should be formed as early in the graduate program as possible. The committee should meet and approve a research proposal no later than the second semester.
Work Expectations
Students who receive a Research Assistantship are normally required to work 20 hours per week for their major professor. This may be beyond the time spent conducting the student’s own research and excludes course hours. The normal number of course-work hours a student takes with a half-time assistantship is nine hours per long semester and three hours each summer term. Other appointments may lesson the number of course hours that a student may take.
Coursework Hours
The M.S. thesis requires 30 hours of coursework. This is generally accomplished by taking 18 hours of formal classes plus six hours of research and six hours of thesis. The non-thesis M.S. and M.Ag. requires thirty-six hours of formal coursework. The Ph.D. requires at least 60, but no more than 99 hours of courses. Thirty of these hours may be used from the M.S. degree program. No more than six hours of course credit will be given for individual study courses or research hours.
Deadlines
The semester-by-semester deadlines can be located at the following web address:
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/gradschool/current/Deadlines.php
Residency
The Ph.D. program requires that 18 credit hours be completed on-campus. Distance courses will not fulfill this requirement.
Seminar
Each M.S. and Ph.D. student is required to enroll in seminar once per degree and present one seminar (Oral and poster). This would typically be toward the end of their graduate studies and cover their thesis/dissertation work. The expectation would be that the M.S. student would make a 15 minute presentation similar to that of a professional society. The expectation is that a Ph.D. student will make a 45 minute presentation similar to that of a job interview or lecture presentation. All students are strongly encouraged to attend each seminar. Students pursuing M.Ag. or distance M.S. degrees are exempt from this requirement.
Time limits
All M.S. requirements must be completed within six years. All Ph.D. requirements must be completed within eight consecutive calendar years or four years from admission to candidacy, whichever comes first.
Students are subject to all degree regulations as outlined in the TTU Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog and the Department of Plant and Soil Science Graduate Handbook (PDF).
For more inforation on our advisors, etc. visit our Contact Us page.
Texas Tech University,
Department of Plant and Soil,
Campus Box 42122, Lubbock, TX 79409 
806. 742-2837 