Degree program shaves time off getting a master’s

Sara Gillette plans to walk away with a master’s degree in biology quickly and in a way that will prepare her for a career in fisheries management.

Gillette was one of the first Central Michigan University students to enroll in a program in the biology department that would give her both an undergraduate and a graduate degree at an accelerated pace.

She’ll earn two degrees in just five years.

The accelerated graduate degree program allows her to take some of her high-level biology courses at a graduate level rather than an undergraduate level, said Kevin Pangle, a member of the biology department’s faculty and Gillette’s mentor.

Gillette graduated with her bachelor’s degree in December but was taking graduate level courses at the same time. That will allow her to shave a year off her education.

Gillette is also getting valuable hands-on experience in Pangle’s lab while pursuing her graduate degree. It’s one of the two tracks available to students in the program. The other includes more coursework.

She hopes to find a non-lethal way to study coaster brook trout, which are brook trout—Michigan’s state fish—that spend part of their lives in the big waters of Lake Superior. It is also prized among anglers.

It’s a one-two punch that Gillette believes will pay off after graduation.

“The skills from the lab are setting me up nicely for a career,” she said. Gillette aspires to work as a fisheries biologist.

That’s a step above a fisheries technician and requires a master’s degree, she said. She’ll qualify for the work and cut the amount of time she spends pursuing the degree in half.

Biology isn’t the only program at CMU offering a graduate degree at an accelerated pace. CMU offers a total of 24 accelerated master’s degree programs—including one for athletic training—and one accelerated graduate certificate.