Current Graduate Students - Frequently Asked Questions
Classes - "Can a student take a
course with the same number twice, especially if the content and faculy
have changed significantly?"
*- Note: you can take a course twice (although it doesn't seem to be
recommended) as long as it's not a core/required course. If it is required,
you can sign up for an independent study (Soc 999) with the new professor,
for which the work would simply be the work of the class (i.e. no extra
work for either you or the new professor).
Topics courses with the same number can be repeated; one would assume
the extended title of the course, if any, would change, indicating that
the instructor and content are clearly different.
Classes - Contemporary Theory Requirement
For those of you who need a contemporary theory course the
following fullfill the requirements:
Soci542 - Feminist Theory
Soci549 - Media, Culture & Society
Soci667 - Social Interaction
- Economic Sociology (if offered)
Classes - Meeting Times
Info from faculty meeting: class times are like psychiatry visits--an
hour is 50 minutes. I've heard from TAs that sometimes classes run over
when they have their own class afterward. This puts them in the difficult
spot of having to leave early while the undergrads are still sitting
there or being late for their own class. Remember: an hour class should
finish in 50 minutes, a 1.5 hr class in 75 minutes, a 3 hour class in
150 miniutes.
Classes - Soc 535: Waiving requirement
Subject: Waiving SOCI 535
From Dr. Herb Smith:
Folks,
SOCI 535 is a required course in both Demography and Sociology. It
is an introduction to statistics. We assume that students know nothing
about the course when they arrive.
The course can, however, be waived.
Who should take the course?
---------------------------
1. Students who have never taken statistics
2. Students who have taken a graduate level course in statistics, but
did poorly
3. Students who have taken an undergraduate course in statistics, but
didn't do well in it.
Who doesn't need to take the course?
------------------------------------
Anyone who has already had a first-course in statistics and feels comfortable
with the most elementary concepts.
How to know which category students are in? The students themselves
can have a look at the book, which is in the bookstore: David S. Moore
and George P. McCabe, *Introduction to the Practice of Statistics*.
We shall cover chapters 1-10. And/or they can get in touch with me--e-mail
is fine. If it is not self-evident which class to take, there will be
a test on the web that they can take to see if they know the material.
(Link to this to follow)
Degrees - Application for Degrees
If a student applies for their degree for May and doesn't make it and
reapplies for an August degree and makes it in August, they won't have
to do anything again. If the student doesn't make the August degree,
they will have to go back on dissertation in September in order to graduate
in December. An on-line application is required each time a student is up for degree and cancels.
Degrees - Master's Degree from another University
What if I have an MA from another university? Can I transfer courses?
Yes, a maximum of 8. The list of courses you wish to transfer has to
be approved by the graduate chair (and then by the graduate dean).
Do I still have to write a second year paper and take the MA seminar
(Soc603)? Yes. The point is that Soc 603 focuses on writing a research
paper of publishable quality that is often a crucial step toward the
PhD dissertation. We thus do not feel that an MA from elsewhere is a
substitute.
Dissertations
The faculty considers it acceptable to do a dissertation that consists
of three papers. The details, however--e.g. whether the three papers
should have a common theme or whethere they can be quite disparate--should
be discussed with your committee.
Dissertation Committees - Composition
It looks like we need 1/2 of the committee to be members of the Sociology
graduate group -- current faculty. And the chair must be a member of
the group and standing faculty.
"At least half of the members of Ph.D. examination and dissertation
committees must be members of the graduate group at the time of appointment
to the committees. Faculty who are not members of the graduate group
may serve only with the written approval of the graduate group. The
authority to approve membership on committees may be delegated to the
graduate chair. The chairs of dissertation committees and of all examination
committees must be members of the Standing Faculty in the graduate group.
If the chair of a dissertation committee leaves the Standing Faculty
before the dissertation is completed, then a new chair from the Standing
Faculty must be appointed as chair. The dissertation committee chair
is responsible for convening committee meetings, advising the student
on graduate group and university expectations, and assuring the graduate
group chair that the group's requirements have been met. The committee
chair does not have to be the primary dissertation adviser."
Dissertation Defense
PhD students who
matriculated prior to 1995 are not required to hold a public defense
of the dissertation. The oral/final exam may take whatever form the
committee wishes.
Dissertation
Status
Several students who are close to dissertation status but haven't had
the required dissertation proposal course Soci620, asked me whether they can go
on dissertation status in fall semester and still take the
required course in the next spring. The answer is yes.
Dissertation Status - Tuition
Question: If a student defends their dissertation in January, does
the student have to pay dissertation tuition for that semester?
Answer: No, the student will "not" have to pay tuition for the semester,
because they will qualify for the "Dissertation Courtesy Waiver". The
tuition "courtesy waiver" applies for those students who pass the
defense of their dissertation early in the semester (for date, check
with the Grad Division office) The "completely signed" 152 (Acceptance
of Dissertation) Form needs to be in the office before the tuition waiver
can be posted for the semester.
Dissertation Status - Reduced Tuition
The student who has been Dissertation Status/Registration for more
than five (5) semesters qualifies for reduced tuition or the low rate
until finished.
Grades
Grades should be a letter grades. Graduate students are not permitted
to take courses P/F, and the only courses permitted to be graded "S"
are 999s, or courses traditionally given an "S" or workshop/seminar
courses that also were given an "S" grade traditionally.
Any "S" grade given would need to be changed to a letter
grade (unless a "999" independent study course) before the
student gets their degree -- when they defend their dissertation or
right after.
Incompletes
On the graduate level in Arts & Sciences, the grade of "I" will remain
so for as long as one year - after which the "I" becomes I* and never
an "F".
Independent Study
Question: Can any faculty member supervise an independent study? (Asked
regarding Professor Dennis Culhane) Answer: "Dennis is a member
of the population studies center and may have a secondary appointment
in sociology. He has funded one of our students for a number of years.
But, in addition to these connections, any member of the standing faculty
at Penn can supervise an independent study."
Joint Demography - Sociology Program
We do have a joint program. Basically a student can get a PhD in sociology
and demography by fulfilling the requirements for both programs. (This
is joint, not dual like the JD/PhD or MD/PhD) For sociology students,
this means adding the required courses in demography, taking (and passing)
the demography MA exams and the PhD prelim exams, and having the dissertation
committee agree that the dissertation is a work in both sociology and
demography. The regulations deal with more subtle issues such as the
2nd year seminar in demography vs the master's seminar in sociology,
although these are often worked out on an ad hoc basis.
Joint Demography - Sociology Program - Changing from "Joint"
to single program
Question: Should a student write a letter withdrawing from the
joint program? The student wishes to obtain his/her PhD in Demography
only?
Answer: Yes, the student needs to write a letter to "both" chairs
including his/her reason/s for not continuing the joint degree and continuing
only in Demography. BOTH chairs must approve via signing the letter,
and a copy of the signed letter should be sent to the Coordinator in
the Grad Division Office. It will then be changed in SRS to reflect
the student's new status.
Language Courses
The question is - Can a graduate student take a course say Spanish,
for credit, since the language courses in question are on the undergrad
level.
The answer is - If the advisor and GG Chair approve the taking
of this course, the course should be taken either on a graduate level
cross-listed number (if one exists) or as an Independent Study (999).
The language professor also should agree to the Independent Study and
give extra assignments, etc. Remember that undergrad course numbers
"do not" calculate credit on graduate level transcripts!
Teaching Assistantships
General: A Graduate Student can only TA for one course per semester.
If a student is a TA for the full year, Fall and Spring Semesters -
they are funded for one cu in the summer: 3 Fall, 3 Spring, 1 Summer.
Question:
Is it o.k. for a student who has a non-service fellowship this semester
to also be a TA? I was reluctant, but the student says this semester
they will be doing field work (qualitative interviews) and says that's
a process with a lot of down-time built in.
Answer:
It's ok to juggle support years, but they can't actually hold both packages
at once. The student would either have to turn back the fellowship and
take up the TA, or could simply hold the fellowship and do the work,
if it really isn't too much of a burden and they are intereted in the
project. But they can't do both at once. (The assumption was an internal
Fellowship, not an external one.)
Summer Tuition
Summer is a free ride at Penn - no tuition, nothing to
register for (dissertation, etc.).
Last Modified:
18-Sep-2007
For updates, comments please contact:
saunderc@ssc.upenn.edu
| 
