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curriculum is only acceptable for students school through dual enrollment programs, CONCLUSIONS
also majoring in another program. advanced placement courses, or credits We started accepting students into the geol-
Next, we identified programs with simi- transferred from two-year institutions. ISU ogy+ program in fall 2019, and there are cur-
lar math, physics, and chemistry require- offers 30 concurrent B.S./M.S. or B.S./MBA rently eight students from civil engineering,
ments and professional similarities with the programs that allow students to earn a B.S. biology, meteorology, and environmental sci-
broad field of geology (materials science and M.S. or MBA in five years in engineer- ence who have declared geology as a second-
and engineering, civil engineering, and ing, agronomy, chemistry, and more. ary major. So far, there are a handful of stu-
environmental science) or that complement The ability to earn concurrent B.S. and dents pursuing the B.S./M.S. option. However,
it (biology and meteorology). Collectively, M.S. degrees within five years is moti- we foresee this as an attractive recruiting tool
there are close to 2,000 undergraduates vated in part by the M.S. becoming the and an opportunity to diversify the student
majoring in these programs at ISU. Just degree of choice in many disciplines, body through partnerships with university
1%–2% of these students pursuing a geol- including the geosciences (e.g., in oil and programs to attract women and underrepre-
ogy+ degree would add a significant num- gas, federal government) (Levine, 2011; sented minorities to STEM fields.
ber of majors to the program. Wilson, 2019). Taken sequentially, it takes
Working with advisors and departmental on average >6.5 years to earn both degrees ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
and college curriculum committees, we put (Wilson, 2018). This extended time could I wish to thank Craig Ogilvie and Marzia Rosati
together and received approval for four-year discourage students interested in a STEM for introducing me to the physics+ program and two
plans for each of these programs, fulfilling career from pursuing a degree in geosci- anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions
on the manuscript.
all primary major requirements while add- ences in favor of a degree in engineering,
ing the geology core courses as a secondary for example, where starting positions require REFERENCES CITED
major. Since this is a different approach only a B.S. Cervato, C., and Flory, D., 2015, Earth, wind & fire:
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are no other examples at ISU, the validation geology programs aimed at students pursu- tween degree programs in a geoscience depart-
ment: Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 63,
process for these double majors required ing a career in industry or as consultants. To p. 41–46, https://doi.org/10.5408/14-018.
approval in each college involved. our knowledge, there are only three other Drummond, C., and Markin, J., 2008, An analysis
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way to geology attractive to students include (two at Penn State and one at the University offered in the United States: Journal of Geosci-
the ability to graduate in four years with two of Texas at El Paso), and none that include ence Education, v. 56, no. 2, p. 113–119, https://
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courses in addition to their primary major’s uate advisor and complete graduate courses Levine, A.J., 2011, M.S. or Ph.D.: Which is right for
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a geology graduate program relatively a recruiting tool for students transferring Choosing the geoscience major: Important fac-
smooth. Also, the M.S. geology degree has from two-year institutions that tend to have tors, race/ethnicity, and gender: Journal of Geo-
historically been the preferred professional a higher percentage of underrepresented science Education, v. 63, p. 250–263, https://doi
degree for private-sector jobs in geoscience minorities would potentially provide an .org/10.5408/14-038.1.
(Wilson, 2019), whereas the Ph.D. is the opportunity to increase a program’s diver- Wilson, C., 2018, Status of Recent Geoscience Grad-
uates: American Geosciences Institute Report,
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GROWING GRADUATE PROGRAM nent) option. Students are eligible for grad- Wilson, C., 2019, Status of Geoscience Workforce:
THROUGH CONCURRENT B.S./M.S. uate teaching and research assistantships in American Geosciences Institute Report, 163 p.
DEGREES their fourth and fifth years and reduced or Manuscript received 24 Feb. 2021
Increasing numbers of students enter uni- free tuition as part of the graduate assis- revised Manuscript received 6 apr. 2021
versity with college credits earned in high tantship package. Manuscript accepted 12 apr. 2021

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