Degree Requirements

Full-Time Requirement
For the typical student, the program requires a full-time commitment of four years. During the period that the student establishes residency, employment outside of the department is strongly discouraged. Only through exclusive commitment and substantial daily interaction with faculty and other graduate students can the student obtain the necessary skills to successfully meet the demands of a future academic career. Exceptions will be made for summer internships with a local business where interests in sustainability or other specialized interests are identified. Such internships will ideally involve research activity germane to the student's program of study.

Coursework
Coursework is categorized into marketing core, area of basic social science concentration, research methodology, and marketing pro-seminars. Students will take a minimum of

• 72 semester hours of credit at the 5000 level (i.e., master's) or above from UW or equivalent levels from another approved university.
• 12 hours of coursework to satisfy the marketing core requirement, and as many as an additional 6 hours as ad hoc marketing seminars are offered.
• 9 hours of courses in an outside elective area. Students will be encouraged to accumulate their hours in a core social science, statistical methods, or interdisciplinary studies in environmental and natural resources.
• 15 hours of research methods courses are required if pursuing a basic methods orientation; if pursuing a more mixed method option a student may add an additional 3 hours.

First Year Paper
At the end of the first year, under the guidance of their advisors students will submit a targeted paper that focuses on a key area of research to faculty for review.