PhD Handbook: Graduate Studies Requirements
Residence and unit Requirements: Students working towards a doctorate must be registered and in University residence for a minimum of six regular quarters. Two consecutive regular Summer Sessions may be counted as the equivalent of one regular quarter if at least two units are taken in each Summer Session. Students are required to enroll for 12 units per quarter if they are full-time or 6 or fewer units if they are officially registered as part-time students. The Graduate Studies forms can be found on their Web site.
Qualifying Examination: Forms for admission to the Qualifying Examination are supplied by Graduate Studies. To be eligible for examination, the student must have satisfied all departmental or group requirements, (e.g. coursework), have removed all deficiences, and must have at least a "B" average in all work undertaken in graduate standing. Students must be registered the quarters in which they take any portion of their Qualifying Examination.
A student must not take the examination prior to receipt of the notice of admission to the qualifying examination from Graduate Studies. It takes approximately eight weeks for Graduate Studies to process the application and to notify the committee members of their appointment. The application should be submitted by the Graduate Adviser or Group Chairperson early enough in advance of the examination date.
Committee Membership: The Graduate Adviser, after consultation with the student, nominates faculty to serve on the higher degree committees. The committees are appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
A Qualifying Examination Committee ordinarily consists of five members. It is strongly recommended one member be appointed from outside the department or the graduate group with which the student is studying. The chairperson of the Qualifying Examination Committee may not be the faculty member who will serve as chairperson of the student's dissertation committee.
Prospective members for the committee are recommended to the Executive Associate Dean of Graduate Studies by the Graduate Adviser after consultation with the student. The Associate Dean of Graduate Studies determines the membership of the Committee and sends official notice of appointment to the members.
Requirements for membership on Qualifying Examination Committees and Doctoral Dissertation Committees have been established in an effort to ensure that the examination is a fair and accurate measure of the student's ability and progress. In general, a member of a committee should have achieved a level at least equivalent to that degree for which the student is aiming. The following persons, therefore, are acceptable as members of advanced degree committees:
1. All voting members of the Academic Senate of the University of California, including Lecturers with Security of Employment, Professors in Residence and Adjunct Professors.
2. On special written request of the Graduate Adviser and with the approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies, other lecturers and staff engaged in continuing teaching and research activity.
3. Members of the graduate program faculty recomended by the Graduate Adviser to serve on advanced degree committees for students of that Graduate Group.
(Only one member from categories 2 and 3 should be appointed to serve on a single Qualifying Examnation Committee.)
It is possible, under some circumstances, to suggest a committee member from outside the University of California, who has special expertise and qualifications. The Graduate Adviser must submit a brief statement indicating the appointee's affiliation and title, degrees held, and describing the special expertise that cannot be duplicated on the campus. A curriculum vitae and a letter from the nominated person indicating willingness to serve should be submitted.
Appointment of a nonmember of the Senate as the chairperson of doctoral dissertation committees is approved only under the most unusual circumstances.
Before an examining committee is proposed, it is desirable for the student's graduate adviser to determine, in advance, whether faculty members will be available for such service. Changes in membership once a committee has been constituted may cause hardship for students as well as additional workload for Graduate Studies. Disagreement over the quality of a student's performance is not a legitimate reason for a member to be asked to be removed from a committee or to be replaced. The principal reasons are: 1) extended absence from the campus, 2) illness, or 3) for dissertation committees, a real and justified change in the student's topic. When membership changes must be made, the Graduate Adviser should recommend a new committee giving the reason for the change. Graduate Studies will issue a reconstitution notice to the student and committee members. For any changes once a committee has been constituted, the Graduate Adviser must submit a statement of the reason for the request and the reason must be acceptable to the Dean of Graduate Studies.