ADVISING AND ADMINISTRATION
Advising.
The Ph.D. program is administered by the Chair of the Doctoral Committee
(Professor Steven P. Segal),
the Coordinator of Academic Programs (Dr. Paul
Terrell), and the Doctoral Assistant (Barbara
Haden). The Doctoral Assistant handles all matters of procedure
and communications such as student applications and petitions, enrollment
and registration, arrangements for the qualifying examinations, record
maintenance, and dissertation filing. You are encouraged to discuss
with her any questions you may have about the Ph.D. program, Graduate
Division requirements and procedures, or related matters. The School's
Admissions Assistant (Shelley
Okimoto) in room 128 can give you additional information regarding
financial aid and fellowships.
Faculty Advisers.
When you are admitted to the program, you are initially assigned a faculty
adviser for one year whose interests correspond broadly with your own.
Your faculty adviser's duty is to assist you with academic matters such
as selecting courses, preparing for the qualifying examination, and
selecting your fields of study for the examination and faculty who will
serve on your committee. As you become acquainted with the faculty and
your program takes shape, you may find that a faculty member other than
your adviser is best able to help you. At the end of your first year
a memo will be sent to you asking whether you wish to retain or change
your adviser. Once you are advanced to candidacy, the chair of your
dissertation committee becomes your faculty adviser.
When obtaining
signatures on University petitions, don't confuse your faculty adviser
with the graduate adviser or "head graduate adviser." Any petition
requiring the signature of a graduate adviser should be brought to the
Doctoral Assistant, Barbara Haden, who will sign for the Associate Dean,
Lorraine Midanik,
and make a copy for your student file.
Administration.
The Ph.D. program is supervised by the Doctoral Committee, assisted
by the Coordinator of Academic Programs. The doctoral committee is composed
of all members of the social welfare faculty eligible for service on
qualifying examination and dissertation committees and two elected student
representatives, plus an elected alternate who may vote in case of their
absence. You will be asked to vote for representatives in the spring
semester for the following academic year. The committee meets at least
once each semester. A draft agenda is distributed several weeks prior
to each meeting and students may propose additions via their representatives,
who should convene the students to discuss issues prior to each committee
meeting. Meetings are open to all doctoral students, although only elected
representatives may vote.
The University and
School have a number of important policies and procedures governing
various student issues. These are included as attachments at the back
of the handbook. They include:
Withdrawal and
Readmission. Every graduate student in good standing, unless granted
withdrawal by the Dean of the Graduate Division, is required to register
every semester until the completion of all requirements for the degree.
Failure to register or to obtain formal permission to leave the
University constitutes voluntary withdrawal from the Graduate Division
and precludes readmission. Graduate students must register in
any semester during which they are using faculty time for consultation
or University facilities for research purposes.
- Withdrawal.
While we hope you will not find it necessary to discontinue your work
before receiving the degree, if you do wish to withdraw from the University,
either at the close of or during a semester, you must submit a petition
for approved withdrawal. During your absence, you are exempt from
all fees and are expected in turn to maintain no connections with
the University; you may not use University facilities (including subsidized
computer time) or place demands on faculty time. In most cases, before
a petition for withdrawal is submitted for approval, you should be
advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. You may withdraw for up
to two semesters after being advanced to candidacy without these adding
to your accrued time in graduate status or normative time (see Attachment
I).
- Readmission.
If you have withdrawn and wish to resume your studies, you must
file an application for readmission ($40 fee), available from the
School of Social Welfare's Doctoral Office or the Graduate Division
Office of Degrees and Petitions. Readmission applications should be
submitted by April 15 for the fall semester and by August 15 for the
spring. Approval of readmission petitions is normally granted but
is not automatic. You will be notified by the Graduate Division when
they have acted on your application.