PhD Handbook: General Information
Graduate Student Handbook for the Ph.D. Degree
Welcome to the Ph.D. Program in Education at the University of California, Davis. This handbook will give you an overview and background on the program in education, and it will assist both you and faculty advisers in understanding program requirements. The program faculty members view each of you as an important partner in identifying an appropriate course of study, which will result in a meaningful graduate experience. This handbook is designed to supplement the more general Graduate Student Handbook available on the Office of Graduate Studies Web site.
Background
Each student is working toward the Ph.D. within the Graduate Group in Education. A Graduate Group system is found almost uniquely on the Davis campus. Faculty members organize across departmental lines to offer a graduate degree, which is housed in a chosen academic unit. Though housed in the School of Education, the Graduate Group in Education is comprised of faculty from a wide range of academic units in addition to Education including, e.g., Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, American Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Geology, Human and Community Development, Linguistics, Mathematics, Native American Studies, Physics, Plant Biology, Sociology, Statistics, and Spanish.
Program Goals
The primary goal of the Ph.D. Program in Education is to offer instruction to students in the theories, methods, and accumulated research that provide the basis for current understanding and for expanding knowledge of the learner, instruction, and schooling in society. The ultimate goal of the program is to prepare scholars who can both advance knowledge in education through research and improve the practice of educating and schooling children, youth, and adults. The program will also prepare scholars to occupy a variety of leadership positions in universities, school districts, state educational agencies, and private organizations concerned with instructional research, policy, and practice.