December 2023 – The McEwan Laboratory

Overview

The Bachelors plus Masters (BPM) Program at the University of Dayton is an increasingly popular option for students. This program offers the opportunity to interdigitate your Bachelors degree with an important added credential- a Masters Degree. This can often occur over a 5-year time frame (see details below) so that by adding one year to your BS program you have a significant additional degree. There are very good reasons to become a Master of Science that are outlined in a separate post (HERE). For some students, moving immediately toward this degree while still in undergraduate can be a good choice. Doing a BPM means that you do not have to go through the process of recruiting into a new program once you complete your degree, and given that it overlaps with the undergrad, it can speed up the process by a couple of years.

Scientific Expectations for Students

The expectations for a BPM student are the same for a student who is going through the “traditional” MS program in Biology. This means that the student must complete graduate level coursework, and, more importantly, write a MS Thesis. In the McEwan Lab, our goal for the MS Thesis is to execute a scientific research project that is high-enough quality to lead to a peer-reviewed publication in a respectable journal. Many students have completed their MS in the McEwan Lab, and practically all of these led to a peer-reviewed journal publication. For example, this Thesis by Eric Borth led to this publication, and this Thesis by Meg Maloney contained two chapters that were each published, one focused on Callery pear phenology, the other on management of Callery pear.

The key issue here is that the student who starts down this path is literally trying to become a Master of Science, and thus, they need to be quite serious about the scientific pursuit. This is not just “more undergrad” it is a “different gear” and requires that the student “level-up” their focus and activity.

One aspect of transitioning from the BS process to the MS process is getting adapted to the fact that the Thesis research is the key activity for the MS degree and that, ultimately, Dr. McEwan must approve of all aspects of the project. It is not up to the student to “come up with” a MS project – that is an unreasonable expectation for a student, and, frankly, only in extremely rare circumstances would an undergraduate have enough scientific knowledge to be able to design a project on their own that would meet the scientific expectations for obtaining the MS Degree. For these reasons, it is critical that the student stay committed to communication with Dr. McEwan so that expectations are clear and the project stays on track. This is complicated, especially during the senior year when “regular” coursework is a major drain on time and focus; however, it is fundamental to success, and if a student really does not feel capable of balancing the needs of undergrad classes with the needs of pursuing scientific mastery, then they should not start the BPM track.

Timeline and Time Commitment Expectations for Students

Students who wish to be involved in a BPM program in the McEwan lab would normally get involved in laboratory research as an undergraduate during their Junior year, if not before. The student would need to engage in normal activity as outlined in this guideline document. Specifically, the student would need to become a “Project Leader” – which is associated with an expectation of >15 hours a week committed to a research project that they are actively leading. This may occur in conjunction with other things going on in the lab, but the student must demonstrate leadership prior to starting the BPM. Once established as a Project Leader in the lab, if a student is interested in a BPM, they should set a meeting with Dr. McEwan to discuss this possibility.

If a student is able to work out the financial and curricula details (see below) and begin the BPM program, the expectation is they will prioritize their research. This will include spending the full summer between Junior and Senior year in the lab working on their project with will amount to approximately 35 hours a week for 12 weeks and run roughly from mid-May to mid-August. Family vacations, etc, are perfectly fine during this time! During the semester of senior year the expectation would be roughly 15-20 hours a week focused on research. Not on classes, not on random UD things on research. Then during the final year, the student would again be expected to put in roughly 15-20 hours a week, just on research. There may be periods where more time is needed to accomplish the goals of the project. There may be weekends when the student spends a lot of time working on research. There may be holidays when the student spends a lot of time working on research. All of this is flexible and depends on the needs of the student in the moment, and we always emphasize well-being. Even so, it is important that a student have a sense that it takes a lot of dedicated time to becoming a Master of Science.

Curriculum

One of the main constraints on whether this will be possible relates to coursework. A student in the BPM must complete the full undergraduate curriculum required of their Bachelor Degree (at UD, normally a Biology or Environmental Biology student, but others are possible), and the full graduate curriculum required for a MS student in Biology. The graduate courses would start the fall semester of the senior year for the student. Some graduate courses can double count for the BS degree, so their is some efficiency between the programs; however, the student will need to have enough time in their schedule to set aside hours for graduate work both fall and spring semester of senior year. This means that the student should come into senior year ahead of schedule in the undergraduate BS program. It also means that planning for courses must be done in specific detail. Dr. McEwan has a spreadsheet that will guide this process and the student must focus on keeping that spreadsheet up to date.

Financial aid and other funding

Nearly all undergraduate students have some kind of financial aid package that helps them afford the undergraduate degree. When a student enters into the BPM program care is needed to be sure that this financial aid package is not disrupted. This requires some careful work with Dr. McEwan and others at UD. It is complicated and every student is unique because their financial aid package is unique as is their course sequence, etc. So the only thing to do is set a meeting and work on it.

The Bachelor plus Masters Program is not associated with a stipend from the University and the student must pay tuition for graduate courses. The cost of the graduate tuition for students in the program is much reduced from the undergraduate tuition rate. Please check with Dr. McEwan about these details if you are interested in the program.

In all cases, Dr. McEwan will cover all of the material expenses associated with your MS Degree work. This will include supplies, travel, and miscellaneous other expenses. Dr. McEwan will also provide, through an hourly wage or through some kind of fellowship, funding for the summer between your Junior and Senior year, and also the summer between Senior year and your final year which will be your “graduate only year” (see timeline, above). In addition, Dr. McEwan may be able to provide some hourly-rate funding to work on your research project during the semester in the lab. Basically, it would be having a job working in the lab, but your work is your own research. This is on a case-by-case basis and must not be taken to be an expectation when you begin the program. Again, to be perfectly clear, a BPM student will not be getting a stipend from the University (through, for example a Teaching Assistantship) nor will that student receive tuition remission. A BPM student must pay tuition both for senior year and also for the graduate program year.

Joy

A Masters Degree can be characterized by a lot of joy for the student. The science can be exhilarating. Though not required, I encourage any BPM student to do your best to actively pursue happiness during your process.

The McEwan Laboratory

Forest Ecology at the University of Dayton

Month: December 2023

Native plants for the Miami Valley (Ohio)

BPM – Bachelors plus Masters in the McEwan Lab