HANDBOOK FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

Department of Geology and Geological Engineering

Colorado School of Mines

Golden, Colorado 80401

Academic Year 2021

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 MISSION STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 1 VISION STATEMENT .................................................................................................................. 1

VALUES ......................................................................................................................................... 1 DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND ACCESS (DIA) ....................................................................... 1 PROFILE OF DEPARTMENT ...................................................................................................... 3 COLORADO RESIDENCY ........................................................................................................... 3 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE .......................................................................................................... 3

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.............................................................................................................. 3 DEPARTMENTAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................... 4

Department Head ........................................................................................................................ 4

Office Personnel.......................................................................................................................... 4

Supplies/Copying for Teaching Assistants (TAs)....................................................................... 4 Spending Money ......................................................................................................................... 4 Graduate Student Offices ............................................................................................................ 6

Keys/Blastercards ....................................................................................................................... 6 Mailboxes .................................................................................................................................... 6

Departmental Computer Facilities .............................................................................................. 6 INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES (ITS) ..................................................... 7 Use of Laboratories and Equipment ........................................................................................... 8

Lab and Work Request Procedures ............................................................................................. 8

Thin Section Lab ..................................................................................................................... 9 Policies and Procedures for using Geochemistry Labs in Berthoud 406 .................................... 9

Laboratory Safety Training Provided by EHS ...................................................................... 10

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS ......................................................................................... 12

Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 12 Registration ............................................................................................................................... 12 Eligibility for Reduced Registration ......................................................................................... 13

Registration Requirements – Reduced Registration How to Qualify ....................................... 13 Leave of Absence ...................................................................................................................... 15 Grade Point Average ................................................................................................................. 15

Transfer Credits ........................................................................................................................ 15 Progress Grades ........................................................................................................................ 15

Incomplete Grades .................................................................................................................... 16 Deficiencies............................................................................................................................... 16 Research/Thesis Committees .................................................................................................... 16 Qualifying Examinations .......................................................................................................... 18 Degree Audit and Admission to Candidacy.............................................................................. 18

Non-Thesis Procedures ............................................................................................................. 19 Teaching Assistants .................................................................................................................. 19 Thesis and Dissertation Procedures .......................................................................................... 21

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Proposal................................................................................................................................. 21 Budget ................................................................................................................................... 22

Proprietary Research ............................................................................................................. 22 Manuscript Preparation ......................................................................................................... 22 Authorship Guidelines for Mines.......................................................................................... 22

Thesis and Dissertation Defense ............................................................................................... 24 Graduation Checklists & Deadlines for all Programs ............................................................... 25

Degree Level Change and Program Change ............................................................................. 25 Completion of M.Sc. Program and Admission to Ph.D. Program ............................................ 26 Checkout Process ...................................................................................................................... 26

Appendix:

Mines Administrative Processing Services (MAPS) website

Preferred Travel and Car Rental Agencies

Department

Checkout – Please submit to Dorie or Cheryl

Graduate Studies forms – Please go to the Graduate Studies website

(https://www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/) for the most current forms as they are revised and

upgraded periodically:

Step-by-Step Guide

Advisor/ Thesis Committee Requirements

MS Non-thesis Graduate Deadlines Chart

MS Thesis Graduate Deadlines Chart

PHD Graduate Deadlines Chart

Thesis Defense Request Form

Transfer Credit Limits

Laboratories and Equipment

Analytical Equipment List

General Laboratory and Workshop Safety

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HANDBOOK FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

INTRODUCTION This Handbook presents information and resources for graduate study in the Department of Geology and

Geological Engineering (GE) and is intended to ease your transition into the Department and your life as

a graduate student. This Handbook supplements and is subordinate to regulations in the Colorado School

of Mines Catalog (CSM). It is the responsibility of each graduate student to read and understand

information pertaining to graduate study in both this Handbook and the Catalog. Members of the faculty,

the Department assistants, or other graduate students can generally answer questions regarding the

Handbook and the Catalog. If you need further clarification regarding Graduate Studies issues contact

www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/contact/.

Departmental focus areas include energy and minerals resources, hydrology, engineering

geology/geotechnics, geochemistry, basic geosciences, and related new fields of endeavor.

MISSION STATEMENT To discover and disseminate knowledge for society through compelling research, excellence in teaching

and engaging outreach by creating a welcoming and vibrant community that cultivates critical thinking,

intellectual curiosity, and integrity.

VISION STATEMENT To be a game-changer in discovery, understanding and education in geoscience to intelligently engineer

Earth’s resources.

VALUES Experience: We deliver a unique educational experience in the classroom, laboratory and the field.

Discovery: We encourage creativity and celebrate insights in research.

Excellence: We expect rigor and diligence in our work, honesty and accountability in our actions, and

we embrace professional growth.

Compassion: We treat others with respect, seek out diverse thought and support each other’s willingness

to take risks.

Enthusiasm: We foster a positive friendly atmosphere, and lead with optimism.

Teamwork: We work together and collaborate to achieve results that we cannot accomplish individually.

DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND ACCESS (DIA)

Diversity, Inclusion and Access are critical components of a healthy, thriving department and we are

committed to this effort. The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering (GGE) is a community

that welcomes and supports diversity in all of its forms, and we strive to foster an inclusive environment

that respects different ways of thinking and being. We are also invested in enhancing access to the

curricular and co—curricular opportunities that are offered in GGE.

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The Department’s has a very active DIA Group which meets frequently for talks and discussions

surrounding DIA in the Sciences. Everyone is welcome to participate. You can find additional

information at the following link: Diversity, Inclusion and Access information from our Geology

and Geological Engineering page.

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PROFILE OF DEPARTMENT

The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering emphasizes the study of science and engineering

and the application of that knowledge to the solution of resource exploration and development,

engineering and environmental problems. Graduate degrees are offered in Geological Engineering,

Geology, Geochemistry, and Hydrology. The programs are broad enough to prepare graduates for a wide

variety of careers in academic, research, or industrial organizations. The faculty is composed of #?? full-

time and adjunct geologists and engineers. A full list of faculty and their contact information can be

found at geology.mines.edu/faculty-and-staff/.

COLORADO RESIDENCY

All non-residents of Colorado who are U.S. citizens are strongly advised to begin to establish Colorado

residency before they begin their first semester of study at CSM. The greatest advantage to establishing

Colorado residency is a reduction in tuition. To qualify for residency a student must prove that they have

lived in Colorado for one year or more immediately preceding the first day of classes for the semester in

which resident status is sought. Important steps in establishing Colorado residency are obtaining a

Colorado driver’s license, transferring motor vehicle and voter registration to Colorado, and rent receipts

before the first day of classes the first year. Employment and payment of state income taxes are

additional but not essential criteria. There are no absolute requirements for establishing resident status.

The Registrar considers cases on an individual basis. NOTE: If you take a summer internship outside of

Colorado, you need to be sure and pay Colorado state income taxes on money earned or you could be

declared “out-of-state” and lose your “in-state” residency. For additional information on establishing and

maintaining in-state residency consult the “In-State Tuition Classification Status” section in the Catalog.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Department and CSM have designated funds for the support of Teaching Assistants, scholarships,

and fellowships for graduate study. If you did not receive a financial aid offer at admission, there are also

numerous sources of funding outside the school, which students are strongly encouraged to seek. External

sources for student funds can be found at External Sources for Student Funds from the ‘About Us’ page

on the department website. You can obtain information from posted notices of funding opportunities,

Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies, and Department faculty members. Evidence that you have sought

grants from outside of the Department will be considered in evaluating future requests for Department

funds. Financial support is also available for graduate students through the School’s Financial Aid

Office.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

For Affirmative Action Policy, Unlawful Discrimination Policy and Complaint Procedure, Sexual

Harassment Policy, Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure, and Personal Relationships Policy, see the

Policies and Procedures Section in Catalog or access www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/contact/.

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DEPARTMENTAL INFORMATION

Department Head

The Department Head of Geology and Geological Engineering is Dr. Wendy Bohrson. Students

can connect with the Department Head directly via email if they wish to express formal, written,

opinions about any department function. Dr. Bohrson’s email is bohrson@mines.edu.

Office Personnel

The office staff are here to help, so please feel free to stop by the main office (Berthoud Hall 221) if you

need assistance. A brief description of their duties are listed below.

Department Manager: Dorie Chen

• Financial management of the Geology and Geological Engineering department, specifically DH

funds

• Purchasing and travel.

• HR representative for the department. Manages student and faculty contracting.

• Department Newsletter

• Confidential resource

Administrative Assistant: Cheryl Medford

• Assists students, general public, professors, other academic and support departments, and

administration

• Assists with the following forms for students:

o grade changes

o advisor changes

o thesis and defense forms

o building and room access

• Assigns rooms for thesis defenses and guest lectures

Supplies/Copying for Teaching Assistants (TAs)

1. TAs have use of supplies such as transparencies, pens, pencils, etc., for use only in classes they TA.

The Department does not supply any materials needed for personal use.

2. The majority of class material electronic files can be sent to Cheryl Medford at cmedford@mines.edu.

Please note the quantity, double-sided/single-sided, stapled/not stapled, etc. It is best to plan several

days in advance of your need.

Spending Money

Departmental funds are available to purchase materials for your graduate work and you

should always discuss any financial needs with your advisor. You should never buy

anything, order work to be done, or promise payment without getting approval from the

Department Manager. State purchasing rules must be followed for any money spent and

the Department Manager can assure that these rules are being followed. Failure to follow

the rules may result in University refusal to reimburse you! Please talk with the

Department Manager BEFORE you spend.

1. Travel - The school has procedures for traveling as a student at CSM. It is important that you

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understand them and comply with them. There are preferred travel and car rental agencies to be

utilized (see Appendix). Chrome River is the new way to record the school’s credit card, reimburse

for miscellaneous out of pocket expenses and to request authorization and reimbursement for all

employee travel. This is a paperless system found through the Trailhead site. All reports will be

completed in Chrome River and sent to the approvers through the electronic routing system. All

Faculty, Staff and Graduate Students that are also considered Employees, are required to use Chrome

River for all of the above purposes after approved training, including reimbursements. Trips require a

pre-approval report to be submitted PRIOR to the trip if it includes: a) international travel; b)

sponsored research (using a 4-index); and/or c) cash advance. This is your authorization to go on the

trip, use school funds, and put the school on notice that you are traveling on school business. If

something were to happen to you while traveling on school business and you did not file a TA for the

trip, Mines will not be held responsible for your travel. This would be especially critical if you were

in a foreign country. The TA should be a fairly accurate estimate of the expenses you expect to incur.

The travel authorization must be submitted by you, then will be forwarded to the person supplying the

funding which will then be forwarded to the Department Head. The final part of each trip is filing the

expense report which can be generated from the pre-approval report if applicable, and details your

actual expenses and closes the trip report. Original, detailed receipts are required to be scanned and

uploaded as attachments for all expenses that will be reimbursed. The expense report needs to be

submitted within 30 working days of the trip. Anything after that could be treated as taxable income.

The same electronic routing will follow after the expense report is submitted as for the pre-approval.

Mines may not reimburse your travel if you do not follow the procedures. The Department

Manager is always available to answer any questions you have about the procedures.

2. Supplies - Whether these are materials for a lab or research supplies, check with the Department

Manager first before ordering, reserving, promising to buy from a person or company, or buying

anything. Send the Department Manager information about the vendor (name, address, phone), and

index to use from your advisor, and a quote of the items to be ordered to begin the purchase process.

3. Posters - The Information and Technology Solutions center (ITS) has poster printing capability. You

will need to take a form, obtained from the Department Manager’s office, to ITS to pay for the

printing so be sure to have a Departmental index number ready for this as well. This index number

represents the account from which funds will be drawn to pay for the poster. In addition, posters can

be printed at private printers in Golden if you wish to pay out of pocket.

4. Chemicals - DO NOT ORDER chemicals to be brought onto campus. You must go through

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) when you need chemicals. They will determine if the

chemical can be brought onto campus or if you may use the chemicals they already have in stock on

campus. If what you need is not in stock, they will order it. You will need to provide them with an

index number. Anyone planning to use chemicals must attend a training course and get certification

from EHS.

5. Registration for professional meetings – Numerous professional scientific meetings are held

throughout the year and attending meetings is a way to present your own research, hear the most

recent research from your colleagues, participate in societies and community programs and generally

network with your colleagues. If your advisor is paying for your meeting registration with a grant,

they can pay for it with a credit card. If you pay for the registration yourself and expect to be

reimbursed, you cannot be reimbursed until after the meeting date.

6. Travel Expense Support for Technical Presentation at Professional Meetings – Depending on the

availability of funds, the Department will help defray travel expenses for graduate students whose

abstracts have been accepted for oral or poster session presentation at regional, national, or

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international meetings. The Department strongly encourages such professional activities. Written

requests for such support, with supporting documentation, should be submitted to the Department

Manager as soon as the abstract has been accepted. The Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) also

provides travel support for professional meetings and students should apply for these funds as well.

Information on such Grants can be found at https://gsg.mines.edu/grants/.

Graduate Student Offices

Graduate student office desk space is allotted each semester and is coordinated by the GE Program

Office.

Graduate students may retain their office desk only during the period in which they hold a TA, RA or are

actively engaged in writing their thesis. When no longer entitled to an office, students must vacate the

space making it ready for the next occupant and notify the GE Office personnel that they have vacated. A

list will be maintained of student requests for office desk space in another office area with students more

conducive to their specialty and will be arranged when space becomes available there. It is your

responsibility to keep the office area neat and clean. If the trash bins in the Graduate student office areas

are full, please assist by emptying them. Please remember to keep noise at a minimum as other students in

the office will be studying. After vacating/cleaning an office space, the space will be reallocated by the

GE Office. Please remember to be cognizant, quiet and respectful to your peers by quietly

working/ studying in these office areas.

Keys/Blastercards

Blastercards are issued to all students by the school. This Blastercard is required for entry into any

campus building after regular school hours and on weekends. Some laboratories in Berthoud Hall require

Blastercard activation for access. The computer room 222 has Blastercard access. The fillable Berthoud

Hall Blaster Card and Hard Key Access Form can be found on the department website

(https://geology.mines.edu/contact/) with directions on where to send the form by email. Students eligible

for office space will be issued a key to the assigned area.

Mailboxes

Each semester, every active graduate student in the Department is assigned a mailbox located in Room

215 of Berthoud Hall. Graduate students are not to use the Department as their principal mailing address.

The CSM Distribution and Mail Services Office will not deliver incoming or accept outgoing personal

mail. There are tables located in Room 215 to use as needed as a break room or meeting room along with

a refrigerator, microwave, etc. Before leaving, please be sure to clean the area and appliances you have

used. If the recycle bins are full, please assist by emptying them. Although the faculty lounge has similar

facilities, it is not to be used by Graduate students unless accompanied by their advisor or another faculty

member.

Departmental Computer Facilities

The student Computer Labs are located in Berthoud Hall rooms 201 and 222. A network account

agreement is required before you can obtain access. The fillable Berthoud Hall Network Access form can

be found on the department website (https://geology.mines.edu/contact/) with directions on where to send

the form by email. Office personnel will supply paper and printer cartridges for computer labs.

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Room 222 is reserved exclusively for student use. Room 201 is a teaching and short course lab. Pre-

approved scheduling controls use of room 201. When not in use for classes or short courses, it is available

for student use. We have many sophisticated geologic applications and special hardware items such as a

slide scanner and a flat-bed scanner. In addition, all computers have CD players, USB drives as well as

access to the Cloud.

Room 203 is reserved exclusively for students (both undergraduate and graduate) working on research

projects requiring the use of high-end workstations with advanced graphics cards. The workstations run a

suite of programs dedicated to sub-surface analysis. Access to Room 203 is controlled through a

Blastercard swipe key with approval by Dr. Alexei Milkov, Dr. Bruce Trudgill, Dr. Steve Sonnenberg,

Dr. Zane Jobe, Dr. Danica Roth or Dr. Lesli Wood.

A few simple rules must be followed to ensure these resources will remain available.

1. Clean up after yourself. Do not abuse the Department’s Computing Labs.

2. No food or open liquid containers are allowed in the computer labs room 201 & 222. Only closed/

secure drinkware allowed.

3. Pets are not allowed in Berthoud Hall as per CSM rules.

4. Do not change any files or settings on the computers.

5. Do not add, move, or remove any hardware. Exercise extra care with network cables. They are

fragile and you may cause the system to crash if tampered with or moved.

6. If you have problems with lab computers or your computer account, fill out a trouble ticket for

ITS at http://helpdesk.mines.edu requesting assistance. The lab computers hold labels with a

CSM number that will need to berelayed to ITS so they can identify the computer having issues.

7. Computers and printers remain on at all times. DO NOT TURN THEM OFF.

8. The Department has a policy in place for software compliance. Do not copy or install any

software to or from workstations or the network. If specific software is required that we do not

have, discuss implementation with the Department Staff. We must have licenses, original media

and supporting documentation for all installed software. Software is only updated twice a year.

9. Data on the computers is not to be downloaded without specific permission from your advisor.

University contracts are enacted regarding many of the data sets on the systems that establish

prorietary usage guidelines. These are legal documents and must be adhered to at all times.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL STUDENTS (especially at the end of

the semester) THAT ARE IN NEED OF AND USING THE COMPUTER LABS. WHEN YOU

LEAVE THE COMPUTER LAB(S), PLEASE LOG-OFF, CLEAN UP YOUR COMPUTER

DESK AREA OF ALL OF YOUR ITEMS SO OTHER STUDENTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO

USE THE COMPUTER STATION (these areas are not for personal storage).

INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES (ITS)

ITS Solutions provides computing and networking infrastructure and resources for CSM. Staff members

serve as a resource to students as they conduct their studies.

Most computer systems are connected to the campus network and have access to the Internet and campus

library resources. Black and white and color printing is available as well as poster printing and

transparencies; check with the Help Desk (156A) in the Computer Commons at the Center for

Technology and Learning Media (CTLM) for current costs for these services. .

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All students need to establish a CSM e-mail and ADIT account. You may create personal web pages. An

assortment of computer-based training courses is available. Virus protection and personal firewall

software is available through the ITS web page free of charge to registered students.

Use of Laboratories and Equipment

Classrooms are equipped with computers and LCD projectors. If needed, the Department has a LCD

projector that can be reserved through the main office. If this equipment is unavailable from the

Department, ITS might be able to supply it

Use of various laboratories is monitored by the faculty and/or staff member in charge of each facility.

Access to, and use of, these facilities is granted by Department assistants upon written permission from

the responsible faculty/staff member. Students must demonstrate their ability to operate specific

laboratory equipment independently before receiving access to that laboratory. Questions regarding use

of any lab should be directed to the designated person listed below. For a listing of analytical equipment

descriptions, please see the appendix or the department website. Use of labs may require mandatory

University training. “Responsible Person”s for each lab can help set up any necessary training.

Lab Location Responsible Person

Automated Mineralogy Room 118/119 Katharina Pfaff

Carbon Coater Room 118 Katharina Pfaff

FE-SEM Room 116 Katharina Pfaff/Thomas Monecke

Field pH Meters Room 301 Rick Sarg

Fluid Inclusion/

Cathodoluminescence Room 111 Thomas Monecke

Franz Magnetic Separator,

heavy liquids and picking

microscope Room 147C Yvette Kuiper

General Chemistry

Fluid-rock Interaction Room 406 Alexis Sitchler

Geomechanics Room 303 Paul Santi

Geotech sample testing equip. Garage Paul Santi

Isotope Sample Prep Room 301A Susann Stolze

Jaw Crusher, Disk mill

Ring mill Room 147D Yvette Kuiper/Thomas Monecke

Lab Space Room 301A Alexis Sitchler/ Rick Sarg

Mass Spectrometer/Isotope Room 404 Susann Stolze

Microscope Lab Room 401B Thomas Monecke

Mineral Separation Lab Room 406B Thomas Monecke

Optical Mineralogy Room 401 Wendy Bohrson

Sample examination Room 110 Thomas Monecke

Source Rock Analyzer Room 301B Steve Sonnenberg

Wilfley ‘wet-shaking’ table Room 147E Yvette Kuiper

X-Ray Diffractometer Room 405 Ric Wendlandt

Brunton compasses, Jacob’s staffs, and measuring tapes can be checked out from Dorie Chen in the main

office, room 221. The Department has a limited number of hard hats that can be checked out along with

safety vests and traffic cones.

Lab and Work Request Procedures

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Thin Section Lab The thin section lab is located in Room 147 of Berthoud Hall where cutting, polishing, and stain of thin

sections. Our Thin Section Laboratory is currently closed but will remain open for rock saw usage if you

are already trained. A recent MS graduate, Kelsey Livingston (klivingston@mymail.mines.edu), will

assist in managing the Thin Section Lab on a part-time basis, keeping access available to the rock saws

and other peripherals, with oversight. All submissions of samples for thin section processing require a

thin section request form found on the departmental thin section laboratory website. For a thesis that

requires petrographic work, a signed form from the advisor will be required for processing thin sections.

The following analytical preparation procedures can be accomplished in the Thin Section Lab:

• Sample cutting

• Sample polishing

• Production of petrographic thin sections

• Production of polished thin sections

• Staining of thin sections

• Impregnation of thin sections

The standard method for graduate students to request any of the above procedures involve the following

steps:

1. Meet with thesis advisor to discuss an overall plan with respect to analytical procedures to be

used for samples.

2. Obtain a “Thin Section Request Form” from the Thin Section Laboratory site, complete it by

identifying the specific procedures to be followed, listing all samples by number, and have your

thesis advisor sign the form.

3. Take samples to Kelsey Livingston and discuss with her the form request, specific procedures,

timing, and costs.

Graduate students are allowed to use the equipment in the Thin Section Lab after proper training.

Students should set up a training session time with Kelsey Livingston. After the student is trained on a

piece of equipment, they can use the equipment during laboratory operating hours while the lab assistant

is present.

Policies and Procedures for using Geochemistry Labs in Berthoud 406

Student and faculty users of the Geochemistry Labs (Berthoud Hall 406) are required to adhere to policies

and procedures that create a collegial work environment and that ensure the safety of all users. The

following policies have been developed to be in compliance with school-wide chemical hygiene policies

administered by Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).

Each lab in Berthoud 406 has a Lab Supervisor and permission to use facilities in these areas should go

through these individuals:

406 main lab and 406A research lab – Alexis Sitchler

406B – research lab - Thomas Monecke

In general, use will be granted for the 406 main lab only unless you are collaborating with one of the

faculty who supervise the research labs 406 A and B.

The Department Head assumes overall responsibility for adherence to safety policies and procedures in all

labs.

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Because our general-purpose geochemistry lab (406) is small and serves diverse teaching as well as

research needs, we have to enforce the access and equipment policies listed below:

• Priority for student use of general lab space in 406 is as follows:

o Teaching

o Students/post-docs on funded grants advised by GE Faculty

o Students/post-docs without funding advised by GE Faculty

o Other users

• Completion of EHS Safety and Hazardous Materials training is required prior to working in the

lab.

• Faculty members are expected to provide all the equipment, chemicals, and other supplies needed

by their project. Small amounts of general purpose glassware and a drying oven are available for

communal use, however specialized equipment and necessary supplies, including refrigerator

space exceeding about ½ shelf, must be obtained by individual investigators.

• There are sources of de-ionized water in BH404 and 406. Please check with Dr. Stolze regarding

use of the water in BH404 or with Dr. Sitchler and Dr. Monecke for use of the de-ionized water

in BH406.

• Each individual must maintain a safe environment that does not present a hazard to other lab

users, particularly when a work area is left unattended, when experiments are in progress, and

after completion of experiments.

• All users will execute an agreement, signed by the user, faculty advisor (or faculty sponsor in the

case of post-docs and visitors), and the lab supervisor, which will include the particular details of

their lab use. This agreement allows the Department to have accurate records of the types and

locations of chemicals, their hazards, and appropriate disposal, ensures that EHS and each Lab

Supervisor conducts proper user training, ensures that users are fully aware of the health and

safety issues pertaining to their research, and emphasizes the shared responsibilities of students,

advisors, and lab supervisors. In the case of students, this agreement will include a check-out

procedure that must be completed when the work is completed and prior to graduation. A copy of

this agreement will be placed on file in the lab being used.

• Oversight of all aspects of student (undergraduate and graduate) use of the lab by faculty advisors

is required.

• Depending on the duration of the requested lab work, Blastercard access to BH406 may or may

not be granted.

• Faculty hosting visitors on sabbatical leave are responsible for checking lab space availability

before the visitor arrives and confirming that lab supervisors are willing to conduct necessary

training and oversight of the visitor.

Laboratory Safety Training Provided by EHS

• Graduate Student Safety Seminar (Mandatory). All incoming graduate students who work in

laboratories and shops are required to attend. EHS provides the training on two occasions at the

beginning of each semester. The presentation takes about 60 minutes.

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• Hazardous Materials Training (Mandatory). All campus personnel who procure regulated

materials or who generate regulated chemical waste must attend this training on an annual basis.

This includes faculty members, staff members, graduate students and some undergraduate

students. This training is required by federal and state law and is offered by the EHS Department

at the beginning of each semester. The EHS Department maintains a list of persons who have

received the training within the last year and are thereby "authorized" to handle regulated

materials. Unauthorized persons who request chemical procurement or waste disposal service are

notified that service has been denied because their training is no longer current.

• Hazard Communication in Laboratories. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration

prescribes the implementation of a "Chemical Hygiene Program" for laboratories. A primary

component of this program is "Hazard Communication." This means that all personnel should be

informed of the properties of hazardous materials in the lab and should be informed of hazards

and safety procedures associated with lab equipment and processes. One of the ways this is done

at CSM is by posting MSDS information sheets on a clipboard that is mounted in the hallway

outside each lab. Most CSM labs have such clipboards. The CSM Safety Officer checks the

accuracy of laboratory MSDS files during annual building inspections. In addition, each time the

EHS Department issues a chemical from our Central Storage and Distribution Facility, the

recipient is reminded to review the MSDS for the chemical. If the recipient does not have an

MSDS, one is provided.

• Radiation Safety Training (Mandatory). Faculty members and graduate students who wish to be

qualified to independently handle licensed radioactive material must attend a 10-hour Radiation

Safety Course. The course is offered by the Radiation Safety Officer each semester. Faculty

supervisors of radiation-producing equipment (X-ray machines) are responsible to provide

training for users of such equipment.

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GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Association of Environmental Engineering

Geologists (AEG), and Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) all have student chapters on campus. New

students are encouraged to become involved in the activities of these groups. It is a great way to make

contacts, learn useful information about the Department and help shape your life and studies at CSM.

• The student chapter of AAPG is open to any student majoring in geology. The purpose of the

chapter is to advance the science of geology, especially as it relates to non-renewable energy,

and to promote and maintain a high standard of professional conduct. Activities include

speakers, field trips, and social events.

• AEG is open to students in disciplines related to engineering geology, geological engineering,

and hydrogeology. The purpose of the organization is to promote activities that expand the

experience and knowledge of the student members in these disciplines. Monthly meetings,

which feature speakers from industry and government, are held along with field trips and social

events.

• Any student studying the geological sciences is eligible for membership in SEG. Purposes of the

Society are to encourage increased knowledge of geology and its application to mining and

mineral deposits, to promote professionalism and provide opportunities to meet geological

professionals in the mining industry. Activities include technical speakers, field trips, and social

events.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

Introduction

Graduate students must meet a number of responsibilities and fulfill certain requirements during their

degree program. This section presents these requirements, deadlines, and suggested guidelines for

completing these responsibilities. A two-year Master’s program is possible, but only if these deadlines

and guidelines are followed closely. The duration of Ph.D. programs is more variable. Examples of the

forms referred to below are included in the Appendix. Please go to the Graduate School website

https://www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/forms/ for the most current forms as they are revised and

upgraded periodically AND PLEASE USE THE FIELD DROP DOWNS TO SELECT THE

APPROPRIATE CATEGORY!

Registration

Registration requirements include the following:

1. Continuing students should preregister to insure that a class will have sufficient enrollment to be held.

Without sufficient enrollment classes may be dropped – it is in your best interest to pre-register! The

Department expects students to register before classes begin each semester. This permits the

Department to make final decisions on classes and teaching assignments and permits you to begin

classes in an orderly manner. Timely registration permits the school to acquire state funds that are

reflected in financial aid to students and the Department. Graduate students who have not

registered before the School’s registration deadline (see Registrar’s academic calendar at https://www.mines.edu/registrar/academic-calendar/), will be assessed a $100 late fee.

2. Payment of tuition and fees.

Full-Time Student Hour Requirements

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To be deemed full-time during the fall and spring semesters, students must register for 9 or more hours of

course and/or research credit. However, international students need only register for 6 credit hours per

semester during their first year if they are required to take special language instruction or are accepted in

Provisional Status. In the event a thesis-based student has completed his or her required course work and

research credits (36 hours for master’s students and 72 hours for doctoral students) and is approved for

reduced, full-time registration, the student will be deemed full-time if he/she is registered for at least 4

hours of research credit.

Eligibility for Reduced Registration

In order to be considered for the reduced, full-time registration category, and apply to graduate in

Trailhead students must satisfy the following requirements:

• For Master of Engineering students, completion of 30 hours of course and independent study

credit hours (Paid credits = 1-9 credits per semester. Credits 10-15 are charged the same as 9

credits and are therefore not considered paid credits); A Degree Audit form must be submitted

through Cheryl Medford to the Registrar by either November 1st to graduate in May or qualify for

reduced registration for the spring semester, March 1st to graduate in August or May 1st to

graduate in December or qualify for reduced registration in the fall.

• For M.Sc. Geology and Geological Engineering students, completion of 36 hours of course

and research credit hours combined and paid for 27 credits (Paid credits = 1-9 credits per

semester. Credits 10-15 are charged the same as 9 credits and are therefore not considered paid

credits); A Degree Audit form must be submitted through Cheryl Medford to the Registrar by

either November 1st to graduate in May or qualify for reduced registration for the spring semester,

March 1st to graduate in August or May 1st to graduate in December or qualify for reduced

registration in the fall.

• For Ph.D. students, completion of 72 hours of course and research credit hours combined and

paid for 54 credits (Paid credits = 1-9 credits per semester. Credits 10-15 are charged the same as

9 credits and are therefore not considered paid credits). At least 24 of the hours must be research

credit hours and at least 36 must be course credit hours. Students who enter the PhD program

with a thesis-based Master’s degree may transfer up to 36 semester hours in recognition of the

course work and research completed for that degree (up to 24 of these semester hours can come

from previous graduate-level course work). A Degree Audit form must be submitted through

Cheryl Medford to the Registrar by either November 1st to graduate in May or qualify for reduced

registration for the spring, March lst to graduate in August or May 1st to graduate in December or

qualify for reduced registration in the fall; An Admission to Candidacy form must be submitted

through Cheryl Medford to the Registrar 2 weeks prior to census day of the semester in which

they want to apply to graduate and/or be considered eligible for reduced registration (or earlier).

Registration Requirements – Reduced Registration How to Qualify

Reduced registration allows students who have completed all the credits towards a degree, but still need

to continue to work on research to complete a thesis, to register part time, but maintain full time student

status.

• Students on reduced registration do not get reduced tuition

• Students on reduced registration pay for the number of credits registered

Reduced registration will benefit students in the following categories who need to be considered full-time

students:

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• International students

• Students on RA/TA contracts, hourly contracts or fellowships

• Students on financial aid or wishing to defer financial aid payments

To qualify students must:

• Be admitted into a Master’s thesis or PhD program

• Have submitted the required forms

• Meet credit hour requirements

MS THESIS STUDENTS (students must meet all requirements to qualify):

1. Submit Degree Audit form through Cheryl Medford to the Registrar (must have approved

committee form on file with OGS) and indicate on the form that they want to be on Reduced

Registration by:

• May 1 for fall semester reduced registration

• November 1 for spring semester reduced registration

2. Master’s students must have earned 36 hours of course and research credits combined and have

paid for 27 credits*. These credits may include any transfer credits a student is using towards the

degree.

PHD STUDENTS (students must meet all requirements to qualify):

1. Submit Degree Audit form through Cheryl Medford to the Registrar (must have approved

committee form on file with OGS) and indicate on the form that they want to be on Reduced

Registration by:

• May 1 for fall semester reduced registration

• November 1 for spring semester reduced registration

2. Submit Admission to Candidacy form through Cheryl Medford to the Registrar by the first day

of class for the semester in which the student wants to be on Reduced Registration. Students

must meet all institutional and departmental requirements for candidacy before the department will

sign this form.

3. Ph.D. students must have earned 72 hours of course and research credits combined and have

paid for 54 credits*. These credits may include any transfer credits a student is using towards the

degree.

*Paid credits are any credits 1-9 per semester. Credits 10-15 are considered free credits, because the student is not charged any additional tuition and fees. So, when counting paid credits you may only count a maximum of 9 credits per semester, even if the student took more than 9 credits.

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Reduced Registration Credit Calculator

Once a student qualifies for Reduced Registration, the student must register correctly. Students who

qualify for Reduced Registration, but fail to register correctly will not be put on Reduced Registration.

All students who qualify for Reduced Registration will receive an email with registration instructions. If a

student doesn’t get an email, but thinks (s)he should qualify, the student must contact the OGS at

mines.edu/graduate-studies/. Students who register for 4 credits, but are not eligible and or are not on

the reduced registration list will not be put on reduced registration and will be considered “less than

half-time” students.

Leave of Absence

Leave of absence will be granted only when unanticipated circumstances make it temporarily impossible

for students to continue to work toward a degree. Students may take up to 2, not necessarily consecutive

semesters of leave. Any request for a leave of absence must have the prior approval of the student’s

faculty advisor, the Department Head, and the Dean of Graduate Studies. The request for a leave of

absence must be applied for in writing and must include (1) the reasons why the student must interrupt his

or her studies and (2) a plan (including a timeline and deadline) for resuming and completing the work

toward the degree in a timely fashion. Thesis-based students may not do any work related to their thesis

and may not discuss their thesis with their faculty advisor while on a leave of absence. Students who

wish to return to graduate studies after an unauthorized leave of absence must apply for readmission and

pay a $200 readmission fee.

Grade Point Average

A cumulative GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 must be maintained. Failure to maintain a 3.0 GPA will result in

academic probation. Students failing to attain a 3.0 GPA by the end of a semester during which they are

on probation are subject to suspension. Credit will be given for a grade of “C”, however, a GPA of 3.0 or

higher must be maintained. Graduate credit will not be given for courses in which grades less than “C”

were received.

Transfer Credits

Transfer credits from other universities or credits from non-degree programs at CSM must be approved

by the student’s advisor and the Graduate Dean. Only courses in which a grade of “B” or better was

received may be considered for transfer. Transfer credits from other universities will not be used in

calculation of a student’s GPA. A maximum of 9 hours, which were not counted toward any other

awarded degree, can be transferred into a Master degree program. Students who enter the PhD

program with a thesis-based Master’s degree may transfer up to 36 semester hours in recognition

of the course work and research completed for that degree (up to 24 of these semester hours can

come from previous graduate-level course work). No more than 9 hours taken as a CSM non-degree

student can be transferred and no more than 3 of these units can be 400-level. The remainder must be

graduate level.

Progress Grades

A student may receive a grade of In Progress-Satisfactory or In Progress-Unsatisfactory (PRG or PRU)

for a course or research hours. An In Progress grade indicates that the work is not complete. Progress

towards successful completion of a graduate degree shall be deemed unsatisfactory if any of the following

conditions occur: failure to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or greater or receipt of an In

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Progress-Unsatisfactory for research hours. Upon the second occurrence of an unsatisfactory progress

indication, the Dean shall notify the student that he or she is subject to discretionary dismissal according

to the “Unsatisfactory Academic Performance” section listed in the Bulletin.

Incomplete Grades

If a graduate student fails to complete a course because of illness or other reasonable excuse, the student

receives a grade of Incomplete. The grade INC indicates deficiency in quantity of work and is temporary.

A graduate student must remove all incomplete grades or the Incomplete will become an F.

Deficiencies

Students with an insufficient background in a particular area of geology or related science will be notified

by their advisor at the time of their acceptance to the program. They will be required to take appropriate

courses to satisfy these deficiencies as approved by their advisor and maintain a B average in any

deficiency course. No graduate credit will be received for these courses. Any student receiving a “D” in

a deficiency course will be required to repeat the course. Deficiencies should be removed as soon as

possible after enrollment. Deficiency courses may be taken at a school other than CSM if approved by

the student’s advisor.

Research/Thesis Committees

Students pursuing degrees will be advised by their admitting Professor for their first semester in the

program. The M.Sc. student should choose a thesis committee by the end of their second semester and

the Ph.D. student should form their thesis committee by the end of their 2nd year of study. The students

should meet with faculty members who are interested in appropriate research topics. All thesis-based

students are required to have a thesis advisor and committee while non-thesis based students require a

research advisor only. A research advisor/thesis advisor and committee form is available online

(https://www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/forms/advisorthesis-committee/). On the thesis committee and

assignment request form you can use the drop downs to note what your program and degree are and type

in your name and the committee members’ names. The advisor and committee members must sign the

form (or pdf/ sign/ scanned copy or email approval of the form). The thesis committee form should be

submitted to Cheryl Medford or Dorie Chen who will obtain Department Head approval prior to

submittal,and then forward the submission to the Graduate School. An approved copy of the form will be

sent to the student.

The Research/Thesis Advisor

The purpose of a research advisor is to work with the student to decide the best courses to take to

enhance his/her/their knowledge and experience. The advisor will monitor progress of courses and

research/thesis work, assist with liasoning between the student and administration, advise in selection of

committee members and assist with liasoning between the student and their committee. . Meetings

between student and research advisor should be arranged as needed and should be no less than one per

semester. It is most important that the student and research advisor stay closely in touch to prevent any

miscommunication or misinterpretation of work to be done and progress to be made. It is up to the

student to schedule all meetings. The research advisor will oversee the student’s entire graduate program

including transfer of credits, elimination of deficiencies, course of study, and in the case of a thesis-based

program, thesis proposal, thesis research, and thesis defense.

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Thesis advisors must be members of the Department. Tenured or tenure-track faculty may advise

graduate students. Research faculty members may co-advise graduate students with a Department tenured

or tenure-track faculty member or may serve as a thesis advisor if they meet minimum requirements listed

below and have been approved by the Department Head. Research faculty members wishing to serve as

graduate advisors, as a minimum must have 1) served as co-advisor (through completion of degree) to at

least one thesis-based CSM graduate student, 2) a record of on-going relevant research, and 3) a full-time

presence in the Department. The Research faculty member may apply for advisor status with a

recommendation by the Department Head. All graduate committees are subject to approval by the

Department Head and the Dean of the Graduate School.

Research/Thesis Committee

The purpose of a student’s thesis committee is to provide knowledge and expertise that the student can

seek to enhance their research quality. The student will form their committee in consultation with their

primary advisor. After defining a short list of potential faculty, the student will contact the potential

committee members and explain their intended research through conversation, written explanation or

presentation materials. If the potential committee member agrees to the request, then the student will

place them on the Committee Form and get their signature of approval. Meetings between student and

their committee should be arranged as needed and should be no less than one per semester. It is most

important that the student and committee stay closely in touch to prevent any miscommunication or

misinterpretation of work to be done and progress to be made. It is up to the student to schedule all

meetings. The committee is to 1) advise on the student’s course curriculum to enhance the quality of their

research, 2) advise the student on the technical content of their thesis, 3) carry out doctoral candidate oral

and written exams, and 4) judge the quality of the students research in completing the requirements for

either the master’s degree or the doctoral degree.

A minimum of three faculty members constitute a M.Sc. committee; two members must be full time

faculty from the home department. At least one member of the committee must be a tenured or tenure-

track CSM faculty and will serve as the “committee chair” (do not need to specify on form). Additional

members, such as non-CSM personnel, may be included on the committee. Off-campus members have

the option of voting or non-voting (ex officio) status. Voting members have all responsibilities of

academic members, including advising on technical matters, reading and critiquing the thesis, attending

committee meetings, the qualifying examination, and the defense of dissertation. A brief resume (no less

than a single page) for off-campus committee members who hold voting status on the committee is

required and must be attached to the initial thesis committee form. Faculty and others outside the

Department may serve as co-advisors. In the use of a co-advisor from outside the Department, the

required number of committee members is increased by one. The Department Head and the Graduate

Dean must approve any co-advisor from outside of the Department, and the in-department primary co-

advisor will ensure committee members are aware of the qualifications of an co-advisor from outside of

the Department.

For a Ph.D. dissertation committee, there must be a minimum of four full time faculty members; at least

two members from the home or allied departments, and at least one (tenured/tenure-track) member

outside the home or allied department recommended by the student and advisor(s). Individual

committees can be established with more than four members. A majority of the voting members of the

committee must be tenured or tenure-track CSM faculty members. The required committee chair is the

fourth member. Additional members, such as non-CSM personnel, may be included on the committee.

Off-campus members have the option of voting or non-voting (ex officio) status. Voting members have

all responsibilities of academic members, including advising on technical matters, reading and critiquing

the dissertation, attending committee meetings, the qualifying examination, and the defense of

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dissertation. A brief resume for off-campus committee members who hold voting status on the committee

is required and must be attached to the initial thesis committee form. Faculty and others outside the

Department may serve as co-advisors. In the use of a co-advisor from outside the Department, the

required number of committee members is increased by one. The Department Head and the Graduate

Dean must approve any co-advisor from outside of the Department, and the in-department primary co-

advisor will ensure committee members are aware of the qualifications of an co-advisor from outside of

the Department.

Students have the right to change both their Advisor and/or their Committee makeup during the course of

their program. Forms for such changes can be found at xxxxx and will need to be approved by the

Department Head. The Department Head may seek additional information to inform her/his/their

decision.

Qualifying Examinations

Ph.D. students must pass qualifying examinations by the end of the second year of their programs.

This timing may be adjusted for part-time students. The examination will be administered by the

student’s doctoral committee and will consist of an oral and a written examination administered in a

format to be determined by the student’s doctoral committee. Outcomes of this process are as follows 1)

Unconditional Pass, 2) Unconditional Fail. Two negative votes by the doctoral committee constitute

failure of the examination. 3) Conditional Pass with conditions set by the Committee and approved by the

Department Head and the Graduate Dean.

In case of Unconditional Failure of the qualifying examination, a re-examination may be given upon the

recommendation of the doctoral committee and approval of the Graduate Dean. Only one re-examination

may be given.

A student who fails their qualifying exams have the right to contest their committee’s decision. Students

should contact the Office of the Dean of Graduate Students for details regarding this process.

Degree Audit and Admission to Candidacy

Forms:

All Masters (including non-thesis) and PhD students are required to submit a Degree Audit form for a

degree plan. The Admission to Candidacy form confirms that a PhD candidate has completed the PhD

qualifying process and is admitted into candidacy.

To be eligible to apply to graduate in Trailhead and be eligible for reduced registration:

• Master’s students:

o Need to submit the Degree Audit form by the posted deadline (see below)

• PhD students:

o Need to submit the Degree Audit form by the posted deadline (below)

AND

o Need to submit the Admission to Candidacy form 2 weeks prior to census day of the

semester in which they want to be considered eligible for reduced registration (or earlier).

Degree Audit form deadlines are:

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• November 1st to graduate in May

• April 15th to graduate in August

• May 1st to graduate in December.

These deadlines are the same that OGS requires to complete the Admission to Candidacy form.

Prior to submitting a Degree Audit and/ or Admission to Candidacy form there must be a thesis

committee on record with the Grad Office and Department. All degree thesis candidates must submit a

Degree Audit by completing all prerequisites and core curriculum course requirements. For thesis-based

students, the form must be submitted within the first calendar year after enrolling in the Master degree

program and within the first two calendar years in the Ph.D. program. Admission to Candidacy must be

granted before the student is permitted to defend his/her Ph.D. thesis. In order to meet graduation

deadlines, the form must be submitted by the dates listed on the OGS webpage.

The Degree Audit application must be reviewed and approved by the committee research advisor and

should contain a complete list of courses (completed, in progress, and proposed) being used toward the

degree. This list will include transfer courses and 400 level courses (if applicable) along with 500/600

level courses used to satisfy requirements for the degree. Upon approval by the Department Head, the

form is submitted to the Registrar for agreement. Any changes in the course program listed on the Degree

Audit form must be re-approved by the thesis committee or research advisor. The advisor and committee

members must sign the form. The Degree Audit should be submitted to Cheryl Medford or Dorie Chen

who will obtain Department Head approval before they will foward to the Graduate School. An approved

copy of the form will be sent to the student.

Non-Thesis Procedures

When the non-thesis degree student applies to graduate in Trailhead, OGS will enroll students in a

CANVAS Checkout Course. Students must complete the following: accept course invitation and

complete 100% of the course by 5pm on the Check-out Course Completion Deadline listed on the OGS

webpage.

Teaching Assistants

Procedures for TAs to request planned absences from their TA duties and request for reporting

emergency absences:

Teaching assistants in GGE who wish to request a planned absence from their TA assignment should

follow the procedure below. We emphasize that this procedure applies to planned absences where the TA

has a conflict due to a class, field trip, or other education-related need. A request for communication for

an absence due to an emergency is outlined below as well.

Preamble: A teaching assistantship (TA) is a contractual obligation, and with the job comes

responsibilities for professional behavior. Among these is the need for the TA to request permission for a

planned absence.

TAs will follow the following procedure for a planned absence:

1. It is the responsibility of the TA to seek the permission of their instructor for any planned

absence. Ideally this permission should be sought as soon as possible, once the time conflict is

identified, but at least a week’s notice is required for a planned absence.

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2. If the instructor agrees to the absence, it is the responsibility of the TA to find a suitable

replacement for their assigned responsibilities. This includes all responsibilities—e.g., laboratory

preparation, in-class/lab hours, field trips, grading, and any other responsibilities the TA has.

3. Once a replacement is identified, the TA will inform their instructor of the name of their

replacement.

4. It also the responsibility of the TA to prepare their replacement. All lab assignments, grading

rubrics, laboratory materials, equipment preparation, etc. must be provided by the TA to their

replacement.

5. If a suitable replacement cannot be found, the TA will work with the instructor to find a mutually

agreeable solution to facilitate their absence.

6. If the instructor does not agree, then the TA should consider that preference. If agreement

between the instructor and TA cannot be reached about the planned absence, then the instructor,

the TA, or both are invited to discuss the situation with the department head or designee.

In case of illness or other emergency, we request TAs provide one of the following communications:

Preamble: We recognize emergencies arise, and we understand timely communication may not always be

possible.

However, if possible,

1. In the case of illness or other emergency, the Geology and Geological Engineering Department

asks that, as soon as possible, the TA inform the instructor of their inability to meet their TA

responsibilities.

2. If this is not possible, as soon as possible, we request that the TA ask someone else to inform

their instructor of their inability to meet their TA responsibilities.

Recommendations for GGE Students to Resolve (Non-Title IX) Conflict:

If a challenge arises between you and your mentor (or anyone else in a professional situation)

• If you are comfortable doing so, we encourage you to discuss the challenge directly with that

individual.

• Schedule a time to meet (zoom) and write out notes so that you can express yourself clearly about

your concerns.

• Have some goals in mind to address the challenge.

• When discussing the challenge(s), try to avoid emphatic statements that include “always” or

“never” or “you did not…”

• Try to avoid assigning blame.

• Work to find a positive way forward, where both parties learn about how to better communicate,

interact, etc.

• Be clear about what is not working, but also highlight some positive aspects of the situation.

• If possible, agree on a list of outcomes from your discussion.

• Follow up with an email, listing the outcomes/resolution so that both parties have a clear idea of

what happened during the meeting.

• If a resolution can be reached, excellent!

• Continue to follow through and evaluate how this new plan is going.

If a resolution cannot be reached, then

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• You are invited to bring the challenge forward to the department head (DH). If there is conflict

of interest with the DH, the student is invited to talk with the Associate Department Head (ADH).

• In any case where the issue is brought to the DH, the DH and the individual will work together to

identify the challenge, talk about a solution that is agreeable, and then the DH will talk with the

other party.

• The resolution to the challenge partly depends on the nature of the challenge. Each discussion

will be handled with respect, will be taken seriously, and to the extent allowed, will be treated

confidentially.

• All possible steps will be taken to ensure confidentiality, except when …confidentiality is not

possible.

• The DH will work through the confidentiality requirements with the individual so that person

knows what each step of the process will entail. Unless the situation requires mandatory

reporting, the DH and individual will jointly decide whether to move forward (i.e., to another

group or individual on campus) or not.

• If mandatory reporting is required, then additional Mines personnel will become involved,

depending on the nature of the issue (e.g., Human Resources).

• If a resolution to the conflict is not achieved by working with the DH or ADH, the student is

encouraged to talk with the Graduate Dean.

Thesis and Dissertation Procedures

Each candidate for the thesis-based M.Sc. or Ph.D. degree will be required to write a thesis acceptable to

the committee and Department. The thesis must show original research of excellent quality in a suitable

technical field and must exhibit satisfactory literary merit. The subject of the thesis is selected by mutual

agreement between the candidate and the advisor and/or co-advisor, if applicable. Any major change in

the scope of the research requires the approval from the thesis committee. It is the responsibility of the

advisor or co-advisor to supervise the research and to consult with other members of the thesis committee

on the progress of the work. During the final semester of the program, each candidate must pass an oral

defense of the thesis that may cover course work as well as the thesis topic. Format instructions are

available in the Graduate Office and should be obtained before beginning to write the thesis.

Proposal

A thesis or dissertation proposal is required of all candidates for the purpose of (1) defining the scope of

the proposed research and (2) to permit the thesis committee to determine the suitability of the research

for a graduate thesis. The proposal should be approved by the thesis committee prior to the start of

significant work on the project.

The proposal should stress the original research involved and follow the general outline listed below:

1. Title

2. Objectives and purpose

3. Thesis area location

4. Scope of research

5. Previous research of record

6. Description of proposed research

7. Schedule for completion of proposed research

8. Budget and funding source

9. Course schedule (including deficiencies, qualifying exam courses, and completed

courses)

10. Written release for public disclosure of results (when outside funding is involved).

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Actual proposals vary greatly and students should work with their advisor to produce a proposal suitable

to the Advisor and Committee. An outline for the thesis proposal should first be submitted to the thesis

advisor for approval prior to writing and formal submission of the proposal itself. The proposal should be

written in a concise format. The thesis committee will review the proposal and may suggest changes.

The student will meet with the committee and discuss the proposal, then gaining final approval for the

research to move forward. Each Committee member will send an email to Cheryl Medford stating their

approval of the proposal. After committee approval, a copy must be placed in the student’s file.

Budget

Thesis/dissertation research (travel, living expenses, analysis, thin sections, etc.) costs can be significant.

It is the responsibility of the student to develop a budget and plan for financial support prior to committee

approval of the proposal. Individual faculty members or the Department may, in some cases, be able to

provide assistance in securing support.

Proprietary Research

Under special circumstances, the School may enter into an agreement with a sponsor to include

proprietary information in a graduate student’s thesis or dissertation. The nature and extent of proprietary

information reported in the thesis or dissertation must be agreed upon in writing by the sponsor, principal

investigator, student, and Dean of Graduate Studies. The thesis defense will remain open to the public.

Denial of public access to the written thesis will be limited to a maximum of twelve months from the date

of submittal of the Thesis Defense form to the Dean of Graduate Studies, unless a longer period is agreed

upon by all parties..

Manuscript Preparation

An “ideal” sequence for draft preparation and review is as follows. The student, in conjunction with the

advisor, prepares an initial outline of the thesis. This outline is developed into a draft following the

Graduate Studies thesis writer’s guide (including all figures, tables, and plates), which is submitted to the

thesis advisor and/or co-advisor, if applicable, for the first review. Students must follow the Step by Step

Thesis Guide procedures at the Graduate School website. After the first draft has been returned to the

student, a second draft is prepared which incorporates the revisions, corrections, and suggestions made on

the draft. Upon approval of a defensible draft, the student may schedule a defense. Copies of the thesis

should be submitted to committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense. Further revisions

may be required as a result of the defense. After, the student must follow any edits and formatting needed

for final approval by the Graduate Studies Office.

Authorship Guidelines for Mines Adopted June 3, 2021, with gratitude to Harvard Medical School for permission to adapt their similar

guidelines.

Introduction

Authorship is an explicit way of assigning responsibility and giving credit for intellectual work. The two

are linked. Authorship practices should be judged by how accurately they reflect actual contributions to a

manuscript. Authorship is important to the career development, reputation, academic promotion, and

grant support of the people involved as well as to the strength and reputation of the institution.

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Most disciplines have established standards for authorship. As interdisciplinary efforts and research teams

with highly specialized roles grow, however, these standards become less well-defined making both the

constitution of the authors and the order in which they are listed more complicated.

In practice, many authorship practices fall short of reasonable standards. For example, junior investigators

may believe that including senior colleagues as co-authors will improve the credibility of their work and

its chances of publication, even if those colleagues made no substantial intellectual contributions to the

work. Likewise, they may want to honor the mentorship of their senior colleagues, who hold substantial

influence over their employment, research opportunities, and recommendations for jobs and promotion.

Senior researchers may inappropriately relegate junior faculty, postdoctoral scholars or students to the

acknowledgements when they merit co-authorship. Senior investigators may have developed their views

of authorship at a time or in a place where their mentors were listed as authors because of their logistic,

financial, and administrative support alone. Authorship may not be warranted in these situations.

Disputes sometimes arise about who should be listed as authors of an intellectual product and the order in

which they should be listed. When disagreements over authorship arise, they can take a substantial toll on

the good will, effectiveness, and reputation of the researchers involved and their academic community.

Many such disagreements result from misunderstanding and failed communication among colleagues and

might have been prevented by a clear, early understanding of standards for authorship that are shared by

the research team as a whole.

Authorship issues in universities usually concern published reports of original, scientific research.

However, the same principles apply to all intellectual products, whether published, included in a thesis or

dissertation, or prepared for local use. The principles apply regardless of whether for the purpose is the

dissemination of new discoveries and ideas, review and synthesis of existing knowledge, or for

educational programs.

Mines has endorsed the following guidelines. Although authorship practices differ from one setting to

another, and individual situations often require discussions among members of the research team,

variations in practices should be within these basic guidelines.

Authorship

1. Everyone who is listed as an author should have made a substantial, direct, intellectual contribution to

the work. For example, in the case of a research report, they should have contributed substantially to the

conception, design, analysis and/or interpretation of the data presented in the report. Honorary or guest

authorship is not acceptable. Authorship is not always appropriate for technical specialists who have

provided or analyzed data, samples, figures, etc. While acquisition of funding and provision of technical

services or materials may be essential to the work, these roles are not in themselves sufficient intellectual

contributions to justify authorship of the final product.

2. Everyone who has made substantial, direct, intellectual contributions to the work should be included as

an author. Everyone who has made other important contributions should be mentioned in the

Acknowledgements section of the publication.

3. One author should take primary responsibility for the work as a whole even if he or she does not have

an in-depth understanding of every aspect of the work.

4. All authors should participate in writing the manuscript by contributing sections of the text and/or

reviewing drafts and approving the final version.

5. A good practice is for the primary author to ensure that all other authors meet these basic standards for

authorship and to prepare a concise, written description of their contributions. To be most effective, this

record should be approved by all authors and maintained by the sponsoring department at Mines. Many

24

scientific journals currently require such summaries of author contributions, and some journals include

these in the final published paper.

6. These authorship guidelines apply to theses and dissertations prepared by graduate students at Mines,

which may include multi-authored chapters that have been accepted or published in journals with the

student as primary author. As stated in Mines’ guidelines for thesis preparation, the student must obtain

written permission to include these publications in his/her thesis from any co-authors who are not

members of the student’s academic committee.

Order of Authorship

Many different ways of determining order of authorship exist across disciplines, research groups, and

countries. Examples of authorship policies include (a) descending order of contribution, (b) placing the

person who took the lead in writing the manuscript or doing the research first and the most experienced

contributor/program lead last, and (c) alphabetical order. While the significance of a particular order may

be understood in a given discipline, order of authorship has no generally agreed-upon meaning.

As a result, it is not possible to interpret from order of authorship the respective contributions of

individual authors. Promotion committees, granting agencies, readers, and others who seek to understand

how individual authors have contributed to the work should not read into order of authorship their own

meaning, which may not be shared by the authors themselves. In summary, it is good practice:

1. For the authors to decide the order of authorship together.

2. For the primary author to include a concise, written description of how order of authorship was decided

in the written description mentioned in (5) above.

Implementation

1. Research teams should discuss authorship issues early and frankly in the course of their work together.

2. Disputes over authorship are best settled by the authors themselves. If the authors cannot come to a

resolution, a formal complaint may be filed, bringing the matter to the attention of the Vice President for

Research and Technology Transfer (see Mines Policy in the Faculty Handbook, below).

3. Academic departments, educational programs, and other organizations sponsoring scholarly work

should post, and also include in their procedure manuals, both these guidelines and a description of their

own customary ways of deciding who should be an author and the order in which they are listed. They

should include authorship policies in their orientation of new members.

4. Expectations and guidelines for authorship is a component of the responsible conduct of research

course that is required for all researchers at Mines.

5. These policies should be reviewed periodically because both scientific investigation and authorship

practices tend to change over time.

References

Policy for Research Integrity, Faculty Handbook (under revision), https://www.mines.edu/policy-

library/wp-content/uploads/sites/87/2021/04/Section-10.3.1-10.3.3-clean-Policy-for-Research-

Integrity.pdf

Procedure for Research Integrity and Resolving Complaints of Research Misconduct, Faculty Handbook

(under revision), https://www.mines.edu/policy-library/wp-content/uploads/sites/87/2021/04/Section-

10.3.4-10.3.6-clean-Procedures-for-Research-Integrity.pdf

Thesis and Dissertation Defense

The defense must be open to the public and should occur at least one week after public notification of the

scheduled defense date. Following the satisfactory defense of the thesis, the student will complete any

revisions specified by the thesis committee and, after approval by the advisor, submit the form to Cheryl

25

Medford or Dorie Chen who will obtain Department Head approval before they will forward the final

copy to the Graduate Office for formatting approval. See Grad School Guidelines.

Two negative votes from the thesis committee constitute failure of the oral defense regardless of the

number of committee members present at the defense. At the discretion of the thesis committee, a second

oral defense of dissertation may be scheduled. A second failure to defend the dissertation satisfactorily

constitutes automatic, irrevocable termination of the graduate program. In either case of pass or fail,

members voting in the negative may file a report on why they voted to fail. In the case of failure, the

Chair of the Thesis Committee will prepare a written statement indicating the reasons for failure of the

defense and will provide copies to the student, Thesis Committee, the Department Head, and the Graduate

Dean. The Dean of Graduate Studies shall be notified promptly of any situation that may subject a student

to mandatory dismissal. In this event, the Dean shall notify the student of his or her dismissal and inform

the student of his or her right to appeal the dismissal. To appeal a dismissal the student should complete

the Dismissal Appeal Form found under the office of graduate studies form site (mines.edu/graduate-

studies/forms/), attaching documentation of extenuating circumstances and submit the form and

documentation within 10 business days of receiving dismissal letter from OGS.

Graduation Checklists & Deadlines for all Programs

Please view the current deadlines calendar located on the OGS website (also see the Master’s Non-

thesis, Master’s Thesis and Ph.D. Calendar deadlines in the Appendix)

• Students must complete the following steps by the stated deadlines in order to defend their thesis

and graduate at the end of a semester. The defense is scheduled via the Thesis Defense Request

form (form obtained from the OGS website = https://www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/forms/)

and signed by all committee members showing their approval to meet at the agreed upon time and

date. Submit the completed form to Cheryl Medford, at least one week in advance of the thesis

defense date. She will assign a room for the defense (or set up a Zoom meeting) and will send

announcements of the defense to committee members, the student, and post the notice on the

lecture board and departmental calendar. When the student applies to graduate in Trailhead, OGS

will enroll students in a CANVAS Checkout Course. Students must complete the following:

accept course invitation and complete Module #1 prior to thesis defense to obtain Thesis Defense

Form to take to the defense. Students must complete 100% of the course by 5pm on the Upload

and Check-out Course Completion Formatting Approval Deadlines.

Degree Level Change and Program Change

Students wanting to change a degree level must do the following: Submit the Degree Level Change Request form. This form is only for students changing degree levels in

the same major, master’s changing their major, or PhD students changing to a master’s in either the same

major or a related one.

If you are currently enrolled in master’s degree or certificate program and wish to add/enroll in a PhD

degree, then you must apply online.

Do not use this form if you are currently enrolled in PhD and wish to add a master’s degree or a

certificate program, submit a master’s along the way or certificate along the way. Note: You may also

need to submit a new Degree Audit Form for new degree level or new major if one was already submitted

prior to making change.

Important: If changing majors for a master’s degree, you must attach a “What-If” Degree Works

degree evaluation for the new MS degree title.

26

Note: All students submitting this form may also need to submit a new Degree Audit Form if one was

already submitted prior to making the change in degree level

PhD students wanting to add a master’s degree with the exact same degree title (PhD in Geological

Engineering adding an MS in Geological Engineering) must:

• Submit a Master’s Along the Way form

Students wanting to add degree programs must do the following: Submit a new application online for the new degree program for the following conditions:

• If currently in PhD degree program and adding any Master’s degree program with a different degree

title

• If currently in any Master’s degree program and adding a PhD degree program

Consult the new degree program/department to determine which components of the application they will

require.

A student who has started a Master of Science program may request permission to convert to a Doctoral

program without obtaining the Master degree, provided all requirements for the Master degree, except the

completion of the thesis, have been completed. International students are advised to complete a Master

degree prior to applying for the Ph.D. program. The procedure to be followed is outlined below:

• After completing the equivalent of at least one summer working on the Master of Science research

project, the student should confer with the thesis committee and obtain permission to initiate an

application for conversion to the Ph.D. program. Approval by the committee at this time is only

approval to initiate the application and does not constitute Departmental approval of the conversion.

• If the committee approves initiation, the student should then prepare a report, substantiated with

appropriate illustrations, explaining the results of research accomplishment to that date.

• A separate written proposal defining the purpose and scope of the proposed doctoral program should

be prepared and submitted together with the above report. This proposal should include a

justification for the conversion of the initial Master program to a Doctoral program and specify the

scope and nature of the proposed research for the doctoral dissertation (i.e., what has changed in the

original research program to qualify for a dissertation?).

• The committee will then arrange a meeting time for presentation and defense of the proposal. The

examining committee will consist of the student’s M.Sc. committee. Upon written committee

approval of the proposal, the student will then be allowed to submit an application through the on-line

application system. Letters of recommendation, transcripts, GREs and statements of goals will not be

required of the applicant. The application will be processed according to procedure. Once admitted

into the PhD program, students who will not complete the MS degree will be required to submit a

Withdrawal from a Program form to the OGS.

Completion of M.Sc. Program and Admission to Ph.D. Program

A student who completes a Master degree program is not automatically allowed to continue in a Doctoral

program. A student wishing to continue for a Ph.D. will complete an on-line application through the

school application system. If a student is admitted before all Master degree work is completed, all Master

degree requirements must be satisfied before the start of the Ph.D. program.

Checkout Process

27

Prior to checkout, every student needs to:

• Submit an Advisor/Committee form to the OGS. This is only required for thesis based students.

Master’s non-thesis only need to submit a Master’s Non-Thesis Advisor Change / Minor Rep

form if changing advisors or if adding a Minor Representative.

• Submit a Degree Audit form to the Registrar

• PhD Candidates need to: Submit an Admission to Candidacy form to the Registrar

• Apply to Graduate in Trailhead

Once these steps are completed, then:

• After applying to graduate in Trailhead, OGS will enroll students in a CANVAS Checkout

Course. Students must: accept course invitation and complete Module #1 prior to defense to

obtain Thesis Defense Form to take to the Defense. The student must complete 100% of the

course by 5 pm on Upload and Check-out Course Completion and Formatting Approval

deadlines.

• Verify your Diploma Mailing Address on Trailhead.

• Verify your Personal Email address on Trailhead. The graduation photographer will communicate

with you via your personal email address.

• Upload your Thesis/Dissertation into ProQuest and obtain format approval from OGS (MS thesis

and Ph.D. students only)

Checkout with the OGS by the Deadline (required - ALL graduating students).

Departmental Checkout:

When all is complete and students have uploaded their thesis, etc., and are ready to leave campus, at the

very end, students must submit to Cheryl Medford the department exit form (regarding keys, personal

email, etc.).

After checkout, make sure to:

• Settle accounts with the Cashier's Office.

• Return your keys to the Key Shop. Holds will be placed on student accounts until keys are

returned.

• If you would like to pick up a free package of announcements or if you need to order more

announcements, contact the bookstore.

• Pickup commencement tickets for guests. Tickets will be available a few weeks prior to

commencement from the OGS. Entrance to the graduation ceremony will be by ticket only.

• Complete the Graduate Student Exit Questionnaire. This will be emailed to each graduating

student at the end of the semester.

• Update your info to receive Mines alumni communications.

• Fill out a survey for the Career Center.

APPENDIX

FORMS AND EXAMPLES FOLLOW. FOR

THE MOST RECENT FORMS, PLEASE

ALWAYS GO TO THE MINES.EDU WEBSITE

(FORMS SHOWN ARE EXAMPLES THAT

ARE UPDATED PERIODICALLY).

Mines Administrative Processing Services (MAPS) website

Preferred Travel and Car Rental Agencies

Department

Checkout – Please submit to Dorie or Cheryl

Graduate Studies forms – Please go to the Graduate Studies website

(https://www.mines.edu/graduate-studies/) for the most current forms as they are revised and

upgraded periodically:

Step-by-Step Guide

Advisor/ Thesis Committee Requirements

Thesis Defense Request Form

Transfer Credit Limits

Laboratories and Equipment

Analytical Equipment List

General Laboratory and Workshop Safety

MINES ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING SERVICES (MAPS) WEBSITE

Preferred Travel and Car Rental Agencies Updated 01.29.20

If you have any questions please call the MAPS office at (303)273-3166.

Travel Agency

Frosch Travel 970-223-0442 $23 Fee for phone/email reservations

3538 JFK Pkwy 970-206-9697 (Fax) $9 fee for online reservations

Fort Collins, CO 80525

After Hours Toll Free 866-376-7241

Contact Frosch to request setup for online travel access.

https://client.frosch.com

*$250,000 accidental death and dismemberment insurance is included for the airline flight when booked through the preferred travel agency.

**You must provide Frosch with the Index and Account Number that the travel should be charged to, as well as the traveler's CWID. If the traveler is a non-employee, then the CWID of the Mines employee who booked the trip should be provided.

Contract #

XZ12442

XZ12442

65729

Car Rental Agencies

Agency

Enterprise

National

Hertz

Phone

800-593-0505

877-222-9058

800-654-3131

Website

www.enterprise.com

www.nationalcar.com

www.hertz.com

*To ensure that you have coverage under the school’s liability policy while you are in the courseand scope of your employment, you must use one of these agencies, rent a vehicle covered underthe associated contract number, AND pay for the rental using a Mines One Card.

Please remember to take the additional insurance if you are booking a rental car internationally.

On the following pages you will find step by step instructions for booking with each rental car company. These instructions include screen-shots to ensure the contract codes are correctly applied.

Enterprise Car Rental Instructions

1. Enter our contract number above. 2. The number will automatically update

to the Contract name as shown above.

3. Make sure you see the Account Number added on the top banner when you are selecting your vehicle.

4. You should see insurance already included as part of package. Do not add any additional coverage for Domestic Rentals.

5. Your summary page should reference the CO School of Mines Contract as well as the insurance being included, make sure you see these items before confirming your reservation.

National Car Rental Instructions

1. Enter our contract numberin the account number box as shown to the right.

2. Make sure you see the Account referenced on the bottom left corner of the screen when you are selecting your vehicle.

3. You should see insurance already included as part of package. Do not add any additional coverage for Domestic Rentals.

4. Your summary page should reference the CO School of Mines Contract as well as the insurance being included, make sure you see these items before confirming your reservation.

Hertz Car Rental Instructions

1. Click on the discount code box as highlighted by the arrow above.

2. Once you click in the discount code box a pop up window will appear. Put our contract number in the first box and then click apply (see above).

3. Once you apply the contract code another box will pop up prompting you to confirm you are using the CO School of Mines Contract for Business Travel. Make sure you confirm you want to use our contracted rates after selecting Business Travel.

4. Make sure you see the Account referenced above the vehicles in the middle of the screen when you are selecting your car.

5. You should see insurance already included as part of package. Do not add any additional coverage for Domestic Rentals.

6. Your summary page should reference the CO School of Mines Contract as well as the insurance being included, make sure you see these items before confirming your reservation.

DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERINGColorado School of Mines

Checkout Information- Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Name: ______________________________________________________________________

Degree: ______________________________________________________________________

Advisor : ____________________ Date of Graduation: ____________________

Email : ________________________________________ Phone : ____________________

(not your @mymail.mines.edu email)

Address after CSM (if unknown at this time, contact the department when known):

Permanent address (relative, etc): Same as above

Field of interest: _____________________________________________________________________

Company: Employment date : Starting Salary :

Company location: ____________________________________________________________________

Graduate study: Institution: Location:(if continuing education after CSM) (City and State)

Mailbox/ Rocks/ research materials removed (if applicable): Yes

Office Number (if applicable) :

Office Cleaned and all keys returned to key shop (if applicable):

(lock shop has an after-hours box for returning keys)

All other equipment/materials returned (if applicable):

One cards returned (if applicable):

Date cleared through GE office (GE office use only):

___

___ No___

___ Yes ___ No

___ Yes ___ No

___ Yes ___ No

___

GRADUATE STUDIES WEBSITE

Step-by-Step Guide for Current Graduate Students

Order of Action Required When Master's - Non-Thesis Master's - Thesis Doctor of Philosophy

Advisor-Committee Request Form Submitted by 2nd semester of graduate

school Only if changing advisors

Degree Audit and Admission

to Candidacy Form (PhDs only)

No later than semester prior to applying

for graduation (fall graduation deadline is

no later than May 1, spring graduation

deadline is no later than November 1)

Graduation Application Census Day of the intended graduation

semester - see Academic Calendar for

census dates

Registration Requirements-During the Semester of

Defense/Graduation

Students must be registered for at least 1credit hour if: Using any campus resources

(including working with an advisor);Defending a thesis; Graduating.

Thesis & Submittal Page Uploaded in ProQuest

Submit by format approval deadline - See

Graduate School Deadlines

Checkout Form & Statement of

Work Completion

Submit to Grad Office by due date – see

Graduate School Deadlines. Checkout form

emailed to student after Applying to

Graduate in Trailhead

Commencement Practice Required only if attending Commencement

Ceremony

Commencement Ceremony Commencement Dates

December, Second Friday May, Second Thursday

PhD Hooding Ceremony It is mandatory that Doctoral Candidates

attend both the Commencement

Ceremony and PhD Hooding

Committee Role Req/Opt CSM faculty status Department

Advisor Required Graduate faculty Home Department

Minor Representative Optional Graduate faculty Minor Department

Committee Role Req/Opt CSM faculty status DepartmentAdvisor(1st member)

Required Graduate faculty Home Dept

Committee Member (2nd member)

Required Graduate faculty Home Dept

Committee Member (3rd member)

Required Graduate faculty, teaching faculty, research faculty, affiliate/adjunct faculty or off campusHome Department or familiar w/area of study

Co-Advisor(additional member)

OptionalGraduate faculty, teaching faculty, research faculty, affiliate/adjunct faculty or off campusCan't be advisor, minor rep or 1 of the 3 required committee members

Familiar with area of study

Minor Representative (additional member)

OptionalGraduate facultyCan't be advisor, co-advisor or 1 of the 3 required committee members

Minor Department

Committee Role Req/Opt CSM faculty status DepartmentAdvisor(1st member)

Required Graduate facultyHome Department or familiar w/area of study

Committee Member (2nd member)

Required Graduate facultyHome Department or familiar w/area of study

Committee Member (3rd member)

Required Graduate facultyHome Department or familiar w/area of study

Committee Chair(4th member)

Required Graduate facultyOutside: Home Dept, Minor Dept, Major and Minor

Co-Advisor(additional member)

OptionalGraduate faculty, teaching faculty, research faculty, affiliate/adjunct/emeritus faculty or off campus Can't be advisor, minor rep or 1 of the 4 required committee members

Familiar with area of study

Minor Representative (additional member)

OptionalGraduate facultyCan't be advisor, co-advisor or 1 of the 4 required committee members.Minor rep cannot be in the same department as the committee chair

Minor Department

PHD Requirements (minimum of 4 members) All 4 required members must be CSM graduate faculty

Advisor/Thesis Committee RequirementsSubmit a brief resume for any off campus member

Master's (non-thesis) Requirements

MS (thesis) Requirements (minimum of 3 members) Two members must be CSM graduate faculty from the home department

Master's committee chair does not need to be specified on the form, but the committee chair must be graduate faculty & cannot be the advisor, co-advisor or minor rep (if applicable).

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINESOFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Thesis Defense Request Form

• Student is responsible for submitting this form to the department/division a minimum of oneweek prior to the defense date.

• Student must submit final version of thesis to Committee members as specified by the programor if not specified no less than one week prior to the defense date.

• Admission to Candidacy must be approved prior to the thesis defense.• Student must be registered at the time of defense.

Student Name: Date:

CWID:

I wish to schedule my thesis defense as follows:

Date: Time: Bldg/Rm:

Degree Title:

ME MS PhD

Thesis Title:

All committee members have been contacted and their initials below signify their willingness to participate in this thesis defense. In addition, the department, division or program head has been informed and acknowledges that in scheduling this defense the candidate has met any departmental, divisional or programmatic requirements related to the scheduling of a thesis/dissertation defense. Please print name, initial and include your department.

____________________________________ ____________Advisor Date____________________________________ ____________Advisor Date____________________________________ ____________Chairman Date____________________________________ ____________Committee Member Date____________________________________ ____________Committee Member Date____________________________________ ____________Committee Member Date____________________________________ ____________Committee Member Date____________________________________ ____________Department/Division/Program Head Date

DegreeCredits Required for

Degree Program

Maximum Allowable Double

Count Credits

Maximum Allowable Transfer

Credits

Combined Student BS/Master's (All majors other than

Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and

Engineering and Technology Management)30 0 9

Combined Student BS/Master's (Electrical Engineering

(500-level or above) or Engineering Technology

Management or Computer Science (***400-level or

above)

30 6 9

Combined Student

BS/Master's (Non-Thesis)36 or 38 6 15

Combined Student BS/Master's (Thesis) 36 or 38 6 9Combined Student BS/PhD 72 - 90 6 24*Master's Degree (Thesis & Non-Thesis) 30 0 9Master's Degree (Non-Thesis) 36 - 38 0 15Master's Degree (Thesis) 36 - 38 0 9PhD Degree

-transferring a Thesis based Master's degree from any

university other than CSM72 - 90 0 36*

PhD Degree

- transferring a Non-Thesis based Master's degree

from any university other than CSM -or- transferring

graduate level courses from any university other than

CSM

72 - 90 0 24*

MINORS Credits Required for MinorMaximum Allowable Double Count

Credits

Maximum Allowable Transfer Credits for

Minor

Minor with a Master's Degree 9 see above 4

Minor with PhD Degree 12 see above 5

***No more than 9 credit hours of 400-level may be applied toward a degree, includes major and minor.

DOUBLE COUNT and TRANSFER CREDITSSubject to Advisor/Committee Approval

* PhD's - transfer credits are not cumulative, maximum allowed is either 24 if non-thesis or 36 if thesis (cannot transfer 2 master's degrees).

Transfer limits above apply to the maximum allowable number of transfer credits to be used towards a degree & a minor combined.

Students who wish to transfer credit towards a minor are limited to:

Transfer credits limits are in semester hours. Students tranferring any credit other than semester hours (ie. quarter hours, ECT (European Hours), etc) will have the hours

adjusted accordingly. For example, 3 quarter hours =2 semester hours and 4 ECT hours = 2 semester hours.

Effective Fall 2018 - Courses to be Double Counted must have a grade of B- or better

LABORATORIES AND EQUIPMENT

Department of Geology and Geological Engineering Analytical Equipment List

Questions concerning department equipment can be directed to the person listed below who supervises the laboratory.

Field pH Meters

Room: 301 Contact: Rick Sarg

For the measurement of pH of water in the field.

Magnetic Separator

Room: 147E Contact: Yvette Kuiper

For the separation of magnetically sensitive grains of a ground up rock sample by use of a vibrating slide within a magnetic field, in preparation for various types of analysis. Instrument: Franz L-1

Petrographic Microscope

Room: 401 Contact: Wendy Bohrson

A research quality petrographic microscope with a digital imaging system and a camera attachment. Various other research microscopes are distributed throughout the Department. Instrument: Leitz Labolux 12 Pol

Rock Crushing and Milling

Room: 147D Contact: Thomas Monecke/ Yvette Kuiper

Rocklab Boyd jaw crusher and ring mill for crushing and pulverizing rock samples for

geochemical analysis. A BICO cone mill is available for grinding and pulverizing of broken rock samples in preparation for geochronological analysis.

Source Rock Analyzer

Room: 301B Contact: Steve Sonnenberg

Hydrous pyrolysis analysis of source and reservoir rock hydrocarbons for organic carbon content and estimation of thermal maturity.

Water Level Sounder

Room: 141E Contact: Dave Benson

For measurement of water levels in wells along with measurements of organic liquid-water interface levels. Instrument: Solinist #11688

Laboratory Location Contact

Jaw crusher, disk mill and ring mill Berthoud 147D

Thomas Monecke tmonecke@mines.edu

Yvette Kuiper ykuiper@mines.edu

Franz Magnetic Separator, heavy

liquids and picking microscope Berthoud 147C

Yvette Kuiper

ykuiper@mines.edu

Geochemistry lab Berthoud 406 Alexis Navarre-Stichler

astichle@mines.edu

Geology Core Lab Green Center B-73 & B-70 Stephen Sonnenberg ssonnenb@mines.edu

Geomechanics Berthoud 303 Paul Santi psanti@mines.edu

Geotech sample testing equip Garage Paul Santi psanti@mines.edu

Optical mineralogy lab Berthoud 401 Wendy Bohrson

bohrson@mines.edu

Source Rock Analyzer Berthoud 301B Steve Sonnenberg

ssonnen@mines.edu

Thin section and sample preparation lab

Berthoud 147 Jae Erickson jaericks@mines.edu

Wilfley 'wet shaking' table Berthoud 147E Yvette Kuiper ykuiper@mines.edu

Guidance Document

General Laboratory and Workshop Safety

The following guidelines apply to all laboratories and workshops where use or storage of hazardous materials occurs or where a physical hazard exists.

Appropriate Lab Attire The minimum appropriate lab and workshop attire includes the items listed below. Additional personal protective equipment (PPE) may be necessary depending on the hazards of the activity. Contact Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) for assistance in evaluating PPE needs.

Safety glasses with side shields or safety goggles.

Sturdy shoes that cover the whole foot and protect feet from spills, broken glass, or fallingobjects. No open-toed shoes, sandals, crocstm, flip-flops, etc.

Clothing that covers exposed skin when working with hazardous materials. Clothing shouldcover all portions of the torso, including the midriff and shoulders avoid tank-tops and half-shirts. Short pants (shorts) and short skirts are not permitted. Long skirts, below the knee, areacceptable; but discouraged in chemistry labs.

Wear a lab coat (and possibly an apron) when working with hazardous materials that maycontaminate clothing or cause physical injury by skin contact.

Wear appropriate gloves when handling chemicals, hot or cold objects, welding, working withheavy equipment or when objects present a physical injury risk. Remove gloves and wash handsbefore leaving the laboratory.

Leave lab coats in the laboratory – do not take or wear contaminated lab coats into non-laboratory areas (bathrooms, conference rooms, offices.) and do not take contaminated labcoats home.

Tie back and secure long hair. Remove loose or dangling objects such as bracelets andnecklaces. Avoid wearing hand jewelry. Do not wear loose clothing while working aroundmoving machinery.

Working Alone Working alone means work performed when nobody is within sight or earshot that could assist in the event of an emergency. This applies to circumstances where, in the event of injury or emergency, immediate assistance is not readily available and the student/worker may not be able to self-rescue or activate emergency services. This situation can exist during and outside regular working hours (Monday – Friday 8 AM to 5 PM).

Principle investigators and supervisors should discuss with their students/workers upcoming work and evaluate whether or not it is acceptable to perform the work alone or if a buddy-system should be used. EHS is available to assist with hazard evaluation and control.

Examples of work that should not be performed alone include changing out toxic gas cylinders, working with pyrophoric materials outside of a glovebox, working with shock sensitive materials, working on energized electrical systems with exposures greater than 50 volts, entering a confined space, working around mechanical equipment with exposed rotating parts (e.g. lathe, roller mill or power saw), working with concentrated (≥ 48%) hydrofluoric acid or working with highly exothermic reaction systems (e.g. polymerizations, oxidations, or hydrogenations).

Food and Beverages Do not consume or store food or beverages in labs or workshops.

Access Control Follow the Mines Building Access Policy for authorized entry to laboratories only. Authorized entry means with the permission of the Principal Investigator, Lab or Workshop Director, and other Mines required policies relating to restricted access. Laboratory and workshop doors must be locked when not occupied. Doors must not be propped open - propping doors may allow unauthorized access to hazardous areas and may compromise fire protection and air handling (HVAC) function.

General Chemical Safety Guidelines Minimize chemical exposure-

o Avoid skin contact as much as possible. o Wear eye protection where chemicals are used.o Verify there is adequate ventilation.o Wear appropriate gloves for the hazards.o Wear lab coats and other protective clothing.o Do not eat or drink in the lab. Do not apply cosmetics, lip balm.o Wash hands after removing gloves and before leaving the lab.o Don’t pipet or start a siphon by mouth.o Keep personal belongings away from chemicals.

Be knowledgeable. Do not underestimate risk- o Obtains and read safety data sheets prior to initial handling of a chemical. o Assume that any unfamiliar chemical is hazardous.o Consider mixtures to be as hazardous as any component.o Know the emergency procedures for the lab, department and building.o Know location of emergency shower, eyewash station and first aid kit.

Use proper engineering controls and safe procedures- o Substitute less hazardous chemicals when practical. o Verify there is adequate ventilation. Use laboratory hood and/or glove box when openly

handling hazardous chemicals.o Label all chemical containers.o Keep work areas clean and uncluttered.

Document Control Log

Revision # Revision Description Date

1 Initial issue 8/7/2012

2 Added appropriate lab attire, food and beverage, access control and working after hours information

6/12/2015