Graduate Students – Ph.D. Program

Requirements

The following rules for the Graduate Program in the Department of Political Science apply to all students entering the Ph.D. programs after September 1, 2005. These rules supplement but do not supersede the rules of the Graduate School as set forth in the Graduate School Bulletin. Students are responsible for meeting all rules and regulations of the Graduate School as well as of the department.

The Graduate Studies Committee faculty of the department shall enforce rules governing the Ph.D. program and be the final authority in their interpretation and application in specific cases. PhD. students may petition the Graduate Studies Committee faculty for variances from or exceptions to these rules. Its decisions shall be final and binding in such cases.

No individual faculty member or departmental committee other than the Graduate Studies Committee is authorized to approve any deviations whatsoever from these rules.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree Requirements

Residence, Course, & Grade Requirements
Comprehensive Examination Fields
Research Methods Requirement
Dissertation
Mentoring and Advising
Satisfactory Progress
Satisfactory Progress Reviews
Petitions and Appeals
Guidelines for Allocation of Teaching Assistantships

Residence, Course, & Grade Requirements:

Ph.D. students must be in residence full-time (registered for nine credits) for two consecutive semesters. (See the Graduate School Bulletin for the definition of "residency.")

Students entering without previous graduate study must complete at least 15 graduate-level courses. Students entering with an M.A. in political science may, with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee, transfer up to five courses from their M.A. program toward satisfaction of the 15 course requirement.

Students entering with some graduate work in political science, but not an M.A., and those with an M.A. in a discipline related to political science may, with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee, transfer up to two courses toward satisfaction of the 15 course requirement.

The Graduate Studies Committee may, in certain cases, require a student to take course work beyond the required minimum of 15 courses.

All courses used to satisfy Ph.D. requirements must be graded, and no course resulting in a grade of lower than B may be counted toward satisfaction of this requirement. A majority of the courses used to satisfy Ph.D. requirements must be at the 700 level.

Students may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for permission to count up to three graduate-level courses taken outside this department toward satisfaction of the 15-course requirement. The petition should include the course number, title, description, and instructor, as well as a statement as to how the course(s) fit into the student's program of study. Normally, the petition should be filed before registering for the course(s).

All Ph.D. students must also register for at least ten(10) dissertation credits before the completion of their course work.

Comprehensive Examination Fields:

Students must pass two written preliminary comprehensive field examinations administered in a format determined by each field. These field examinations may be taken in the same academic division or in different divisions. If they are taken in the same division, the student must then also take three courses in another academic division, as well as one course in the third division. Curricular divisions and the fields within them are as follows:

Division 1—Political Theory
Field A—Historical Theory
Field B—Contemporary Social and Political Thought

Division 2—American Politics
Field A—National Government and Politics
Field B—Public Law and Judicial Behavior
Field C—Public Administration & Policy

Division 3—World Politics
Field A—International Relations and Law
Field B—Comparative Politics

Field examinations test a student's comprehension of the substance, theories, methods, and literature in that field. Examinations tend to be general in character, designed to cover a field. Normally, a student will take at least three courses in a field before being examined, but field examinations are not necessarily related directly to courses. Reading lists for fields and copies of previous examination questions are available in the office of the Graduate Secretary.

Field examinations are offered twice a year during the first week of the Fall and Spring Semesters. Students are required to sign up for these examinations prior to the end of the preceding semester.

The grading scale for these examinations is "Distinction," "Pass," and "Fail." A student who fails an examination may, on the recommendation of faculty in that field and with the permission of the Graduate Studies Committee, repeat the exam. Permission to retake a field examination may be granted only once, and in all cases where a re-examination is authorized, the entire examination must be retaken.

The format of field examinations and field papers is determined by the faculty in each field subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Committee. The currently approved formats for written examinations, by field, are:

Political Theory: one week, take-home exam with an oral.
American Politics: National Government & Politics has a four-hour, sit-down exam with an oral; Public Law offers the option of a three-day OR one-week take-home exam with an oral; Public Administration and Public Policy have a three-day, take-home exam with an oral.
World Politics: Comparative politics has a four-hour, sit-down exam with an oral. International Politics has a 24-hour take-home exam with an oral.

Oral exams should be held within two weeks of the written exam or the submission of the final research paper. No oral examination will be scheduled until the committee members agree that an oral examination is merited following a review of the written examination or research paper. All members of the examination committee will be present for the oral examination. If this condition cannot be met for the originally scheduled date, the oral examination shall be rescheduled.

Research Methods Requirement:

All students must satisfy a foreign language or research methods requirement. The requirements may be fulfilled in either of the following ways:

By demonstrating advanced level competency in one language other than the student’s native tongue. Advanced level competency may be demonstrated by either completing a 300 level reading course in that language with a grade of B or better, or by completing a translation exam that demonstrates advanced level competency.

The research methods requirement can be satisfied by taking one course in research design and one course in either quantitative or qualitative research methods. The research methods requirement may be fulfilled by the student’s petition to the Graduate Studies Committee proposing graduate-level courses in research design and methods. A syllabus for the courses must be submitted with the petition, and the students must justify the courses selected in terms of planned research. All courses must be passed with the grade of B or better. Political Science 750 may be counted among the 15 used to satisfy the general course requirement.

Dissertation:

Satisfactory completion of a dissertation is the final requirement for the Ph.D. The dissertation represents a systematic investigation of a problem in the candidate's major field and should demonstrate an ability to do independent research. It is prepared under the supervision of a dissertation committee consisting of the student's principal dissertation advisor, who shall serve as chair, a second reader from the graduate faculty of the department, and a third reader from the graduate faculty of the university from a department other than political science.

Each student must develop a detailed dissertation prospectus with the guidance of the chair of the dissertation committee. The prospectus must include a statement of purpose, a review of relevant literature, a statement on research methods or procedures to be used, and a discussion of the significance of the expected findings and/or their theoretical importance.

When the prospectus has been prepared to the satisfaction of the dissertation committee, the student will present an oral defense of the prospectus, which will be conducted by the committee and be open to all faculty and graduate students in the department. If defended successfully, the prospectus will be signed by the members of the dissertation committee and the Graduate Program Director and filed with the Graduate School.

A dissertation committee may not be established, nor a dissertation prospectus approved until a student has completed all course, comprehensive, methods, and residency requirements. Moreover, a dissertation committee and approved prospectus must be on file with the Graduate School at least seven (7) months before the anticipated date of graduation.

The dissertation committee administers the final oral examination upon acceptance of the dissertation. The Graduate School must be notified at least three (3) weeks in advance of the date for which the oral is scheduled. The defense is open generally to faculty, staff and graduate students at the University.

Mentoring and Advising:

During their first year, students will receive mentoring from the field clerks of the specialization they identified in their applications or from the Graduate Program Director (GPD) if the students prefer. Thereafter, with help from the field clerks, GPD, and based on their own classroom experiences, students should identify a principal faculty member to serve as their mentor for advising. The choice does not preclude working with other faculty, or determine which faculty member will serve as their thesis chair.

Satisfactory Progress:

Satisfactory progress for full-time students entering with no prior graduate work is defined by the following schedule for the completion of degree requirements:

After one semester, completion of at least three graduate-level courses with grades of B or better.
After two semesters, completion of at least six graduate-level courses with grades of B or better.
After three semesters, completion of at least eight graduate-level courses with grades of B or better.
After four semesters, completion of at least eleven graduate-level courses with grades of B or better and passage of at least one comprehensive field examination.
After five semesters, completion of at least thirteen graduate-level courses, passage of two comprehensive field examinations.
After six semesters, completion of at least fifteen graduate-level courses and passage of the methods requirement.
After seven semesters, completion of dissertation prospectus.
After eight semesters, ABD: all course, examination, methods, and residency requirements satisfied, dissertation committee established, prospectus approved and on file with the Graduate School.

Satisfactory progress for full-time students entering with an M.A. in political science is defined by the following schedule for the completion of degree requirements:

After two semesters, completion of at least six graduate-level courses with grades of B or better and at least intermediate proficiency in a foreign language or quantitative methods.
After four semesters, completion of ten graduate-level courses with grades of B or better and passage of two comprehensive field examinations.
After five semesters, passage of methods requirement and completion of dissertation prospectus.
After six semesters, ABD: all course, examination, proficiency, and residency requirements satisfied, dissertation committee established, prospectus approved and on file with the Graduate School.

Satisfactory progress for part-time students will be defined by the Graduate Studies Committee on an individual basis. No student should have more than 2 incompletes on their record.

Satisfactory Progress Reviews:

The Graduate Studies Committee shall initiate a standard satisfactory progress review for all Ph.D. students on the basis of the following schedule:

All full-time students will be reviewed in the spring semester for satisfactory progress. Satisfactory progress reviews will be conducted in late May so as to be able to have a better impression of students’ performance in the first year. In this way we will be able to assure that support goes to the most deserving students, in a timely manner.

Faculty members should submit written evaluations of the work of all graduate students in seminars (from both semesters) in late March or April so that students may have additional feedback on their performance, and the graduate studies committee may make a more informed judgement about students’ satisfactory progress. Such evaluations could address subjects such as students’ performance in discussions, presentations to classes, writing assignments, mastery of material, strengths and weaknesses, and improvement over the semester. These rules only apply to students entering in Fall 2001 and thereafter.

The GPD will send advisory letters in January to students with incompletes and grades of B or lower to guide them in preparing for satisfactory progress evaluations.

A satisfactory progress review for an individual student will also be initiated in the event of any of the following: (i) failure of a comprehensive examination, (ii) receipt of a grade of B- or lower in a graduate-level course, or (iii) termination of a student's statute of limitations.

Failure to maintain satisfactory progress may result in the imposition of probationary conditions upon a student or in dismissal from the program.

Upon failure of a comprehensive examination, the Graduate Studies Committee, in executing a satisfactory progress review, may exercise any of the following options:

A. It may permit the student to take an examination for a second and final time in that field, with the understanding that failure for a second time will result in automatic dismissal from the program;

B. It may permit the student to take an examination in another field with the understanding that a failure in that examination will result in automatic dismissal from the program;

C. It may, in a case in which either option A or B has already been extended to a student following a previous failure of an examination, deny any further privileges and dismiss the student from the program.

Petitions and Appeals:

Students may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for individual exceptions to the general Rules and Procedures governing the program. Petitions in writing must be filed to obtain credit for graduate-level courses taken at other universities, other than an M.A. in Political Science, of in other departments at this University.

Students may appeal the decisions of the Committee with regard to petitions, probation, or dismissal and are entitled to meet with the Committee in conjunction with their appeal.

In all cases, petitions and appeals are to be addressed to the Graduate Studies Committee.

Guidelines for Allocation of Teaching Assistantships:

Of the Teaching Assistantships (TAs) given the Department each year, one-third will normally be allocated to entering students and two-thirds to continuing students. Only students in the Ph.D. program are eligible for TA awards.

Students entering with a B.A. may expect three years of TA funding, those with an M.A. two years, depending upon satisfactory progress in the program, availability of state funding, and satisfactory performance in teaching. For the purpose of TA funding, ‘satisfactory progress’ shall be defined as maintaining a grade point average of AB in all graduate-level courses taken in the program, as well as meeting the requirements set forth in the section, “Satisfactory Progress”, of these Rules. The Graduate Studies Committee will review student progress and performance annually before renewing an award.

Students entering the program without funding may apply for a TA in their second and third years, the award of which will depend upon their performance in the program, which must meet the ‘satisfactory progress’ requirements for TAs, and the availability of funding after new and continuing student awards have been made. At the time of such award, a continuing student will be advised whether it is renewable and for how many years, which shall not exceed three years in total.

Students may, with the approval of the Graduate Program Director, choose to take their TA award over a four-year period. No student will be eligible for TA funding for more than three years or beyond their fourth year in the program.

Students in their fourth year and beyond, who have exhausted TA support, may be employed by the Department as Teaching Associates (TOs), depending upon departmental need and the availability of funding. Normally, students must be ABD to qualify for TO funding. Funding decisions for TOs shall be made by the Department Chair in consultation with the Graduate Program Director.