There are three stages to the MES program:

MES I

MES I is your first term of study. During this time, you will enroll in ENVS 5100 Interdisciplinary Research in Environmental Studies, which, with the support of your Advisor, will guide you through the creation of your initial Plan of Study. You may also enroll in other courses or participate in learning activities that support your initial exploration and delineation of your Area of Concentration.

As part of ENVS 5100, you will establish a series of meetings with your Advisor to work on the various elements of your Plan. You will be expected to complete a full draft of your Plan prior to your formal submission of your Plan for your first General Examination.

For your first General Examination, you will submit your Plan to your Advisor by the deadline (to be set in ENVS 5100). At this point your Plan will also be reviewed by a second reader – another faculty member in FES appointed by the Graduate Program Director. The second reader’s role is to ensure the Plan is clear and fits well within the interdisciplinary context of the Faculty. If the second reader has substantial comments on your plan, he/she will attend your Exam. If not, the Exam will simply be with you and your Advisor.

General Exams are oral and typically take just under an hour. At this point, the focus is on the Plan of Study itself and its acceptability as an initial statement of your MES program plan – whether it is appropriate and can be accomplished – rather than on determining how much you know. This includes discussion of your course selections for the upcoming term. You should bring your Graduate Course Advising Form and any other documentation required for you to enroll in next term’s courses so these can be filled out at the end of your Exam. Submit the completed forms to OSAS after the exam.

When your Plan is approved for progression to MES II, you have passed your Exam and will also receive a “Pass” grade for ENVS 5100.

You must advance to MES II by passing your first General Examination by the end of your first term. If your Plan of Study is not complete/approved for progression, a Graduate Program Director’s Exam will be triggered, which involves examination of your progress by the Graduate Program Director and several other faculty members who will determine your ability to move forward in the MES program.

MES II

MES II is your second to fourth terms of study. During this time, you will take courses and revise your Plan of Study as your understanding of your goals and interests evolves. You will have General Exams reviewing your Plan of Study – again, focusing on a discussion about your interests and the process you are undertaking to learning them – at the end of terms two and three. Again, you should bring your Graduate Course Advising Form and any other documentation required for you to enroll in the next term’s courses so these can be filled out at the end of your Exam. Submit the completed forms to OSAS after the exams.

For term four, most students enroll in ENVS 6102: Transitions in Environmental Studies for 3 credits with their Advisor or proposed Supervisor to write their final Plan of Study and the Proposal for their MES III research (your Major Paper/Project/Portfolio/Thesis).

At the end of term four, you will have a MES II-III Exam where you submit both your final Plan of Study and your MES III Proposal for review. At this Exam, which is conducted by both your Advisor and your Supervisor, you must demonstrate general competence in your Area of Concentration, including specific understanding of the major issues and main currents of thought in that Area.

This final version of your Plan of Study that will be reviewed in the MES II-III Exam will be the Plan used to evaluate you at Final Examination at the end of the program – normally there are no additional revisions to the Plan.

Once your final Plan of Study and MES III Proposal (and risk and ethics review, if appropriate) have been approved, you move forward to MES III.

MES III

MES III consists of your fifth to sixth terms of study. During this time, you will be researching and writing your Major Paper/Project/Portfolio/Thesis. Your Supervisor will be available for support and advice and to provide substantive comments on the form and content of your work.

If you are completing a Major Paper/Project/Portfolio, you will submit it to your Supervisor, who will determine whether it is satisfactory. If you are completing a Thesis, it requires a separate defense, which usually occurs immediately prior to your Final Exam. The format, submission and defense of theses must adhere to York’s Faculty of Graduate Studies Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines.

Regardless of what you choose to do for your final project, you are required to complete a Final Examination, which will evaluate your general understanding of environmental studies, your specific knowledge of your Area of Concentration, and your success in achieving the goals you set out for yourself in your Plan of Study.