Master of Science in Biological Sciences with Specialization in Dairy Science

at South Dakota State University USA

The Department of Biology and Microbiology provides students with a wide range of opportunities for advanced study. The graduate faculty offer expertise and graduate student advisement in subdisciplines from molecular biology through ecology. Faculty members are very successful in obtaining extramural funds to support graduate student projects. Graduate students have modern research laboratories, equipment and field research sites available to carry out their research projects. The learning environment, scholarly excellence and quality of teaching are areas of strength in the department’s Graduate Program.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of program: Exhibit knowledge concerning biological and/or microbiological systems/sciences at a level appropriate to a M.S. degree holder.
• Communication skills: Be able to effectively express themselves orally and in written form.
• Understand scientific method: Understand the scientific methods and techniques for solving research problems and analyze scientific data using the appropriate statistics.
• Use statistics to analyze data: Be able to use statistics to analyze scientific data.
• Specialization: Specialize in some area of biology, biotechnology and/or microbiology, but still be broadly based in knowledge in cellular and molecular biology.
• Publish research: Be able to conduct and publish scholarly research. (Option A)
• Professional Development: Demonstrate professional development and competence so that they may enter the work force in academia or industry.

The Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program prepares its graduates for employment in hospital or medical laboratories. The curriculum emphasizes basic science, medical laboratory science, critical thinking and communication skills, including structured learning in the laboratories of clinical affiliated laboratories. During the first two years, students complete basic science courses necessary for entrance into the professional clinical program. Upon completion of pre-MLS requirements, students apply for entrance into the professional component of the major. The professional program consists of on-campus medical laboratory science courses and an off-campus clinical experience. The program provides the scientific background in hematology, immunohematology, urinalysis, phlebotomy, microbiology, immunology, molecular biology, clinical chemistry, and management necessary for a laboratory career.

Program Goals

• Provide an educational program within the framework of the University setting in accordance with the Standards of Accredited Programs for the Medical Laboratory Scientist as established by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science (NAACLS).
• Provide adequate numbers of entry-level medical laboratory scientists to meet the workforce needs of the state of South Dakota and surrounding areas.
• Provide the health care community with quality individuals who are competent to conduct laboratory procedures in large medical facilities and small rural laboratories and who demonstrate positive professional attitudes, ethics and practices.

Enabling Objectives

• Provide a curriculum that includes a general or liberal education, content specific theory and applications, technical knowledge, professionalism and clinical competence to successfully complete a national certification exam.
• Assist students in career placement by providing academic and occupational advisement.
• Instill in students a sense of professionalism, commitment to lifelong learning and academic excellence.
• Prepare students to successfully enter the health care field as competent entry-level professionals that communicate well, appreciate social diversity and possess a genuine compassion and concern for others.

Student Learning Outcomes

In the Medical Laboratory Science major, students will:

• Apply principles of management that include administrative methodologies and assessment to clinical laboratory practice.
• Apply principles of educational methodologies including objectives and learning outcomes, domains, and Bloom’s taxonomy to curriculum design, evaluation, and assessment in clinical laboratory practice and continuing professional development. (Cross-curricular Skill: Foundational Lifelong Learning Skills)
• Exercise independent judgement and critical thinking to correlate and recognize discrepancies associated with normal and abnormal test results using patient history, characteristics, and demographics. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• Evaluate, demonstrate and perform best laboratory practices as outlined in the standard operating procedures to correctly and independently follow procedures and policies to perform laboratory test procedures. (Cross-curricular Skill: Problem Solving)
• Demonstrate effective oral or written communication with other students, faculty, patients, professional colleagues, physicians, other members of the health care team, and the public to effectively and efficiently transmit test results and instructions.
• Proficiently construct and devise written documents in accordance with quality management and quality assurance.
• Demonstrate and value professional conduct that includes compassion, concern, integrity and respect when dealing with patients, colleagues, faculty, students, physicians, other members of the health care team, and the public independent of race, sex, religion, ethnicity or diversity. (Cross-curricular Skill: Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Practice and demonstrate the use of appropriate ethical standards in all matters related to medical information and patient care including strict adherence to patient confidentiality rights as mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). (Cross-curricular Skill: Ethical Reasoning)

This area of specialization is designed for the person who plans to become a communication educator. While the emphasis is primarily on secondary education, the area can serve as a specialization for teaching higher education as well.

Student Learning Outcomes
Graduates will be prepared to:

• Describe the Communication discipline and its central questions by employing communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• Engage in Communication inquiry. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• Create and critically analyze messages appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context. (Cross-curricular Skill: Critical and Creative Thinking)
• Demonstrate the ability to accomplish communicative goals (self-efficacy). (Cross-curricular Skill: Foundational Lifelong Learning Skills)
• Prepare for ethical public influence that embraces differences. (Cross-curricular Skill: Civic Knowledge and Engagement; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)

Civil Engineering includes design, construction, and operation and maintenance of highways, airports, buildings, bridges, dams, water supply and distribution systems, waste water collection systems and treatment plants, irrigation and drainage systems, river and harbor improvements and many other infrastructure facilities essential in modern life. Civil Engineers are custodians of the built environment and are responsible for all aspects of the world’s infrastructure.

To prepare students for these responsibilities, the program provides opportunities for them to solve engineering problems, promote original thought, illustrate the work expected of engineers and stimulate interest and enthusiasm for design. Seniors design teams work on comprehensive, open-ended projects involving scope and definition, evaluation of alternatives on the basis of economic, social, environmental, and other factors, concluding with the preparation of a functional design, plans, specifications and final cost estimates.

Program Educational Objectives

The civil engineering program at South Dakota State University is committed to preparing students to achieve the following educational objectives within five years beyond the baccalaureate degree.

• Graduates will have obtained professional licensure or specialized certification.
• Graduates will have engaged in professional development and life-long learning through earning advanced degrees, attending continuing education forums, or active participation in professional organizations.
• Graduates will have become actively involved in their profession, communities, and global society with a trajectory towards leadership positions.

Student Learning Outcomes

The program’s mission and educational objectives are accomplished by providing undergraduate students with an educational program that will result in the following outcomes by the time of graduation:

• An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
• An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
• An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
• An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
• An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
• An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
• An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies

The Animal Science program provides instruction in livestock breeding, feeding, management, selection, evaluation, and marketing, along with meat science, and equine studies. Courses emphasize the principles of genetics, nutrition, physiology, and meats as they affect production and management of livestock and animal products. Beef cattle, horses, sheep, and swine are the primary species discussed in courses.

The specialization allows students to focus their studies on Industry, Science, or Food Animal Health.  The Industry specialization provides flexibility for students to complete courses and minors in related areas of interest. The Science and Food Animal Health specializations are designed to meet course requirements of the Pre-Veterinary Medicine curriculum for the SDSU Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine and some other veterinary schools.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Animal Science major with a Food Animal Health Specialization, students will:

• Acquire knowledge of the core sciences and best management practices that are the foundation of animal science and husbandry.
• Demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills using a variety of mediums and with various audience types.
• Demonstrate the ability to function as an effective member of a team. (Cross-curricular Skill: Teamwork)
• Develop fact-based comparisons of both sides of contemporary issues that impact diversity, inclusion, equity, and professional ethics as related to animal agriculture. (Cross-curricular Skill: Information Literacy; Ethical Reasoning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Interpret, critically evaluate, and apply information in order to recognize problems and create solutions. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Problem Solving)

Students who successfully complete this 60-credit hour specialization will earn a Master of Science in Counseling and Human Resource Development specializing in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Upon successful completion of the core requirements, and those of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling specialization and with the successful completion of the comprehensive written and oral examinations, graduates are endorsed as having constructed appropriate entry level knowledge and as having met appropriate skill acquisition to be recognized as professional clinical mental health counselors. Students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling specialization are also responsible for having taken supporting area courses which supplement or enhance their chosen specialty.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Understand and advocate for positive attention to developmental needs of individuals, families, schools, and communities;
• Promote mental health through well-developed and consistent theoretical study and application;
• Appreciate cultural, ethnic, and gender differences as they relate to perceptions and expectations of counseling;
• Apply ethical, legal, moral, and professional standards to all aspects of professional counseling services;
• Respond to the mental health needs of a variety of individuals and families, through a wide spectrum of services including support, education, assessment, and treatment;
• Understand and be able to appropriately select and apply a variety of service or treatment modalities;
• Understand assessment strategies and the criteria for mental illnesses as well as effective treatments;
• Understand and model healthy community and work relationships; and
• Be prepared to pursue licensure as a professional counselor.

Learning one or more foreign languages is about much more than just grammar and structure of languages.  To learn a language is to engage with the heritage of entire civilizations, as well as with the contemporary norms that structure societies’ politics, religions, identities, and workplace, in order to communicate more effectively.  Furthermore, language study provides models for dealing with cultural differences that are applicable in any part of the world, including the U.S., taken together, courses offered in Spanish at SDSU prepare students with the skills to function and communicate effectively in any environment.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon the completion of the Spanish major, students should be able to:

• Speak, read and write Spanish at the Intermediate-High or Advanced level, developing solid competence in the language needed for everyday life and advanced narrative skills in the past, present, and future. (Cross-curricular Skills: Intercultural Knowledge; Inquiry & Analysis; Information Literacy)
• Demonstrate understanding of and growth in the skills required for intercultural communication and competence and life-long learning. (Cross-curricular Skill: Intercultural Knowledge; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity; Critical & Creative Thinking)
• Identify the cultural perspectives of the Spanish-speaking world’s civilizations and their cultural products, such as literatures, arts, institutions, pop cultures, etc. and compare the cultural frames that determine everyday life in French- speaking cultures and the U.S. (Cross-curricular Skills: Intercultural Knowledge; Critical & Creative Thinking; Inquiry & Analysis; Information Literacy)
• Adapt behavior to a variety of cultural contexts through critical analysis of cultural frames. (Cross-curricular Skills: Intercultural Knowledge; Creative & Critical Thinking; and Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Articulate the value of their language and cultural studies and apply this knowledge in future employment. (Cross-curricular Skill: Intercultural Knowledge; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)

Physics is the foundation of almost all of the science and engineering disciplines. The curriculum in Physics has the flexibility to accommodate a wide range of student interests including engineering, physical science, mathematics, biological science, or health sciences. Graduates find careers in physics research, education, engineering, medicine, nuclear medicine, law, science journalism or alternatively many other choices.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Physics - Science Teaching Specialization, students will be able to:

• Support an environment that is inclusive to everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability status. (Cross-curricular Skill: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity)
• Write a laboratory report that is appropriate for the discipline of physics and suitable for publication in an undergraduate research journal. (Cross-curricular Skill: Information Literacy)
• Defend a hypothesis or a research project by giving an oral presentation in a colloquium setting.
• Solve complex physics problems by applying scientific and mathematical principles. (Cross-curricular Skill: Problem Solving)
• Design experiments; build and use equipment; gather, analyze and interpret experimental data; and draw conclusions based upon the data. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• Propose creative solutions for key issues of scientific, social, economic, or environmental merit and defend their hypothesis in either a research paper or by generating a proposal for an experimental design. (Cross-curricular Skill: Creative and Critical Thinking)

The Interdisciplinary Studies major is designed for those pursuing unique educational goals. Each student develops a goal-driven plan of study approved by the department selecting coursework relevant to those unique goals. Career opportunities for graduates are vast, evolving from the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired through a well-designed plan of study. Interdisciplinary studies graduates have been very successful in the job market and in gaining acceptance to graduate/professional schools. Most graduates pursue careers in broad industries or emerging fields. Intensive advising and career planning are critical elements to ensure the plan of study appropriately prepares students for future goals.

Student Learning Outcomes
Interdisciplinary Studies graduates will be able to:

• Analyze how historical and metaphorical models support research and problem solving through diverse disciplinary approaches. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Information Literacy; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Apply interdisciplinary analytics to research. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Express interdisciplinary understanding of a complex problem through the integration of disciplinary insights in an undergraduate research project. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Foundational Lifelong Learning Skills; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Illustrate how interdisciplinary study contributes to success in future professional and personal goals. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Information Literacy; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)

The major in Graphic Design provides a comprehensive visual communication experience, including mobile technology, interface design, user experience design, animation and motion graphics, product/package design, brand identity design, data visualization design, and entrepreneurship. Graduates of the Graphic Design program will create professional portfolios, engage in real experiences working in industry, and have the opportunity to build strong connections with professionals nationally and internationally. South Dakota State University graduates are prepared to work in almost any field imaginable. A 12-credit visual arts core taken in conjunction with the graphic design sequence supports the degree and creates a foundation for success. Through taking the core and taking 6 additional ART, ARTH or ARTE courses, majors qualify for the Studio Arts Minor adding breadth and depth to the degree.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Acquire core knowledge of graphic design practice.
• Demonstrate fluency in the visual vocabulary and technical skills relevant to Graphic Design – Typography, Grid systems across analog and digital media, visual narratives (photography, illustration, and type-as-image), and conceptualization of the work based on research. (Cross-curricular Skill: Critical and Creative Thinking; Problem Solving; Intercultural Knowledge)
• Imagine and articulate research, conceptualization, and varied solutions (generate effective ideas) to any problem. (Cross-curricular Skill: Critical and Creative Thinking)
• Display innovative synergies of media types across print, screen, packaging and emerging media and excel in one or several of the following Areas of Emphasis: Print, Packaging & Environmental, Interaction Design, Media Fluency, Motion.
• Demonstrate the ability to function as an effective member of a team. (Cross-curricular Skill: Teamwork)
• Demonstrate the professional awareness and physical preparation necessary to enter the design workspace. (Cross-curricular Skill: Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Problem Solving; Intercultural Knowledge; Integrative Learning)