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For a detailed description of the program please read our 2022 Political Science Graduate Student Handbook. This handbook covers topics such as:
Continuing students wishing to review details of the pre-2018-19 program requirements should consult the 2015 Political Science Graduate Student Handbook. |
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Forms & Petitions Qualifying field form Committee Nomination Process |
Teaching Assistantships
Every year the department receives a fixed annual allocation decided by the Dean of Social Sciences. The department commits to a five-year plan for each student at time of admission, and then beyond this distributes any additional TAships based primarily on equity, with need being a secondary consideration.
Department Fellowships
The department receives a fixed annual “block grant” of funds annually and we distribute this money to fellowships, conference travel, and lectureships based on equity and need, after fulfilling the department fellowship promises that were made at the time of admission for a particular cohort.
Field Requirements
Students must qualify in two fields. The first field is chosen from among American Politics, International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory. Students must take four courses in the first field and pass a written qualifying examination. The second field is chosen from among American Politics, International Relations, Comparative Politics, Political Theory, Environmental Politics, and Identity Politics. In special cases, the second field may be selected by petition from other options. Students must take four courses in the second field. Requirements vary by field regarding qualifying by examination or by preparing a written field paper. Both fields must be completed, by two exams or an exam and a field paper, before the start of the third year.
Breadth Requirement
Students must take four substantive seminars outside their first and second fields. These may all be in a third field or may be spread across fields beyond the first and second.
Oral Examination of the Dissertation Prospectus
Last Updated August 21, 2024
1. Forming Your Prospectus Committee
You should aim to finalize your prospectus committee at least one month before your intended defense date. The idea is that the members of your prospectus committee are also who you consider as your prospective dissertation committee, though committee changes can be made between the points of advancement and dissertation defense. The composition of this committee is subject to approval by the Graduate Advisor, the Department Chair, and the Graduate Dean.
A minimum of 3 UC ladder faculty members is required for the prospectus committee. You are responsible for nominating 2 of these 3 members. Once you have these 2 names, you will complete the Faculty Approval for Defense of PhD Dissertation Prospectus Powerform. Once this is complete, please reach out to the Faculty Graduate Advisor to request for a prospectus consultation. After this consultation the Faculty Graduate Advisor will appoint the third member within or outside the Department to serve on the examining committee as an outside member and notify you. (The outside member is not barred from serving as a future member of the dissertation committee.)
After you have your prospectus committee you should login to GradPoint Students and submit your committee for approval. The system will prompt each committee member, the Staff Grad Advisor, and the Department Chair to approve. There is a step-by-step video guide here.
2. Scheduling Your Defense Date
Work with your prospectus committee to set an appropriate date and time for the defense. Be mindful of the academic deadlines for advancement listed on Graddiv’s Petition, Filing, Advancement, & Other Academic Deadlines site. Give yourself at least a one day buffer between your date and the deadline to advance to cover delays in processing time. If you need a room to host your defense, please reach out to the Staff Graduate Advisor for booking.
3. Prospectus Defense
A majority of passing votes is required for advancement to candidacy. On the day of the defense prior to committee review you should initiate and sign your portion of Form II: Report On Doctoral Degree Qualifying Examinations. This form, once completed by your committee, will be submitted to Graduate Division by the Staff Grad Advisor with you CCd. This is the critical item that needs to be completed by the advancement deadline.
A $50 advancement to candidacy fee will be charged to your BARC Account and once this is paid you should be shortly after notified by Graddiv that you have successfully advanced to candidacy. The degree of Candidate in Philosophy (C. Phil.) will be awarded at this time. The C. Phil. is not really a degree in the same sense as an M.A. or Ph.D., but it is the University’s (and Department’s) way of verifying the completion of all Ph.D. requirements and the expectation of finishing the dissertation in due course of time.
Deadlines
Graduate Division regulations specify that students must advance to candidacy by the end of their fourth year to keep within Time-To-Degree Standards. Therefore it is critical that the prospectus is completed by the Fall 2024 deadline for students entering their fifth year.
In order to be “ABD” by Fall 2024 all paperwork must be filed by September 20th, 2024.
(Winter 2025: January 3rd, 2025)
(Spring 2025: March 27th, 2025)
Please note if you were a registered student or on an approved leave of absence in Spring of 2020 you have automatically received a COVID time-to-degree extension of three academic-year quarters per Graddiv’s FAQs on TTD Extension.
Falling Behind Time-To-Degree Standards
If you fail to defend your prospectus and advance to candidacy to be “ABD” by Fall of your fourth year you will have fallen behind Time To Degree Standard for the department. The Graduate Division will deliver written notification via Umail if time standards have been exceeded. The departmental Faculty Graduate Advisor and the student's faculty mentor/advisor will consult with the student to develop an Academic Progress Plan Time-to-Degree (signed by the faculty mentor/advisor and the student). The student will be on departmental progress “Monitoring” status for the remainder of the academic year or until the milestone is completed.
If a student who has not advanced to the time to degree milestone after the end of an academic year on monitoring, the Graduate Dean and the department will likely recommend academic probation. If a student on academic probation fails to make adequate progress after a minimum of one quarter, the department will likely recommend that the student be academically disqualified, though departments have the discretion to ask the Graduate Dean for academic probation or disqualification under an earlier time frame.
While a student is under monitoring status they are not eligible for central fellowships. Current department policy does not make eligibility for funding (whether through Academic Student Employment or department support in the form of summer projects or travel grand funds) formally contingent on meeting time to degree benchmarks. However, assessment of timely progress is a factor considered in the distribution of any competitive or limited department funding, including TAship opportunities, along with other indicators of academic standing.
Doctoral Dissertation
Last Updated August 15, 2024
- Verify with their department that all University and departmental degree requirements have been met
- Verify the defense format required by your department
- Review and use the Thesis and Dissertation Formatting and Filing Requirements resources.
- Verify with your department that dissertation committee membership is current. If there has been a change in the committee from the time of advancement, a Committee Form 1-A must be submitted to the Graduate Division
- Have signature page(s) and Doctoral Form III ready for committee to sign