A major objective of the graduate research and teaching program in the Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science Department is to instill professionalism in each student. A professional is a person who accepts responsibility, can direct the efforts of other people, and is self-motivated. Graduate student employees may be asked to work on projects unrelated to their thesis topic, or at times provide limited non-academic work assistance to Department staff. Graduate students must depend upon their own personal productivity and dedication to acquire the sense of pride and duty needed to succeed as a professional. Graduate students are directly accountable to their major professor, or work supervisor, for their work habits, and will be treated as fellow professionals whose ideas, concepts, and approaches are integrated into the final product.