The Intercollegiate Graduate Statistics Program (IGSP) is a formal University of Tennessee, Knoxville, academic program established to enable students to earn either a minor or an MS in statistics simultaneously with a master’s or doctoral degree in another department. Approved course work taken to meet doctoral requirements in the student’s home department may also be credited toward the MS in statistics. Similarly, approved course work in statistics taken to meet the requirements for a master’s or doctoral degree in another department may also count toward the statistics minor. The program is open to graduate students in all participating departments which have an approved minor and/or MS joint major curriculum offered through the program. The program is administered by an executive committee, consisting of college representatives from all colleges with approved programs, with advisory input from the program faculty.
Requirements
Degree Program
|
Hours in Approved IGSP Courses
|
| Master’s in home department, minor in statistics |
9 |
| Master’s in home department, MS in statistics* |
21 |
| Doctorate in home department, minor in statistics |
15 |
| Doctorate in home department, MS in statistics** |
21 |
* The MS in statistics requires 30 hours separate from the degree requirements in the home department.
** The MS in statistics requires 30 hours.
Course options consist of courses in statistics offered either by the Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science or by other departments, which have been reviewed and approved by the IGSP Executive Committee. Students completing two master’s degrees and doctoral students taking an MS with a major in statistics or a minor in statistics must pass a written comprehensive examination in statistics, constructed and evaluated by the student’s examination committee. No formal comprehensive examination is required of students earning a statistics minor along with a master’s in another field beyond questions the home department wishes to include as part of the comprehensive examination for the master’s degree.
Procedures
The student’s home department must have a program of courses approved by the executive committee. That program will specify the sequences of statistics courses, chosen from the IGSP approved list, that are considered appropriate by the home department. Students who wish to participate in this program should contact their college representative or the Chair of IGSP in the Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science.
The student’s graduate committee must include a member of the IGSP faculty. For students seeking doctoral degrees or the Master of Science with a major in statistics, the committee member must be a faculty member in the Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science.
The IGSP Student Application Form must be completed by the student, signed by the appropriate committee members and submitted to the Chair of the Executive Committee. The completed and signed form is then submitted to the Graduate School for the official enrollment to the IGSP and as the official application for the Admission to Candidacy for the MS degree.
Successful completion of the statistics MS or minor is recognized by appropriate documentation on the student’s transcript. Students who do not complete the requirements of the minor or MS will still receive academic credit for the statistics courses they have successfully completed.
Statistics Major, MS
The Master of Science with a major in statistics provides students with the foundation in theory and practice required for the effective application of statistical techniques in their chosen fields of study. Department faculty members participate in a variety of consulting and research projects and collaborate with researchers from many academic disciplines.
Admission
The master of science degree with a major in statistics is available only through a dual degree program. Applicants for the statistics major must be current graduate students in a degree seeking program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in a department or program which has established an approved program of study through the Intercollegiate Graduate Statistics Program (IGSP). See student application form at www.bus.utk.edu/stat/IGSP.
Applicants must have completed at least two years of college-level mathematics, including the calculus of several variables and matrix algebra, and be proficient in a computer language.
Requirements
A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed for the master’s degree. Required of all students are 6 hours in statistical methods and 3 hours in statistical theory. Students must complete a minimum of 21 hours in approved statistics courses, exclusive of consulting, internship, independent study, or thesis.
Comprehensive Examination
Students must pass a written comprehensive examination. Should a student fail the examination, the student may retake it. The result of the second examination is final.
Information about the exam may be found at www.bus.utk.edu/stat/IGSP.
