Attachment I

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Graduate Division's New Dean's Normative Time Fellowships
A Guide for Continuing Ph.D. Students

The policies and criteria governing the Graduate Division's new Dean's Normative Time Fellowships dramatically changed in Spring 2001. These changes affect all continuing Ph.D. students on the UC Berkeley campus. Understanding the full impact of these new changes is essential as they may have an impact on your plans for the qualifying examination.

The Graduate Division's new Dean's Normative Time Fellowship no longer focuses on the normative time to complete your dissertation which for our doctoral program, as established by the School and the campus many years ago, is 10 semesters or 5 years.

The Graduate Division's new Dean's Normative Time Fellowship now focuses on normative time for advancement to candidacy (i.e. the taking of the qualifying exam) as established by the School and the campus. This has not been the focus of the School of Social Welfare or doctoral students in the past as it was not relevant to qualifying for normative time. But now it is important and you need to understand how this new time-frame may impact your planning for the scheduling of the qualifying examination.

For doctoral students in the School of Social Welfare normative time for advancement to candidacy is 3 years or 6 semesters.* Any doctoral student in the School of Social Welfare who does not take the qualifying exam in the Spring of their 3rd year* will not be eligible for the 2 semester Dean's Normative Time Fellowship for Fall/Spring of the following year. If a doctoral student takes the qualifying exam in the 7th semester, he/she may still be eligible for one semester of normative time (for those who began graduate studies as MSW/Ph.D. students, taking the qualifying exam in the 9th semester allows eligibility for one semester).

If, in the future, a Ph.D. student takes the qualifying exam in the 6th semester (end of 3rd year) or an MSW/PhD student takes the exam in the 8th semester (end of 4th year) and applies for candidacy no later than June 30, he/she will be considered for normative time for the Fall and Spring of the coming academic year. Normative Time Fellowships are now awarded for a maximum of 2 semesters for those who qualify.

Be aware of this change too. A withdrawal now for research or academic purposes will count as accrued time towards your normative time allowance. Only withdrawal for health reasons or parental leave will not count in calculating a student's eligibility for normative time. The limit on this type of leave is 2 semesters. Any other accrued time is counted towards the normative time allowance.

As a result of these recent changes, continuing Ph.D. students who entered the program in Fall of 1999 and in Fall of 2000 are eligible for 2 semesters of normative time IF you take the qualifying exam by the end of the 3rd year in the program (6th semester) and 1 semester of normative time if you take the qualifying exam by the end of the the 7th semester. MSW/Ph.D. students (those who initially began graduate studies as a combined student) who take the exam at the end of the 4th year (8th semester) are eligible for 2 semesters of normative time and those who take the exam in the 9th semester are eligible for one semester.

Students who entered the Ph.D. program in Fall 1997 and who have not yet taken the qualifying exam are now no longer eligible for normative time. Please consider the Dean's Competitive Dissertation Fellowship as listed below. This fellowship is also a possibility for Ph.D. and MSW/Ph.D. students who are eligible for only one semester of normative time.

If you entered the Ph.D. program in Fall 1998 and plan on taking the qualifying exam in Fall 2001, you may by eligible for one semester of normative time (as previously mentioned). You may also wish to apply for the Dean's Competitive Dissertation Fellowship for one semester.

Doctoral students affected by these recent changes in policy governing normative time may wish to plan now for other financial resources.

There are two other competitive fellowships available:

The Graduate Division's Dean's Dissertation Fellowship which may be of interest to students after the qualifying exam and once you are advanced to candidacy. Shelley Okimoto may also be able to provide other resources. Information on this fellowship may be found in Attachment I-A, Graduate Division's Dean's Fellowships 2001-2001.

If you who have completed one year of the Ph.D. program and have not yet taken your qualifying exam (2nd and 3rd year students), the Graduate Division's Dean's Academic Progress Fellowship may be of interest. Additional information on this fellowship may also be found in Attachment I-A.

Please refer to the Graduate Division's website: http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/grad/ under "Dean's Fellowships" for additional information. You may also wish to call the Graduate Division (642-7330) with questions. Barbara Haden, Graduate Assistant, 118 Haviland and Shelley Okimoto, Admissions for the School of Social Welfare, are also available.

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* Combined Students:

• If you entered the Ph.D. program in Fall 1998, and plan on taking the qualifying exam in Fall 2001, you may by eligible for one semester of normative time (as previously mentioned).
• If you began the program as a an MSW/Ph.D. student (combined) you have up to 4 years or 8 semesters to take the qualifying exam.
• If you were an MSW student who added the Ph.D. program during the second year of the MSW program, you will need to speak to the Graduate Division personally regarding time to candidacy in relation to eligibility for normative time.
• Also, if you completed the MSW and then returned to the School of Social Welfare to pursue the Ph.D. you will want to speak with the Graduate Division regarding the timing and eligibility.

Because this is a new normative time program, it has not yet been clearly established by the Graduate Division as to how they will view these variations in our combined program with regards to a time-frame for eligibility.

The Graduate Division office is located in 302 Sproul or you may call them at 642-7330.

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