OSU gets geography doctorate program

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma State University students who want to study more specialized areas of geography no longer have to elsewhere to do so.<br><br>OSU's geography department now offers

Saturday, November 29th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma State University students who want to study more specialized areas of geography no longer have to elsewhere to do so.

OSU's geography department now offers a doctorate in geography, a change that's been a long time coming.

Department Chairman Dale Lightfoot said in the past, students who wanted an advanced degree beyond the masters level had to attend another school, like the University of Oklahoma, or obtain a Ph.D. through the education department.

Faculty members wanted to offer more, since the department had the faculty and specialized areas to do so, Lightfoot said.

An external review was completed in the late 1990s and results supported what the faculty wanted to do.

The department just needed approval from the university and the board of regents. To get the go-ahead from the regents, professors had to show the program could offer something different from what students could get at OU, Lightfoot said.

He said a new specialty called geography special data helped the department get the regents' approval.

The specialty contributes data to geographic information systems and helps advance global positioning systems.

Members of OU's geography department reviewed the information and have pledged their support.