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Normal Progress

                                                                                                                                    September 2006

 

TO:         ARE Graduate Students

 

FROM:    Graduate Advisory Committee

 

RE:         Definition of Normal Progress and Normative Time for the Ph.D. Degree

 

 

Students in the ARE Ph.D. program are expected to adhere to the following schedule, defined as "normal progress," and complete their studies within Normative Time.*   The sanctions are specified below.

 

End of First Year.  A grade of at least B in each of the pre-approved first year courses.  A Preliminary Examination in economic theory is taken at the end of the first year of studies.  If the examination is not passed, it must be taken again by the end of the second year.  (The examination can be taken only twice.)  Failure to pass these requirements within the first two years of study leads to dismissal from the Ph.D. program.

 

End of Second Year.  Econometrics course sequence and econometrics project completed with at least a B grade in each.  Both major and minor fields completed, and examination in major field taken.  If the major field examination is not passed, it must be taken by the end of the third year, and it can be taken only twice. These requirements must be satisfied before a student is allowed to take the Oral Qualifying Examination.

 

End of Third Year.  Required macroeconomics course (ECON 202A or 202B) completed.  Incomplete grades removed, and all the first and second year requirements satisfied.  Failure to complete all first and second year requirements by this time is cause for blocked registration, discontinuation of financial aid, or dismissal. Research Essay approved by the student’s chosen Guidance Committee, and Oral Qualifying Examination passed.  (Please see the attached memo regarding Normative Time policy for the oral exam.)

 

Advancement to Candidacy.  After passing the Oral Qualifying Examination, students apply for advancement to candidacy for the doctoral degree.  Once a student has been advanced to candidacy, the Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) appointment may be upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2 upon recommendation of the faculty dissertation supervisor and availability of funding.

 

Fourth Year.  Departmental support such as GSR/GSI appointments and nonresident tuition may be significantly reduced or discontinued if the Oral Qualifying Examination has not been passed before entering the fourth year. (See the attached memo for more details.)  Students are expected to be writing their dissertations by this time.

 

Fifth Year.  Registration may be blocked if the Oral Qualifying Examination has not been passed.  Nonresident tuition support would be discontinued.

 

Time for Completion of Dissertation.  Six semesters after Advancement to Candidacy within constraint of normative time.  Candidacy will usually be lapsed by Graduate Division at the end of this time.

 

Extension of Candidacy Beyond Normative Time.  Beyond normative time, a one-year extension may be obtained from the Dean of Graduate Division based on certification by the student's dissertation supervisor that continued progress is being made.  If this certification is not obtained, the student's candidacy is lapsed by the Graduate Division.  Reinstatement by the Dean of Graduate Division is sometimes possible; it depends, in particular, on assessment by the Graduate Advisory Committee that the student's past studies and examinations are not obsolete for the desired degree.  The Graduate Division may require the student to take another oral examination.

 

 

*Normative Time is defined as total elapsed calendar time to complete all requirements for the doctoral degree for students engaged in full-time, uninterrupted study.  The maximum length of time for our program, set by the Graduate Division, is 12 semesters: 6 semesters before advancement to candidacy, and a maximum of 6 semesters after advancement to completion of the dissertation.


 

DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON NORMATIVE TIME FOR ORAL EXAMINATION

 

 

Normative Time for the Oral Qualifying Examination

 

The oral exam is to be completed by all Ph.D. students before the beginning of their fourth year of graduate studies – no later than the end of the summer of the third year of graduate studies. This includes all leaves of absence except those (as specified by the Graduate Division) due to the Family and Medical Leave Act or other rare exceptions requiring approval by the GAC and Department Chair on an individual case-by-case basis.

 

Completion of the oral exam in a timely fashion is an essential part of the timely completion of a high quality dissertation. You will find in your professional career that your university or other employer regularly requires the timely completion of projects. The establishment and enforcement of deadlines is an appropriate and integral part of your professional development. The oral examination is designed to foster its completion within the three-year time frame. Financial incentives are in place to encourage compliance with the oral exam policy.

 

Exceptions

 

Requests for exceptions from the departmental normative time requirements for orals can be made by written petition to the GAC from the graduate student’s advisor. Reasons beyond the student’s control, such as an extended period of serious illness, are most likely to be approved. A delay in taking coursework is very unlikely to receive favorable consideration. Students who anticipate the need for significant third year coursework must consult the GAC as soon as this becomes apparent. Petitions for an exception are presented to the GAC for a decision and then to the ARE chair for the chair's agreement.

 

Guidelines for the orals

 

The oral examination is designed to focus on a proposal or prospectus for the dissertation research, in which the student describes the topic, the literature, what he/she proposes to do, and how he/she proposes to do it. The oral is not designed to be focus on a substantial part of the completed dissertation or defense of nearly completed dissertation research.

 

The oral examination is required by the Graduate Division for the purpose of assuring that the student has sufficient understanding of the field of inquiry in which the dissertation lies to be able to complete the dissertation. In ARE, we examine this mastery with the written preliminary and field exams as well as the oral examination. The oral examination focuses on a proposal for the thesis research. Prior to the examination, the student is expected to distribute a short (10 page) written proposal for a thesis. A proposal must delineate the proposed intellectual contribution and show its place in the literature. It must contain evidence that the proposed project can be carried to completion. Evidence includes the availability of the data, funding for travel to obtain data if necessary, a sketch of an appropriate model or a sketch of the proof of a proposition if the research is based on theory, a sketch of the econometric strategy if the research is mainly empirical. Neither a finished paper, nor preliminary results, nor proof of a proposition are required. The first twenty minutes or so of the exam is a presentation by the student of the proposal. The remainder of the exam consists of questions by the examiners about the proposal and about the underlying field of inquiry in which the proposal lies.

 

Process for scheduling the oral exam

 

In the fall semester of your third year, you should receive a memo about your Research Guidance Committee (with an enclosed Petition for a Guidance Committee form) requesting you to choose two ARE faculty members as your Guidance Committee. It is common that the Chair of your Guidance Committee ultimately serves as your Dissertation Chair and the second member serves as the Chair of your Oral Exam Committee, and ultimately as the second ARE member of your Dissertation Committee. But this is not mandatory. The only strict rule is that the Chair of your Oral Exam may not serve as your Dissertation Chair. When they have signed the form agreeing to serve as your Guidance Committee, please return the form to Gail Vawter, the Graduate Assistant.

 

You are advised to work closely with your main advisor (Chair of your Guidance Committee) until a first draft of the research proposal is acceptable, and then to contact the chair of their orals committee for additional recommendations. After both members of your Guidance Committee have accepted your research proposal, they must sign a form (available from Gail) attesting that they have read it, and that you have been approved to take the oral exam.

 

At least 3 weeks before you intend to take your oral exam, you must choose your orals committee. The orals committee consists of four members: the Orals Chair, two other ARE faculty members appropriate to your topic, and one member from outside the discipline (a faculty member from another department at Berkeley). The dissertation advisor and chair cannot be the orals committee chair. You will submit this committee to the Graduate Assistant on the appropriate form and your committee must be approved by the Head Graduate Advisor and by the Graduate Degrees Office before you can take your oral examination. You need to set a date and time for your exam that is agreed upon by all of the committee members before you submit your committee for approval.

 

Important Advice

 

Too many students wait until the end of the time limit and try to schedule their oral during the summer after their third year of graduate studies. This can be very difficult. Nearly all faculty travel during the summer. The outside committee member can be particularly difficult to coordinate an oral examination with. The Department does everything we can to work with graduate students to schedule and complete their orals, but we have no leverage with other departments. Please do not procrastinate on scheduling your oral exam.