PROGRESS
TO THE DOCTORATE
POST-CANDIDACY
Graduate
Division's Limitations to Time in Candidacy. Candidacy for the doctorate
is of limited duration. When students are advanced to candidacy, the
Graduate Division informs them of the number of semesters they are eligible
to be candidates, based on time in candidacy calculations. In Social
Welfare, a doctoral student has up to 10 semesters to complete the Ph.D.
degree. An MSW/Ph.D. student has up to 12 semesters (this is the case
whether the two degrees are completed separately or as part of the Combined
Program) to complete both degree programs. A doctoral student becomes
subject to lapsing of candidacy if this normative time standard
is not met. Reinstatement to candidacy is possible if your dissertation
chair can verify to the Graduate Division that you have completed an
acceptable draft of the dissertation, and that the content of your qualifying
examination still represents valid evidence of your mastery of current
knowledge in the discipline, so that reexamination is unnecessary. Two
years after your candidacy is lapsed, your candidacy is subject
to termination. Termination represents a form of academic probation
more severe than lapsing but still short of formal dismissal. To restore
candidacy which has been terminated and remove the probation, Graduate
Division requires that you re-take your qualifying examination
and submit a new application for advancement to candidacy.
Graduate
Council's Student Parent Policies. An exception is the Graduate
Division's new student parent policies. Any student who has taken time
to accommodate childbirth or other serious parental demands may receive
an extension of up to one extra year for passing preliminary examinations
(in units that require these examinations). And, any student who has
taken time off to accommodate childbirth or other serious parental demands
may receive an extension of one extra year for passing Qualifying Examinations.
Following Qualifying Exams, an extension of one extra year toward Normative
Time completion may also be granted. The total additional time granted
by this policy may not exceed two years, regardless of the number of
children involved. Schools and departments must acknowledge these extensions
in their calculations of Normative Time both before and after Qualifying
Examinations.
See
Attachment I: Dean's Normative Time Fellowship, for further
information.
Preparing
Your Dissertation. Your dissertation is the final demonstration
of your scholarly, research, and professional abilities. It should provide
an original contribution to knowledge in the field. You submit your
completed dissertation to the Graduate Division after your three dissertation
committee members have given their final signature approval. No additional
"oral defense" of your dissertation is required.
Dissertation
Committee Composition. Ideally, the three faculty who comprise your
dissertation committee will have served on your qualifying examination
committee, although this is not a requirement. The dissertation committee
chair and a second member of the dissertation committee should be from
the School of Social Welfare; a third must be from another department.
Committee members must be full-time Academic Senate members of the Berkeley
faculty. Drs. Terrell, Grossman and Needell may also serve on your committee,
but they may not chair unless a senate faculty member serves as co-chair.
The "outside" member must be from the Berkeley Academic Senate. Graduate
Division does not grant exceptions to this regulation. If you wish
to have a faculty member from another Berkeley department act as your
chair or co-chair, this person cannot serve as your "outside" member
and you will need a fourth committee member to serve in this capacity.
Format.
Instructions on the preparation of a dissertation (abstract, format,
footnotes, paper stock, etc.) are contained in the booklet, "Information
Regarding the Preparation and Filing of Dissertations and Theses for
Higher Degrees," available from Graduate Division in 302 Sproul.
Meeting
with Your Committee. You are required to meet with your dissertation
committee to consider your prospectus following your qualifying examination
and BEFORE you begin your research. This meeting, usually held
within one or two months after passing the qualifying orals exam, is
an opportunity to identify and correct possible problems in your research
design and clarify your committee members' expectations, thus ensuring
a feasible plan. If you and your dissertation chair agree that sufficient
discussion with your committee has already occurred, you may request
that this requirement be waived by submitting a statement to this effect,
signed by both you and your dissertation chair, to the Doctoral Assistant
who will forward it to the Doctoral Committee Chair for approval. You
should continue to consult regularly with your committee members and
keep them informed of the progress of your work. They can also assist
you should you wish to publish or present parts of your dissertation.
Submitting
Drafts to Your Committee. In order to protect faculty from the pressure
of rush reviews and students from unreasonable delays in feedback, the
doctoral committee has established three weeks as the expected
time between a committee member's receipt of a draft and its return
to the student. You should, however, discuss this matter with your committee
chair to determine if scheduling constraints will make an alternate
time period necessary.
Human
Subjects Approval. All research involving human subjects conducted
under the auspices of the University of California, including dissertation
research, whether done domestically or internationally, must be submitted
for review and approval by campus Committee for Protection of Human
Subjects (CPHS) before it is undertaken. If your research does not
involve human subjects, your dissertation chair must so certify on your
application for advancement to candidacy. The procedures for securing
approval of your proposed research are as follows.
-
The Committee for Protection of Human Subjects (located in 101 Wheeler
Hall) can give you a copy of their guidelines for preparing your protocol,
submission deadlines, and meeting dates, as well as the School's signature
cover sheet and instructions. You may also access this information
at their website: http://cphs.berkeley.edu:7006.
Questions about the guidelines or their implementation should be directed
to the CPHS staff at 642-7461 or you can e-mail them at subjects@uclink.berkeley.edu.
Their hours are M-F, 9-12 noon and 1-4:00 p.m.
- Prepare
your protocol. This should state clearly and succinctly how you will
explain in language understandable to your subjects what the research
is about, what possible risks and benefits may be involved, how any
risks will be minimized, and your procedures (verbal or written) for
obtaining informed consent from your proposed subjects. Your consent
procedure should include a statement that subjects may withdraw their
participation at any time.
-
After your dissertation chair signs the School's cover sheet,
submit 19 copies plus the original of your protocol, including
any consent form or informational statement for subjects, together
with 3 copies of any questionnaires or interview schedule to
Committee for Protection of Human Sujects. They will notify you and
your dissertation chair by mail when it has been reviewed.
Use
of University Letterhead in Dissertation Research. The School has
a strict policy concerning the use of University letterhead, since its
use carries implied obligation and liability. Use of University letterhead
must be approved by a faculty member in the School of Social Welfare
who will distribute it to you.
Filing
Fee Option in Lieu of Registration. If you have been continually
registered except for up to two semesters of approved withdrawal, and
are currently making corrections to the final draft of your dissertation,
you may apply for use of the filing fee (currently $178.25) instead
of paying full registration fees. However, students on filing fee status
are not entitled to the use of University facilities or faculty time
in excess of that accorded the general public. You may purchase library
privileges and student health insurance, and work as a GSI or GSR under
the filing fee, but you are not entitled to request faculty assistance
beyond that required to read your final drafts. The filing fee may
be applied for only once, and is valid for a period of four calendar
months unless you are working as a GSI or GSR, in which case
the filing fee is granted for the semester and you must file
your dissertation by the filing deadline for that semester's degrees.
Filing
Your Dissertation with the Graduate Division. You file two original,
unbound copies of your dissertation and two signed copies of your abstract,
with Graduate Division. One copy for the Graduate Division must be on
thesis paper. The other copy may be on bond.
Filing
Your Dissertation with the School of Social Welfare Library. A third
unbound copy of your dissertation, signed abstract, and title page,
also on thesis paper, are to be given to the Doctoral Assistant for
the Social Welfare Library. It is customary to give one copy of your
dissertation to your committee chair.
Official
Degree Date. Your official degree date is not the date on
which you submit your dissertation. Degrees are officially awarded only
twice each year, in December and May. For salary or employment purposes,
however, you have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. on the date
you file your dissertation with the Graduate Division, and you can request
a "Certificate of Completion" from them at that time.
Official
Diplomas are prepared in August or September for May graduates,
and in April for December graduates. You may telephone 642-4721 or send
a request (see the Doctoral Assistant for forms) to Diplomas, 128 Sproul,
to have your diploma mailed to you for an $8.00 fee ($14 for overseas
mailing). You may obtain your diploma in person without charge.
Graduation
Ceremony for MSW and Ph.D. students is conducted by the School each
year in May. Information on participating is distributed each spring.
Doctoral students who have not yet filed (or do not anticipate filing)
their dissertations previous to the ceremony will need to get approval
from their dissertation chair in writing by April 1 in order to participate
in the ceremony and have their name appear in the printed program.
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