Background and Present Structure of the Department
Areas of Specialization
People Society and Environment Emphasis
Center for Urban and Regional Analysis
Graduate Faculty (2003-2004)
Master of Arts Program
Doctor of Philosophy Program
Facilities
Admission
Additional Application Materials
Financial Assistance
Non-Degree Studies
The Graduate Record Examination
Recap of Deadlines
Back to Graduate Admissions Main Page

Background and Present Structure of the Department

Geography seeks to understand societal and environmental issues with an emphasis on their spatial dimensions.  Most departments are comprised of both human and physical geographers whose research and teaching often integrates work from geography and other disciplines.  Although the field is broad is scope, the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University has chosen to concentrate on a few areas.  These appear as both graduate specialties and undergraduate-major tracks.  That this approach has been successful is evidenced by our consistently high national ranking over more than two decades.  Geography faculty currently hold grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Department is know for its theoretical and empirical research using statistics, quantitative methodology, and advanced technology such as graphics workstations and supercomputers.  The leading international journal of theoretical geography, Geographical Analysis, was founded here; currently it is edited by one of our faculty and published by The Ohio State University Press.  Emphasis on specialties such as Geographic Information Systems contributes strongly to the technological infrastructure of public agencies in Ohio and elsewhere, which are developing sophisticated geographical data bases; underpinning these advances are many applied innovations made by Ohio State faculty in Geography.

Geography specialties and the Atmospheric Sciences Program have strong links to several University programs outside the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; e.g. Agricultural Economics-Rural Sociology, Byrd Polar Research Center, Center for Mapping, Center for Human Resources Research, City-Regional Planning, Civil Engineering, Mershon Center, Office of International Affairs, Ohio Super Computer Center, and the School of Natural Resources.

In addition to a strong record in research and obtaining external support for these activities, the Department has a full commitment to teaching.  This includes outreach at the public school level through the Ohio Geographic Alliance, participation of nearly all faculty in University service courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and an excellent placement record at the graduate level.  Concerning the latter, analysis of membership records from the Association of American Geographers indicates that Ohio State Ph.D.s are extremely competitive in obtaining prime tenure-track posts.  Of Ph.D.s graduate from this department over the last three years, examples of positions include Ph.D. programs at Alabama, SUNY Buffalo, University of California (San Diego), Miami, Minnesota and Wisconsin; consulting (SMART Washington D.C.); and prestigious semi-private research organizations (ESRI/Environmental Systems Research Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ERDAS/Earth Resources Data Analysis Systems).  Citation Analysis for Human Geography places 2 or our former students, as well as 3 current faculty among the fifty most cited in the World.

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Areas of Specialization

The Department has three areas of specialization:
(a) Urban and Regional Systems
(b) Spatial Analysis Methods
(c) People, Society, and Environment
(d) Atmospheric and Climatic Studies

The graduate faculty associated with each sub-field are as follows:

Urban and Regional Systems:  Brown,Cieri, Cox, Ettlinger, Kwan, Malecki, Mansfield, Medvedkov, Moellering, Munroe, Murray, O'Kelly, Robbins, Smith, Tiefelsdorf, and Xiao

Spatial Analysis Methods:  Box, Hobgood, Kwan, Medvedkov, Moellering, Munroe, Murray, O'Kelly, Tiefelsdorf, and Xiao

People, Society, and Environment: Box, Cox, Kwan, Mansfield, Mark, McSweeney, Mosley-Thompson, Munroe, Murray, Porinchu, Robbins, and Xiao

Atmospheric and Climatic Studies:  Box, Bromwich, Hobgood, Mark, Mosley-Thompson, Porinchu, and Rogers

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Center for Urban and Regional Analysis

In spring 2001 the university board of trustees approved the creation of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (Cura)which fosters interdisciplinary research on urban and regional issues at the city, state, regional, national and international levels.  The CURA also serves as a catalyst for the urban research community and provides a clearinghouse for urban related materials, data, and publications.  It brings graduate students and nearly 100 university faculty together to engage in research teaching and outreach missions of OSU as they relate to urban and regional issues.  Graduate students benefit from the center by having more interdisciplinary activities such as round tables, meetings and focus groups and they will have more access to faculty who are conducting state-of-the art research.  Geography professor Edward Malecki is the center's first director.  The center is housed in Derby Hall with the Geography Department and College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Specific details of the Department of Geography include the following:

• Faculty Profile (As of Autumn 2005):
  9 Professors; 5 Associate Professors; 9 Assistant Professors; 4 Branch Campus Faculty (3 Associate, 1 Assistant Professors)
• Publications:
  For the 22 Columbus Campus faculty, approximately 50 per year.
• External Support currently totals approximately $2.8 million.  Sources of support include the following:
  National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA); National Geographic Society (NGS); National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); National Science Foundation (NSF); Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR); Ohio Sea Grant Program; United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Faculty Awards and Recognitions (current faculty only):
  4 Honors Awards, Association of American Geographers (the AAG's most prestigious recognition), more than any other Department of Geography in North America
  1 John Wesley Powell Award, United States Geological Survey
  2 Guggenheim Fellows
  1 Distinguished University Professor Award
  2 Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Awards
  4 Ohio state University Distinguished Teaching Awards
  2 Chairs-members of National Academy of Sciences Committees
• Ph.D.s awarded: 216
• Graduate Students Currently in Residence: 90

Graduate Faculty (2003-2004)

William V. Ackerman, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1972, Associate Professor (Lima Campus)
Jason Box, Ph.D., Colorado, 2002, Assistant Professor: boundary layers of polar ice caps, polar climatology
David H. Bromwich, Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1979, Professor: polar boundary layer dynamics, polar precipitation studies
Marie Cieri, Ph.D., Rutgers, 2004, Assistant Professor: urban and social geography, critical geography
Stavros Constantinou, Ph.D., Kent State, 1982, Associate Professor (Mansfield Campus)
Kevin R. Cox, Ph.D., Illinois, 1966, Professor: political urban, social theory
Nancy Ettlinger, Ph.D., Oklahoma, 1984, Associate Professor: urban, location, development, social population
Jay S. Hobgood, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1984, Associate Professor: atmospheric sciences, climatology
Robert Klingensmith, Ph.D., Assistant Professor (Newark Campus)
Mei-Po Kwan, Ph.D., California, Santa Barbara, 1994, Professor: GIS, transportation, urban
Kendra McSweeney, Ph.D., McGill, 2000, Assistant Professor: cultural ecology, economic, development
Edward Malecki, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1975, Professor and Director of the CURA: urban, economic, development, transportation
Becky Mansfield, Ph.D., Oregon, 2001, Assistant Professor: economic, development, urban
Bryan Mark, Ph.D., Syracuse, 2003, Assistant Professor: paleoclimatology, hydroclimatology, geomorphology
Yuri V. Medvedkov, Ph.D., Institute of Geography, Moscow, 1953, Professor: urban, Russia, quantitative analysis
Harold Moellering, Ph.D., Michigan, 1973, Professor: numerical, analytical and interactive cartography
Hazel Morrow-Jones, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1980, Associate Professor, City & Regional Planning: housing, economic development
Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1979, Professor: climatology, glaciology
Darla Munroe, Ph.D., Illinois, 2000, Assistant Professor: Regional Economic Development, Land use, Nature-Society
Alan T. Murray, Ph.D., California, Santa Barbara, 1995, Associate Professor: GIS, urban, environmental analysis, transportation, location analysis; quantitative methods
Morton E. O'Kelly, Ph.D., McMaster, 1981, Professor and Chair: urban studies, locational analysis, quantitative analysis, transportation
David Porinchu, Ph.D., UCLA, 2002, Assistant Professor: Evnironmental change, paleoclimatology, paleolimnology, dendroclimatology
Paul Robbins, Clark, 1996, Ph.D., Associate Professor: development, human-environmental interactions, India
Jeffrey C. Rogers, Ph.D., Colorado, 1979, Professor: synoptic meteorology, climate change
Gregory S. Rose, Ph.D., Michigan State, 1981, Associate Professor (Marion Campus)
W. Randy Smith, Ph.D., York, 1978, Associate Professor: urban, regional urban systems, urban historical
Michael Tiefelsdorf, Ph.D., Laurier, 1997, Assistant Professor: GIS, spatial analysis, quantitative analysis
Ningchuan Xiao, Ph.D., Iowa, 2003, Assistant Professor: GIS, environmental analysis, quantitative methods

Professors Emeriti
A. John Arnfield, Ph.D., McMaster, 1973
Lawrence A. Brown, Ph.D., Northwestern, 1966
S. Earl Brown, Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1957
Emilio Casetti, Ph.D., Northwestern, 1964
Victor Colombini, Ph.D., Boston University, 1961
Howard L. Gauthier, Ph.D., Northwestern, 1966
Vera L. Herman, M.A., Ohio State, 1947
Henry L. Hunker, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1953
Duane F. Marble, Ph.D., Washington, 1959
Joel L. Morrison, Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1968
John N. Rayner, Ph.D.,Canterbury, 1965

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Master of Arts Program

Prerequisites.  As a general principle, the department expects incoming students to have had college-level course work in calculus and statistics, although calculus is not required in the urban and regional systems track.  Students with deficiencies in these areas have access to a wide variety of resources for learning the foundations for quantitative analysis.

The departmental core courses at the Master's level include a two-course sequence in the the application of quantitative analysis in geography (883.01 and 883.02); a course introducing mapping/GIS and basic related concepts; a course in research design; and attendance a the departmental visiting speakers programs.

The candidate must complete a Research Document [Thesis is called Plan A; Research Paper is called Plan B] deemed acceptable by a departmental committee.  There is a two-hour oral examination.

Doctor of Philosophy Program

1. The candidate must complete satisfactorily two courses: a course (Geography 882) dealing with the development of geographic thought and the controversies involving varying contemporary view of the field as they affect geographical teaching and research; and a course (Geography 983) dealing with some aspect of geographic methodology.  Appropriate prerequisites for 983 must be satisfied.
2.  The candidate must choose a major field of specialization which will be developed by work in the department.  It is expected that the student will attain a thorough enough knowledge of this field that he/she may reasonably be expected to choose and execute a dissertation topic which constitutes a contribution to knowledge in that field.  This means that he/she should be familiar with the literature relevant to the topic, not only in geography but in related fields.  Each candidate is expected to choose a minor field of specialization, usually within geography, and to achieve some competence in that field.
3.  A candidate for the Ph.D. examination will be required to take a preliminary examination and to pass general oral and written examinations covering: (a) the major field of specialization; (b) a minor field of specialization; and (c) broad aspects of geographic thought and methodology.
4.  The subject of the Ph.D. dissertation is selected in consultation with the advisor.
5.  Foreign languages are required only on the recommendation of individual advisors.
6.  Where appropriate, incoming students in the Doctoral program may be required to enter a mathematics sequence, either within the department or in the Department of Mathematics.

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Facilities

Research is supported by an excellent library system housing some 3.8 million volumes, 2.3 million microforms, and 200, 000 map sheets.  Current serial subscriptions number 28,000 series and include virtually all journal of value in geographic research.  A computer-based circulation system provides access to catalog data and information on location and availability of materials via public or personal terminals.  Computer-based literature searches are also available.

As well as the usual range of academic departments, the University also supports a variety of specialized research centers and programs.  These include: the Latin American Studies Program; the Center for Slavic and East European Studies; the Mershon Center specializing in issues of national security and public policy; and the Human Resource Center which is concerned with issues of human resource development from a policy standpoint; and the Center for Mapping.

University computer facilities are based on an IBM 3090-200 and 2 DEC 5500s, a large central processing system which supports a large base load of batch and interactive processing.  The system supports advanced software and text editing capabilities, graphic CRT terminals and plotters.  A large digitizing system also is available.  The Ohio Supercomputer Center is located on campus.  Our department has access to its Cray supercomputer through a high-speed fiber-optic network.  The super-computer complements our extensive computing facilities both within the department and at the University's Instruction and Research Computer Center.

The department supports laboratories for work in GIS, cartography and climatology.  A large range of meteorological instrumentation is available, including radiometers, humidity, temperatures and wind profile systems, an infrared thermometer, and a variety of analog and digital electronic recording devices.  The department maintains a popular weather information sever at twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu.

The Department's computing facilities are extensive, consisting of a computing classroom with 35 seats and 5 research laboratories with a total of 40 seats.  The classroom is equipped with Pentium PCs running Microsoft Windows 2000Pro.  Within the research laboratories students have access to a variety of computing platforms (Pentium III PCs; Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems UNIX workstations) and operating systems (Microsoft WindowsNT, SGI IRIX and Sun Solaris).  The PCs in the classroom and the research labs are linked together in a Microsoft NT local area network which is supported by 4 multiprocessor NT servers.  The UNIX workstations are similarly linked to the Department's UNIX server (An SGI Power ChallengeL with 1 GB of RAM and 26 GB of disk space) via nfs and nis networking protocols.

A wide variety of software is available for student use including standard desktop productivity software suites (e.g. Microsoft Office and Corel Wordperfect Suite) and packages specifically for geographic and social science research.  These include GIS software packages (ArcGIS, Arcview, Transcad), image processing software (Intergraph GeoMedia, ERDAS Imagine, IDRISI), statistical software (S+, SPSS, SAS).

The Department maintains both a scanner and a digitizer for student use to assist with data input.  Several networked printers, black and white and color, are also available for student use.

Teaching Associates are provided with office space and access to services and facilities to support their instructional and research activities.

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Admission

To satisfy the Graduate School that a student is eligible for graduate study her/she must have completed a Bachelor's degree with a minimum grad point average (GPA) of 3.00 for all collegiate work (A=4, B=3, C=2).  However, students with GPAs less than 3.00 may qualify for admission if other components of their records are strong.  Ph.D. applicants must have a GPA of 3.00 in their Masters degree work.  All applicants must take the General Aptitude test of the Graduate Record Examination.  International applicants may take the GRE in their home countries.

Applicants from institutions which do not calculate GPAs must have maintained a B average throughout their collegiate careers.  For international students with a B.A. (Hons.) or B.Sc. (Hons.) degrees, a minimum of Class 2.II is required.

Students intending to undertake graduate work in cartography must have completed coursework in mathematics to the level of integral calculus.  Prior exposure to computer programming is also recommended for such students.

The Department requires that prospective students have a minimum of 40 quarter hours in geography or its equivalent in closely allied fields.  Transfer students from other fields are accepted if a satisfactory program cam be worked out which will rectify any background deficiencies.  Applicants with both baccalaureate and Masters degrees in disciplines other than geography may enter the Ph.D. program directly but must complete up to six remedial undergraduate courses.  Such applicants will receive credit for all work in geography taken at Ohio State or for equivalent work at other institutions.  The department informs applicants to the Ph.D. program that their statement of purpose and planned area of research will receive very close attention, and is an important component of the Ph.D. application.

Students seeking to transfer to the Department of Geography from another department at Ohio State should submit the form "Request for Transfer of Academic Unit," available from the Graduate School, accompanied by the same items of documentation which are required for an initial applications.

International students are generally assumed to have fulfilled the admission requirements if they have a geography major or an honors degree in geography, or a related field, from an accredited university.

Students interested in undertaking graduate work in geography must apply for admission to the following address:

Graduate Admissions Office
The Ohio State University
Lincoln Tower, Third Floor
1800 Cannon Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43210
www.gradapply.osu.edu

Correspondence with the Department should be sent to:

Professor Mei-Po Kwan
Department of Geography
The Ohio State University
1036 Derby Hall
154 N Oval Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1361
email: kwan.8@osu.edu

Applications sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions, together with supporting documents, must be received by the Admissions Office no later than July 1, November 1, February 1, or May 1 for the Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer Quarters respectively.  All funding decisions for new students are placed on a strict Autumn, Winter and Spring cycle.  Admissions in all quarters are permitted; however, students not entering in Autumn quarter will have to wait until the next Fall before becoming eligible for funding.  Therefore, those admissions are automatically in the pool of applicants for new money.  An international student who is a candidate for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa must complete his/her application by July 1, November 1, February 1, or May 1 for the same quarters.  Applicants re reminded, however, that in most cases where financial assistance is desired, applications and all accompany materials (including GRE results) should arrive prior to February 1.

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Additional Application Materials

Students interested in applying for the Masters or PhD degree programs in Geography should send three letters of reference and a one page typed statement describing their motivation for graduate work and their interests in the filed of Geography.  These materials should be sent to:

Graduate Studies Committee
Department of Geography
The Ohio State University
1036 Derby Hall
154 N Oval Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1361

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Financial Assistance

Each student who applies for admission to the Graduate School may apply simultaneously for an Associateship and/or Fellowship.

However, all applicants for financial assistance for whom English in not the first language must submit, to the Department, evidence of achievement in the Test of Spoken English (TSE).  This is a test administered by the Educational Testing Service several times a year at the same locations as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).  In the TSE the applicant must achieve a score of at least 230 out of 300 and submit certification to the Department to that effect.  TSE materials may be obtained by writing the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey 08541-6157, USA, or by contacting the agencies listed in the TOEFL Bulletin.  Without such certification they cannot be considered for any form of financial assistance.  Please note that this is in addition to, and not instead of, achieving a score of at least 600 on TOEFL.  (Please also note that the TSE can be administered by the Ohio State Spoken English Program once an admitted applicant arrives on campus).

Fellowship programs are administered by the Graduate School and are described in the Graduate Bulletin.  Applicants should be aware of the following time schedule relating to University Fellowships:

Deadline for application and receipt of required paperwork for domestic applicants is January 15 and for international applicants it is November 30.  Notification of awards will be March 15.  Deadline for acceptance or refusal of awards is April 15.

A limited number of University and Minority Fellowships is awarded each year.  The current stipend is $14,400 for 12 months plus all academic tuition and fees for a total of $25,880 (Ohio resident) or $41,724 (non-resident).

Domestic students are eligible for fellowships if their GPA is 3.30 or higher.  Students eligible for a fellowship should consider meeting the January 15 deadline.  Students with a GPA below 3.30 should apply by February 15 for a Graduate Associateship (see below).  Fellowships GPA minima are II.1 in the British System and 90 for Chinese students.

Graduate Teaching Associateships are available through the Department.  Each year approximately 30 graduate students hold appointments as Teaching Associates.  The present rate of compensation for M.A. students is $8,829 paid in nine monthly installments.  The first year Ph.D. stipend is $10,800 for nine months.  In addition, all tuition and fee charges are paid for a total of $11,480 (Ohio resident) or $27,324 (non-resident).  Usually an Associate is responsible for conducting laboratory sections in an introductory course.  An Associate is expected to devote no more than 20 hours per week to his/her assignment, although classroom contact hours are fewer.  The degree of classroom responsibility and the amount of stipend increase during graduate study.  Typically, the second-year Ph.D. student whose academic and teaching records have been excellent will have some full course teaching responsibility.  A limited number of Summer Quarter Associateships is available for qualified students.

Research projects supervised by Faculty provide employment opportunities as research associates for graduate students with the necessary competence in research methodology, quantitative methods, or computer work.

Applicants requesting associateships should submit complete materials prior to February 15.  As in the case of fellowships, applicants will be notified by March 15 and have until April 15 to accept offers.  Applications received about February 15 may still be eligible for funding.  However, the probability of a successful request for an associateship is improved by meeting this deadline.

Applicants may indicate desire for fellowships, research, or teaching associateships on the Admission Application form.

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Non-Degree Studies

Students wishing to undertake graduate-level coursework in geography but without the objective of the M.A. or Ph.D. degree may apply for admission with Graduate Non-Degree status.  Such students may take graduate courses but have no adviser and follow no prescribed course of study.

Graduate non-degree applicants should possess a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution.  Application forms should be submitted to the Office of Admissions, accompanied by official transcripts.

Graduate non-degree students seeking admission at a later date to a degree program are required to apply anew and submit all supporting documents (see "Admission").  Such applicants should be aware that, according to the rules of the Graduate School, only 10 credit hours may be transferred to a degree program.

Applicants denied admission to a degree program who subsequently enter the non-degree program are advised that their application for degree studies will not be reconsidered until grades for at least three quarters are available. 

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The Graduate Record Examination

As indicated in the Departmental prospectus, in order to consider a student for admission to a graduate program in geography we require scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) General Test.  We cannot act without this.  So it is imperative that students seriously considering applying to Ohio State take the GRE General Test as soon as possible.

The test is administered a number of times each year at many locations throughout the world.  In the U.S. information about the GRE in the form of the GRE Information Bulletin can be picked up at most university Graduate Colleges.  Elsewhere in the world most universities seem to have information available.  If there are problems in obtaining the GRE Information Bulletin, which includes the necessary application form, you should either:

(i) Telephone the GRE Office in Princeton, New Jersey, USA: (609) 771-7670 (office is open 8:30 am to 9:00 pm, Monday-Friday, Eastern Standard Time).

(ii)   Write:
       Graduate Record Examinations
       CN 6000
       Princeton, New Jersey 08541-6000

(iii)  Visit the GRE website at www.gre.org

(iv) Apply to the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for the necessary registration material.

The Graduate Committee of the Department of Geography meets in early March to consider applications for Teaching Associateships.  For Fellowships, therefore, we must have GRE scores by January 15 for U.S. applications and November 30 for international applicants.  For Teaching Associate applications it is important that GRE scores reach us by February 15.

Registration normally closes four weeks prior to the test date.  It takes about six weeks for the scores to reach us.  Plan accordingly.

We do not waive the GRE requirement.

We are unable to pay any of the applicant's costs.

Preparation for the examination is important.  There is a section on preparation for the exam in the GRE Information Bulletin and you should study it carefully.  In addition there is a book entitled Practicing to Take the GRE General Test - 9th ed. which is available for $15 not inclusive of postage and handling.  The address to send to is: 
Graduate Record Examinations
Education Testing Service
CN 4681
Princeton, NJ 08650-4681
USA
www.gre.org

This book may also be available within your university, perhaps in the reference section of the library, or even in a university bookstore.

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Recap of Deadlines

The following are critical due dates for Graduate Applications:
University Fellowships (US) January 15, (International) November 30
Graduate Associateships February 15
Notifications of such awards are made beginning March 15.

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