Welcome to the Botany Department!

The Botany Department faculty and staff want to thank you for joining our program.  It is our hope that you have a very rewarding experience during your time with us.  You already know that Hawai`i is a special place for botanists.  We hope that you make good use of our unique resources, learn from our host culture, and benefit from our academic institution.

It is our goal to make your graduate program both effective and efficient.  This can be quite a challenge as each student comes to us with a different background and aspires to different goals.  We recognize this diversity and have established programs and procedures that help accommodate a wide variety of interests.  That means, of course, that navigation through our program may appear to be complex.  We don't just have a simple set of requirements that everyone follows.

Recognize also that graduate education is quite different from an undergraduate program in other ways.  The most dramatic change is that navigating through the Botany Department Graduate Program is largely your responsibility.  The faculty are here to help you, of course.  We provide some guides -- both web-based and people -- to help with this process.

The sections of this Workflow guide show the landmarks and, in general, how you can complete each item.  In addition, you have a Progress Form that details specific requirements and evidence of progress in your satisfying the requirements.  Note that we call many of the departmental requirements "proficiencies" to indicate that you should show mastery of each proficiency by the time you graduate.  There is a common core of proficiencies as well as those which are track-specific.  We'll discuss this more in later sections.

 The Three Graduate Programs

• Master of Science (Plan A - Thesis)
• Master of Science (Plan B - Portfolio)
• Doctor of Philosophy

MS Plans

The Thesis and Portfolio degree plans provide important alternatives for graduate students who have been admitted to the MS program.  One of the first decisions is between these two alternatives.

Here are some of the similarities and differences in the two plans.

• Both degree plans provide the same degree, an MS in Botany.

• Both degree plans are rigorous and provide a good foundation in Botany.

• The Thesis Plan (Plan A) is combines coursework and significant research project.  An independent research study can be very rewarding and make a fundamental contribution to knowledge.  However, this often requires writing grant proposals, carrying out research for an extended period, and devoting the time and energy to produce a publication-quality thesis.  The Portfolio Plan (Plan B) also requires independent research, but this is a much smaller-scale project and it may not end up as a publication.
  

Which plan is the better choice?  Here are some additional things to consider.

• Some faculty members prefer that their students follow one plan or the other.  Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding with your advisor as to which plan you should follow.

• The time that is usually required to complete a Thesis plan can be significantly longer than a Portfolio plan.  Some students have found that they must seek outside employment during their thesis research and this can further extend the time required to complete this MS plan.

• Many students feel that completing an MS thesis better prepares them for further graduate studies.

Choosing the MS Plan B (Portfolio)

If you have enrolled in the MS program and desire to be in the Portfolio (Plan B) alternative, you should contact the Graduate Program Chair and ask that an email be sent to the Graduate Division indicating that you are choosing this alternative.  Otherwise, it is assumed that you are going to follow the MS Thesis (Plan A) alternative.

[I recommend that the Botany Department develop a form to cover this procedure.]