The school-level academic course plan for each student will be developed in consultation with the student's graduate advisory committee. The committee will include the student's major advisor and at least two additional members of the graduate faculty such that the LSU Graduate School's requirements for graduate committees are satisfied.<br><br>The MS degree is a research degree requiring a thesis. A minimum of 30 hours of credit at the graduate level must be earned including at least six hours of credit for the thesis (NFS 8000).<br>Other degree requirements are submission of an oral and written research proposal to the advisory committee. The advisory committee must be chosen and approved by the school head and graduate coordinator within one year of enrollment in the graduate program. The first graduate seminar for credit should be an oral presentation that gives an introduction and brief literature review on the proposed research area and an outline of the proposed research to be conducted for the MS.<br><br>Students must have submitted one manuscript to a scientific journal and presented their research at one national meeting before graduation. Students are expected to attend all school seminars (graduate, faculty, and invited speakers) whether enrolled for credit or not.<br><br>Students must present a public oral seminar on the thesis research before the final exam. A student must pass a comprehensive final oral examination by the student's advisory committee on food science topics and the completed research area.