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Graduate Students

Graduate Student Handbook

Preface

This handbook describes the programs leading to graduate degrees in the Department of Philosophy at The Ohio State University.

The Department of Philosophy is bound by the rules and policies of the Graduate School of The Ohio State University. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed about these rules and policies, which are summarized in the Graduate School Handbook and in Book 2 ("Graduate School") of The Ohio State University Bulletin, and to be informed about the rules and policies of the Department of Philosophy, described here. Throughout this handbook, expressions such as ‘the Department’ and ‘graduate students’ and the like are to be understood as referring to the Department of Philosophy, to graduate students enrolled in the Department of Philosophy, and the like, except when explicitly noted otherwise.

The rules and policies set forth herein have been approved by the Department of Philosophy. The Graduate Committee is the official interpreter of these rules and policies, which delegates the power in the first instance to the Director of Graduate Studies. The Department of Philosophy retains the right to modify, alter, overrule, or change any of the rules or policies set forth in this handbook, in accord with its established practices for so doing, while keeping in accord with the rules and policies of the Graduate School and The Ohio State University.

Potential applicants are urged to write or telephone the Director of Graduate Admissions at (614)-292-7914 for any additional information they may need.

1. General Information

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For Prospective Students

The Department offers a Doctor of Philosophy program which is strong in the analytical tradition. Areas of specialization include Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, History (including a Program in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy), Philosophy of Mathematics, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind/Psychology, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Law, Logic, Philosophy of Science, and Social and Political Philosophy. A large number of seminars are offered each year in these different areas. Most graduate course work takes the form of seminars that are used to satisfy Course Number and Distribution Requirements. Beginning students are required to take a First-Year Seminar which is an intensive introduction to a topic and is usually taught by two faculty members.

The William H. Fink Prize for the outstanding graduate student essay in philosophy is awarded annually.

Information about faculty, current graduate students, and philosophy courses is also available. You can also use the drop-down menu’s on each page of our site to navigate to the information that most interests you.

1.1 Application Procedures

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Applicants for admission should use the following checklist to insure that their applications are complete:
  1. Apply online at: http://www.gradapply.osu.edu/. Paper submissions are no longer being used. If you are an international applicant who has absolutely no access to the online version, a paper form can be requested by contacting the Office of Graduate Admissions at:

    Admissions Office
    The Ohio State University
    Third Floor, Lincoln Tower
    1800 Cannon Drive
    Columbus, Ohio 43210

  2. Arrange to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). General test information and registration are available online at: http://www.ets.org.

    Results of the GRE should be sent to:

    Admissions Office
    The Ohio State University
    Third Floor, Lincoln Tower
    1800 Cannon Drive
    Columbus, Ohio 43210

  3. Select three of your teachers to write letters of recommendation on the appropriate forms. It is your responsibility to see to it that the writers return their letters to the Director of Graduate Admissions of the Philosophy Department by the deadline for the quarter you have chosen to enter.

  4. Prepare your personal statement, i.e. a brief (one-page)autobiographical sketch including a clear statement of why you wish to do graduate work in philosophy.

  5. To be considered for a University Fellowship, you must submit, in addition to the Personal Statement, a Curriculum Vita/Resume of not more than two pages.

  6. If you need financial assistance,check both the "Fellowship/Traineeship" and the "Teaching Associateship" boxes on the Admission Application form.

  7. It is expected that you will submit a paper on a philosophical topic. This paper may be a revised version of one you have submitted for a course or a paper you have written especially for this occasion.

  8. After completion, return the requisite forms as follows:

    1. Send a copy of your transcript(s) from all institutions attended, personal statement, curriculum vitae/resume, your paper submission, and GRE scores to:

      Director of Graduate Admissions
      Department of Philosophy
      The Ohio State University
      350 University Hall
      230 North Oval Mall
      Columbus, Ohio 43210-1365

      Deadlines for receipt of applications for Autumn quarter admission are as follows:

      Autumn Admission Deadline for Domestic Applicants is Dec. 31 for those seeking financial aid as well as Fellowships.

      Deadline for International Applicants seeking Fellowships is Nov. 30, 2006. Please note that this is a new deadline from last year and moves the deadline up about six weeks!!

    2. Send all remaining materials (application form and additional copies of transcripts) to:

      Admissions Office
      The Ohio State University
      Third Floor, Lincoln Tower
      1800 Cannon Drive
      Columbus, Ohio 43210

  9. Teaching associateship awards are normally announced in late March; decisions to accept or decline a teaching associateship are required by April 15th.

  10. Applicants whose native language is not English must take both the TOEFL and TSE (Test of Spoken English) early enough that the results reach the department by January 31. (See http://www.toefl.org/ for details about scheduling these examinations.) Under certain circumstances, such as having received a degree from an institution in an English-speaking country, the TOEFL may be waived; but the TSE, being a matter of State law, cannot be waived.

  11. Application fees cannot be waived, postponed, or paid by the department on the applicant's behalf.

  12. The department admits only applicants to whom it offers some form of financial aid (such as a fellowship or graduate teaching associateship).

    1.2 Admissions Guidelines

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    Basic requirements for admission are established by the Graduate School; for a summary see either the Graduate School Handbook or Book 2 ("Graduate School") of The Ohio State University Bulletin. In recommending applicants to the Graduate School for admission, the Graduate Committee of the Department of Philosophy pays particular attention to the following:

    1. The submitted paper.

    2. Letters of recommendation.

    3. Undergraduate grade record. Although a cumulative gradepoint average of 2.7 (on the standard 4.0 scale) is the minimum required by the Graduate School for regular admission, successful applicants for the Ph.D. program in philosophy generally have an average of 3.3 or above. An undergraduate major in philosophy is not a prerequisite for admission.

    4. Graduate grade record, if any (see sec.1.3 below).

    5. Graduate Record Examination scores. Successful applicants typically have an average percentile score of at least 75% on the Quantitative and Verbal portions of the examination and a score of at least 5.0 on the Analytical Writing portion. For information on other categories of admission, see the Graduate School Handbook (Section 4-4).

    1.3 Transfer Credit

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    Transfer of graduate credits earned at other institutions is not automatic. Requests for transfer of graduate credits earned elsewhere will be judged on their individual merits, and no decision will be made until the Department has had sufficient time to assess all the relevant evidence. Students may transfer graduate philosophy courses taken at other universities and have them count toward satisfying distribution requirements at O.S.U., subject to the following conditions:

    Typically, courses that may meet distribution requirements at O.S.U. will be courses taken in an accredited graduate program in philosophy, which the student took while enrolled as a graduate student at another university.

    1. These courses generally must be substantially similar in scope, content, and degree of difficulty to graduate courses that are usually offered (or are likely to be offered) at O.S.U.

    2. No more than 4 courses taken at another university may be used to satisfy distribution requirements at O.S.U., with no more than 2 courses in a given distribution area so counting.

    3. Decisions on whether courses taken at other universities will count as having satisfied distribution requirements at O.S.U. will be decided by the faculty members of the Graduate Committee upon petition.

    4. The Graduate School will count as many as 45 transfer credits toward a Ph.D., provided the Graduate Committee approves. Yet at most 20 of these credits will satisfy Departmental distribution requirements.

    5. Students entering with advanced graduate credit or a master's degree from another institution will be required to take the Candidacy Examination.

    In addition, we urge our Ph.D. students to consider the value of earning supplementary master's or professional degrees in other Departments or colleges of the University. Financial aid is available to our students working toward such outside degrees. Obtaining an outside degree frequently has the following advantages: it enables students to obtain skills and knowledge necessary or advantageous for their doctoral dissertations; it complements and contributes to the student's philosophy research; it broadens expertise so that graduates are better qualified for traditional academic as well as non-academic positions. Special programs, jointly designed by the graduate Advisor and the student, are subject to the approval of the Graduate Committee. The approved program may include modifications of Departmental degree requirements.

    1.4 Advisors

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    Students are initially assigned Advisors by the Director of Graduate Studies before beginning their first quarter of work. Before the Candidacy Examination, students may change Advisors by submitting a written request to the Director of Graduate Studies and obtaining the written consent of the director of the student's Candidacy Examination Committee, of the Qualifying Examination Committee, and of the Dissertation Committee - often, though not always, the same person - becomes, at the appropriate times, the student's Advisor of record. See sec.2.5, sec.2.6, and sec.2.7 for information about the procedures for constituting each of these committees.

    1.5 Grades and Evaluations

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    At the end of each quarter, instructors are to complete an evaluation form for each student they have had in a course; copies will be given to the student's Advisor and put in the student's file, where the student may see them. Students have the opportunity to discuss their class performance with their instructors at the end of each quarter. In addition, TA and RA performance is evaluated each quarter by the instructor(s) for whom the student has taught or done research. Teaching and research associates have the opportunity to discuss privately their teaching and other duties with the faculty members they assist, and are encouraged to do so.

    1.6 Graduate Student Evaluation Meeting

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    Each year before the end of Winter Quarter there will be a faculty meeting to discuss the progress of graduate students and providing a ranking of the students for reappointment as GTAs. Shortly before the meeting, Advisors of individual students will meet with them to gather information that the student deems relevant to the determination of his or her standing in the Department. At the meeting, which will be chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies, each student's performance and progress in the program will be discussed in detail. Based on this discussion, each student will be placed into one of the following three categories:

    Category 1. Students who are in good standing.

    Category 2. Students who are not in good standing.

    Category 3. Students who are not in good standing and who will be advised to leave the program at the end of the current academic year.

    This evaluation will be "holistic" in that it will involve an attempt to assess and weigh all relevant aspects of a student's performance in the program - including special circumstances brought to the Advisor's attention at the individual Advisory conference preceding the meeting - rather than depending on a mechanical application of set criteria. Nonetheless, students can expect that the following factors will be the principal ones used to evaluate their progress in the program:

    1. Performance in graduate courses in the Department and, when appropriate, in graduate courses in other Departments.

    2. Performance on the Candidacy Examination and the Qualifying Examination.

    3. Timeliness with which courses and exams are taken.

    4. Absence of unexplained or overdue Incompletes.

    5. Satisfactory progress in fulfilling the course-number and distribution requirements, as judged by the Graduate Committee.

    6. Dissertation progress, for post-Candidacy students, as evaluated by the Advisor and committee members.

    7. Teaching abilities and performance.

    8. Overall philosophical abilities, as evaluated by teachers and other faculty with relevant information.

    An attempt will be made by the faculty to reach consensus before placing a student into one of the three categories. If there is no consensus, a vote will be taken to determine the category into which the student will be placed. In this vote each faculty member present at the meeting will indicate the category into which he or she wishes the student to be placed. If, as a result, a majority of those present and voting vote to place a student into the same category, that is the category into which the student will be placed. If no category receives a majority of the votes, the student will be placed in Category 2.

    Students placed in Category 3 will not be eligible for GTAs at the end of the current year.

    Students placed in Category 2 will be eligible for reappointment, but offers of reappointment will only be tendered after the Department Chair, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Admissions, has determined how many offers can be made consistent with the recruitment of an incoming class of graduate students of appropriate size.

    Students placed in Category 1 will be eligible for reappointment, consistent with the Graduate School requirements for total years of support, and will be offered reappointment as soon as is appropriate under normal circumstances. Yet since it may happen that there be circumstances under which it will not be possible to recruit an incoming class of suitable size without withholding support from at least some Category 1 students, offers of reappointment to students in this category will be made only after the Chair has determined how many such offers can be made in a given year. For this reason, and also because Category 2 students cannot all be tendered offers of reappointment simultaneously, the faculty will, after the work described above, rank all Category 2 students ordinarily, and, in addition, may identify a subset of Category 1 students whose offers will be contingent on availability of offers after the size of the incoming class has been determined. In those cases in which the student has a deficiency that is not sufficient for removal from Category 1, reappointment may be for less than a year with continued support contingent upon correcting the deficiency.

    The results of the discussion described above will be communicated to the student as soon as possible following the meeting. The student's rank, status for renewal of financial support, and any outstanding deficiencies will be communicated to the student by the Director of Graduate Studies. Other comments and recommendations will be communicated to the student by the student's Advisor in a meeting to be scheduled immediately after the faculty meeting described above.

    1.7 Financial Support

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    Teaching Associateships. The normal award is for a half-time position paid in nine monthly installments. Appointment to a teaching associateship carries automatic remission of tuition and fees for the academic year and the following Summer Quarter (if the appointee has successfully completed the academic year). The normal duties of a teaching associate include supervising computer tutorials and conducting discussion sections of introductory courses, attending lectures in those courses, holding office hours, and grading papers and examinations-in all, not to exceed 20 hours per week during the regular weeks of the three quarters approximately 33 weeks). Teaching associates are also eligible to teach basic elementary courses in their own right after passing the Candidacy Examination.

    Research Associateships. Some Research Associateships may be available for the support of students who are assisting faculty members with their research. Incoming students are ordinarily not awarded Research Associateships.

    Fellowships. The many types of fellowships available to O.S.U. graduate students, some of them designed for special categories of students, are described in the University Bulletin (Book 2).Applicants are advised that the criteria for awarding fellowships are stringent; a strong academic record is required to qualify. There is no special application form for a fellowship; potential candidates will be identified and nominated by the Graduate Committee of the Department. The Committee ordinarily nominates only candidates who seek the Ph.D. degree. Fellowships carry an automatic waiver of fees and tuition.

    Fellowships of interest to many incoming students are the following: (1) University Fellowships are awarded for one year(four consecutive quarters); given satisfactory progress, fellows can expect to be awarded a Teaching or Research Associateship for the next year and up to three additional years; (2) Minority Fellowships are available to minority students who are beginning graduate work.

    1.8 Reappointment of Graduate Associates

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    According to the Graduate School Handbook (Section 11-5), to hold a Graduate Associate appointment (Teaching, Research, or Administrative Associateship) a student must satisfy the following eligibility requirements (among others):

    1. The student must be in good standing in the Graduate School at the time the appointment or reappointment becomes effective, that is, the student must maintain a grade-point average of 3.0 or better in all graduate courses.

    2. The student must maintain "reasonable progress toward a graduate degree." This requirement is not further spelled out by the Graduate School. As interpreted by the Graduate Committee of the Department of Philosophy, it means the following:

      • The student must maintain a grade-point average of 3.0 or better in all graduate philosophy courses.

      • A student in the Ph.D. program must regularly carry a normal load and complete the distribution requirements on schedule (see sec.2.3). The student must take and pass the Candidacy and Qualifying Examinations at the times specified for the first taking of those examinations: for the Candidacy Examination, by the third year in the program: see "Candidacy Examination"and sec.2.6.

      • A student who has passed the Candidacy Examination must make satisfactory progress toward the selection of a dissertation topic and Advisor.

      • A student who has passed the Qualifying Examination must make satisfactory progress toward the completion of a dissertation.

      • A student in the M.A. program must take and pass the M.A. final examination (see sec.4.1) not later than the quarter after completing 45 hours of work.

    According to the Graduate School Handbook (Section 12-1),students who fail to satisfy either of the above eligibility requirements (1) and (2) may be awarded associateships only upon petition to the Graduate Committee. In such cases, the Committee must notify the Dean of the Graduate School of its decision.

    The Graduate School requirements are necessary but not sufficient for financial support; see sec.1.7 for the Department's internal policies for graduate student evaluation and continued financial support. It is the normal policy of the Department not to offer support to any student who has had five full years of financial support in the Philosophy Department, i.e. 15 quarters of financial support (excluding summers). Note that a student who has poor teaching evaluations may be given a low priority for a teaching position and so not receive an associateship for the next academic year, even if the student's academic work has been satisfactory and overall evaluation by the Department is positive.

    Summer appointments. It is the Graduate Committee's policy that students who fail to satisfy Graduate School eligibility requirements stated under (1) and (2) above will not be recommended for summer associateships except in extraordinary circumstances. Other criteria to be used in awarding summer appointments are academic performance, teaching effectiveness, extent of previous summer support (the less the better), and need.

    1.9 Leaves of Absence

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    A student may petition the Graduate Committee for a leave of absence. The Committee's general policy regarding leaves of absence is as follows:

    1. A leave of absence may be taken for a specific period, up to one year.

    2. During the leave of absence the question whether the student is making reasonable progress in the program is moot.

    3. If the leave of absence includes a time when the student would ordinarily have had to take an examination (such as the Candidacy Examination or the Qualifying Examination), the student will typically be granted a leave of absence only on the condition that the examination is taken in the first quarter upon return.

    4. If the leave of absence includes a time when the student would ordinarily have had to complete an Incomplete, then all work required to be completed by university rules must be completed on time during the leave of absence.

    5. Students under contract as teaching associates and request a leave of absence will be granted the leave of absence only if a satisfactory replacement can be found. Students who wish to extend a leave of absence must petition the Graduate Committee for such an extension. Students who take a leave of absence after passing the Candidacy Examination should note that the 5-year rule for finishing the dissertation is in effect during the leave of absence.

    2. Graduate Program

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    General Information

    Ph.D. Program Requirements
    The Philosophy Department follows the Graduate School regulations, listed in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 9),regarding doctoral programs. For information about a special "One-of-a-Kind" doctoral program that allows students to combine the study of philosophy with related work in other fields, see the University Bulletin (Book 2). The following sections outline the principal requirements of the regular Ph.D. program in philosophy at O.S.U.

    2.1 The Logic Requirements

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    The Philosophy Department has two logic requirements graduate students must satisfy: the logic competency requirement and the advanced logic requirement.

    The Logic Competency Requirement. During the first year of full-time graduate study in philosophy a student must show competence in elementary symbolic logic in one of the following two ways: (a) enrolling in PHIL 250 and receiving a grade of "B" or better, or (b) passing a special Qualifying Examination. This examination tests a student's knowledge in propositional and first-order logic - the logic of quantifiers and identity. Students are expected to translate ordinary English sentences into symbolic sentences, and conversely; and students are expected to do natural deduction proofs within both the propositional calculus and first-order logic. Note that students who do not satisfy the logic competency requirement will not be continued in the graduate program in philosophy.

    The Advanced Logic Requirement. All graduate students are expected to enroll in and pass (by receiving a grade of "B" or better) an advanced logic course, typically PHIL 650.01, during their first year of full-time graduate study in philosophy.

    2.2 The First-Year Seminar

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    Each graduate student shall be required to take the First-Year Seminar (PHIL 700) offered in the Autumn Quarter of his or her first year of graduate study. No other students may take the First-Year Seminar. This course may be used to satisfy distribution requirements.

    2.3 Distribution Requirements

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    Distribution Areas. Graduate philosophy courses are grouped into four areas:

    1. History of Philosophy (Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy and History of Modern Philosophy;

    2. Value Theory (Ethics and/or Aesthetics);

    3. M&E (Metaphysics and Epistemology); and the

    4. Philosophies of Logic, Language, and Science.

    The Philosophy Department will offer on a regular basis graduate-level survey courses on, among other things, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Language, and Value (Ethics and/or Aesthetics).

    The Distribution Requirements. Students must take and pass, with a grade of "B+" or better, at least two courses in the history of philosophy, at least two courses in one other distribution area, and at least one course in the remaining two areas. The courses used to satisfy the distribution requirement must be 700-level courses or 800-level courses. (Students may petition the Graduate Committee that PH 693 count for distribution credit; if approved, a letter grade must be given by the instructor.) The instructor of the course determines which distribution area or areas coursework may satisfy, before quarterly registration.

    Scheduling. Students are expected to complete two out of the four distribution area requirements before taking the Candidacy Examination, and must complete all four distribution requirements before taking the Qualifying Examination.

    2.4 The Course-Number Requirement

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    Before the Final Oral Examination on the dissertation, students must pass, with a grade of "B" or better, at least 16 courses offered by the Philosophy Department, where

    1. at least 14 of these 16 courses must be 700-level courses (see Course Descriptions), 800-level courses (see Course Descriptions), or any of the logic courses PHIL 650.01, PHIL 650.02, PHIL 651, or PHIL 652;

    2. none of the 16 courses may be PHIL 999 or PHIL 993 courses taken in connection with writing a dissertation. Any course that counts for distribution credit automatically counts for the course-number requirement.

    Reading Course Policy. Ordinarily courses taken as 693 may not count towards the 16 required graduate courses. In special cases, however, 693 courses may count for one or both of the two permitted 600-level courses (see Course Descriptions) from the required 16. To have a 693 course count as one of the two permitted 600-level courses, a student would have to file a petition with the graduate committee. Normally, such a petition would not be approved unless all of the items listed below are satisfied:

    1. The amount of student work required and the course content is appropriate for five hours of graduate study in philosophy at Ohio State.

    2. As indicated by the instructor of the 693 course, the student would have received a grade of B or better had the course been assigned a grade; and EITHER:

      1. the subject matter of the 693 course is ordinarily not covered in graduate courses in philosophy courses at Ohio State; OR,

      2. the student's schedule and/or program of study constrain(s) the student so that this subject matter needs to be covered in a 693 instead of in regular graduate courses.

    2.5 The Candidacy Examination

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    Purpose. The purpose of the Candidacy Examination is to assess the student's mastery of the literature included on the Bibliography approved by his or her committee and to assess, as well, the student's facility in explicating the philosophical issues that are connected with that literature. Passing the Candidacy Examination admits the student to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Philosophy as specified in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 9-10).

    Structure. The Candidacy Examination is a single examination that consists in two parts: a written examination in an area of philosophy, and a subsequent oral examination that may include discussion of the answers provided in the written examination.

    The Candidacy Examination Committee. The Candidacy Examination shall be administered and evaluated by a committee of four faculty members: an Advisor, two experts, and a fourth person from outside the student's area of special interest. The Advisor selected by the student must be willing to serve as Advisor and must be approved by the Graduate Committee; the other members of the committee are selected by the student and his or her Advisor, subject to the approval of the Graduate Committee. Each proposed member of the committee must sign the Departmental Candidacy Examination Committee Form provided for this purpose, which is then submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval; a copy of this form is put into the student's record. Upon approval, the Advisor of the committee then becomes the student's Advisor of record (see sec.1.4 above). This committee as a whole prepares the written exam for the student. Augmented by a Graduate School representative from another Department, appointed by the Graduate School, the committee administers the oral portion of the Candidacy Examination.

    The Written Examination. The members of the student's committee will meet to determine by vote the questions that shall appear on the written examination. After the student has taken the written examination, the committee will discuss the student's performance; the Advisor will inform the student of the evaluation, the student then being free to consult other members of the committee.

    Scheduling. No earlier than the fourth quarter of full-time graduate study and no later than the sixth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters) - typically in the student's second year - the student and the committee shall draw up a Bibliography in the area to be covered by the Candidacy Examination, and the Bibliography must be approved by each member of the committee. The student is expected to take the initiative in constructing the Bibliography, and, in consultation with the committee, construct a tentative draft that is submitted to all members of the committee for final approval or amendment. Committee members indicate approval of the Bibliography by signing the Departmental Bibliography Approval Form provided for that purpose. Once the Bibliography has been approved, the student may at any time request that the Candidacy Examination be administered, at a time convenient to both the student and the members of the committee. (The Candidacy Examination is not typically given in Summer Quarters.) Note that the written portion of the candidacy examination is to be completed no later than the second week of the eighth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters) -- typically the Winter Quarter of the student's third year. After the student has completed the written portion of the Candidacy Examination, as described below, the committee shall read the student's answers and convene for an oral examination of the student no later than two weeks after the written examination has been taken.

    Procedure. The procedure for the Candidacy Examination is as follows:

    1. The written portion of the Candidacy Examination consists of six questions prepared by the committee, of which the student must answer three. The student may choose to take the exam in either one of the following formats:

      1. 4 hour. The student will be given four hours in which to complete the exam without the use of any notes, papers, books, digital or electronic media. The exam is taken on a departmental computer during university business hours.
      2. All day. The student may begin and end the exam at any time during university business hours, so long as the exam is completed on the same day it is begun. The exam must be taken without the use of any notes, papers, books, digital media or electronic media. The exam is taken on a departmental computer during university business hours.

      Students are encouraged to discuss the choice of format with their advisor and other members of the candidacy exam committee. The student must inform the advisor of the format in which the exam will be taken at least one week before the written exam is taken.

      If upon completion of the written portion the student should decide not to proceed to the oral portion, the procedures in the Graduate School Handbook are followed and the result of the Candidacy Examination is recorded as unsatisfactory.

    2. The oral portion of the Candidacy Examination is a two-hour examination that may include discussion of the answers provided in the written examination. The oral examination will be concerned with the student's mastery of the bibliographic materials and the student's facility in dealing with philosophical issues connected with that literature.

    Evaluation of the Candidacy Examination. Based on the written and oral examinations, the committee shall decide whether the student: (a) passes the Candidacy Examination, and thereby merits an M.A. degree; (b) does not pass the Candidacy Examination but is allowed to take it again; (c) does not pass the Candidacy Examination and is not allowed to take it again, terminating progress in the program. The committee shall first vote on (a). If the vote is not unanimously positive, the committee shall then vote on (b). If this vote is not positive by a majority of at least three out of five, (c) is the result. In the case of (b) or(c), the committee may also decide whether the student's performance is of sufficient merit to award an M.A. degree. In the case of (b), the re-examination must be completed no later than the fifth week of the immediately following quarter, and the committee's options are limited to (a) or (c). The vote for (a)must be unanimously positive; otherwise, (c) is the result.

    If a student is scheduled to take a Candidacy Examination, or a Qualifying Examination, or a final defense of the dissertation, and the student does not successfully petition for an extension of the deadline for taking that examination but also fails to take the scheduled examination, then the student will automatically fail that examination.

    2.6 The Qualifying Examination

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    Purpose. The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to assess the student's preparedness to write a dissertation on the topic he or she has chosen. Additionally, the Qualifying Examination is intended to help the student in defining the direction, scope, and organization of the dissertation.

    Scheduling. The Qualifying Examination must be successfully completed no later than the second week of the eleventh quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters),typically the Winter Quarter of the student's fourth year. The examination may be repeated if taken unsuccessfully, as described below, but students should note the time constraints on the awarding of financial aid and on the completion of degree requirements: see the Graduate School Handbook (Section 9-10-1).

    The Qualifying Examination Committee. After passing the Candidacy Examination, the student will submit his or her choice of a dissertation Advisor to the Graduate Committee for approval. If the Graduate Committee approves, and the faculty member chosen as an Advisor by the student agrees as well, that faculty member will be the student's Advisor of record (see sec.1.4 above). If the Graduate Committee does not agree with the student's choice of Advisor, the Committee will convey this information to the student and ask the student to submit another choice of Advisor. The Advisor will also help the student in preparation for the Qualifying Examination. The other two members of a student's Qualifying Examination Committee and Dissertation Committee (if the Dissertation Committee members are different from those who serve on the Qualifying Examination, as sometimes happens) are also to be approved by the Graduate Committee and must agree to serve.

    Structure and Procedure. The Qualifying Examination will consist in a written part and an oral part. The written part will consist of the student's dissertation prospectus and a substantive paper on the subject of the dissertation (perhaps a chapter of the dissertation).

    1. The prospectus is to include a chapter-by-chapter outline of the dissertation. The prospectus is supposed to give to the committee members a good idea of how the student intends to put the whole dissertation together. It is therefore best that the prospectus include an outline of each chapter in as much detail as the student can provide.

    2. The prospectus also includes a detailed bibliography of material relevant to the dissertation topic and upon which the student's knowledge of the field is based. This is typically more tightly focused and extensive than the Bibliography prepared for the Candidacy Examination (see sec.2.5 above).

    3. The substantive paper submitted for the Qualifying Examination should not be a mere introduction to the dissertation, nor a mere summary and exposition of some main ideas to be discussed in later parts of the dissertation. One or two ideas that are central to the dissertation should be developed at some length.

    4. The oral part of the Qualifying Examination is based upon the student's written work, and will include an examination of the student's knowledge of the specialized field of the proposed dissertation. More generally, the examination is also testing the student's knowledge of the broader field of philosophy of which the dissertation topic is a part.

    5. The oral part of the Qualifying Examination is a closed examination, i.e. other students and faculty not on the Qualifying Examination committee are not to attend the examination.

    6. Passing the Qualifying Examination requires a unanimous vote of the committee members.

    7. Student who fails the Qualifying Examination is entitled to repeat the Qualifying Examination once without petitioning the Graduate Committee. Students have up to one year from the time of their first failure to repeat a Qualifying Examination.

    The student is responsible for submitting the appropriate Departmental form to schedule a Qualifying Examination, which must be signed by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Department Chair, and the student's Advisor. The form must be returned to the Director of Graduate Studies at least two weeks before the Qualifying Examination is to be held. When the examination is scheduled, the student's Advisor should obtain the Departmental form for recording the results of the Qualifying Examination. That form is to be completed and returned to the Director of Graduate Studies at the completion of the examination.

    2.7 Dissertation Seminar

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    In addition to satisfying the Course Number and Distribution requirements, all graduate students in residence who have passed their Qualifying Examination are required to enroll in the Dissertation Seminar. The Seminar will normally be offered annually during the Spring Quarter. Students enrolled in the Seminar will be required to present work of their own-e.g. an overview of their dissertation project, or a chapter or a part of a chapter from their dissertation. Students are required to make the written material to be presented available to the class at least one week before their presentation and discussion. All students are expected to read and come prepared to discuss the material presented. Regular attendance is expected of all participants.

    2.8 The Final Oral Examination

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    The Dissertation Committee. The student, in consultation with the dissertation Advisor, selects two faculty members who along with the Advisor constitute the three-member dissertation reading committee (see sec.2.6 for the rules about the constitution of committees). When Ph.D. candidates have complete drafts of their dissertations they should confer with their Advisors and the other members of their reading committee. Should a reading committee agree that the draft warrants the scheduling of a Final Oral Examination, they request the Graduate Dean to set its date. The judgment of the reading committee that a Final Oral Examination is warranted is based on their opinion that the draft is an original and significant contribution to philosophy. Normally they will at that time suggest changes or emendations. The Final Oral Examination committee consists in the reading committee and a Graduate School representative appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. Additional changes or emendations may be suggested at the time of the student's defense of the dissertation at the Final Oral Examination. The Final Oral Examination is passed if and only if no more than one vote for failure is cast by members of the committee. Before the student turns in the final copy of the dissertation at the Graduate School office, certification of approval must be received from his or her reading committee.

    Changes in the makeup of a reading committee, before scheduling the final oral exam, require written permission from the Graduate Committee. Requests to change a dissertation topic after the Qualifying Examination require submitting a new dissertation topic prospectus to the Graduate Committee for approval.

    Students who have passed the Final Oral Examination on their dissertations are expected to return all books to the Gluck Library before the final dissertation draft has been approved by the Committee. The Committee will not approve a dissertation until all Gluck Library books have been returned.

    3. The Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program

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    Unlike ancient philosophy, which has a century-old tradition of scholarship including philological and philosophical research, mediaeval philosophy and modern philosophy have, until recently, been largely the province of amateurs. That has begun to change. To advance research in modern philosophy one must understand it against its mediaeval background, and that to make progress in either mediaeval or modern philosophy one must have sophisticated linguistic and historiographical techniques. In recognition of this fact, the Philosophy Department offers a special track of studies in addition to the normal Ph.D. requirements. The goal of the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program is to provide students with a solid training in mediaeval and modern philosophy, a substantial background in the ancient sources of the philosophy of both periods, and the tools needed to carry out first-rate research in these areas. So that students may acquire the relevant skills, an additional year of financial support is granted to students in the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program (contingent upon satisfactory progress).

    The program student is expected to hold his or her Candidacy Examination and Qualifying Examination, and to write a dissertation, on a subject covered by the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program, working with faculty members affiliated with the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program (though not necessarily exclusively).

    The program is administered by the Medieval and Modern Studies Committee, made up of faculty members affiliated with the program. The following sections describe special requirements for the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program, which are requirements in addition to those for the regular Ph.D. program (described in §2).

    3.1 Program Scheduling

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    Because the skills necessary for doing high-level research in mediaeval and modern philosophy take some time to acquire, the program student is supported for an extra year of study, and is not expected to complete the normal Ph.D. requirements on the same schedule as students not in the program. The modifications to the schedules of the Candidacy Examination and the Qualifying Examination are as follows.

    The Candidacy Examination. The Bibliography is to be drawn up no earlier than the fourth quarter of full-time graduate study and no later than the ninth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters) — typically in the student’s second or third year. The Candidacy Examination, as a whole, is to be completed no later than the fifth week of the tenth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters) — typically the Fall Quarter of the student’s fourth year.

    The Qualifying Examination. The Qualifying Examination must be successfully completed no later than the fifth week of the thirteenth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters), typically the Fall Quarter of the student’s fifth year.

    In all other respects these two requirements are unchanged and remain in force for program students.

    3.2 Language Requirements

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    The program student must demonstrate proficiency in three languages, as follows:

    1. Each program student must demonstrate proficiency in Latin before taking the Candidacy Examination.

    2. Each program student must demonstrate proficiency in one other classical language — either Greek, Hebrew, or Arabic — before commencing the thirteenth quarter of full-time graduate study (typically the fifth year).

    3. Each program student must demonstrate proficiency in one modern language — either French, German, or Italian — before beginning of the sixteenth quarter of full-time graduate study (typically the sixth year).

    A ‘demonstration of proficiency’ is normally established by written examination, although exceptions to this practice may be made upon petition to the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Committee. In the case of (b) and (c) above, other languages may be substituted, by petition, given a student’s particular interests and plan of study.

    3.3 History Proseminars

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    A special program involves special training. Much of this material is condensed into three proseminars that are a required part of the Mediaeval and Modern Studies Program, designed to give the program student a working apprenticeship with the foundations of scholarly research. The proseminars are devoted to work on philosophical texts, translations, and sources. Each program student is required to complete successfully (with a grade of "B+" or better) all three of the following proseminars by the times listed below.

    1. Proseminar in Historical Methodologies. Theoretical topics to be covered include: the history of philosophy, the history of the history of philosophy, the philosophy of history, and the philosophy of the history of philosophy (and so on); interpretation, criticism, and analysis of historical texts; infiuence and anticipation; and the like. Practical topics to be covered include: location of research archives, familiarity with bibliographical materials, techniques for historical analysis (e.g. stylistics), and the like. This proseminar must be completed in or before the Spring Quarter of the third year (i.e. the ninth quarter of full-time graduate study).

    2. Proseminar in Texts/Translations. This is a ‘hands-on’ course in the theory and technique of critical texts and translations: ‘text theory’, textual transmission, working with a critical apparatus, tracing variant meanings, accuracy and literalness, emendation, aims of translation. The coursework will feature philosophical texts and require program students to work on the texts and translations. This proseminar must be completed in or before the Spring Quarter of the fourth year (i.e. the twelfth quarter of full-time graduate study).

    3. Proseminar in Paleography. The basics of paleography are to be covered in this proseminar: manuscripts, incunabula, handwriting analysis, methods for dating, construction of stemmata, the treatment of variants, production of critical texts. All work will be done on philosophical texts. This proseminar must be completed in or before the Spring Quarter of the fifth year (i.e. the fifteenth quarter of full-time graduate study).

    These proseminars may count toward the departmental Distribution Requirements (§2.3) and the Course-Number Requirement (§2.4).

    4. The M. A. Program

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    The Philosophy Department follows the general regulations of the Graduate School for M.A. programs listed in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 8). Students in the Ph.D. program may earn an M.A. under the conditions stipulated in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 8-9). Students are not ordinarily admitted only to the M.A Program. Students desiring an interdisciplinary Master’s degree may pursue the degree of Master of Humanities by enrolling in the Department of Philosophy. For information on this degree program, see the University Bulletin, Book 2.

    4.1 University Requirements

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    Among the Graduate School’s requirements are the following:

    1. A final examination is required for all M.A. candidates. This examination is administered by the student’s Master’s examination committee, which is composed of at least two members of the Graduate Faculty, including the student’s advisor. See §4.3 below for details about the final examination.

    2. A minimum of 45 graduate credit hours is required to earn a Master’s degree, and 36 of those hours must be completed at this university over a period of at least two quarters.

    3. A student must be registered for at least three credit hours during the quarter in which graduation is expected.

    4. The student must earn a graduate cumulative point-hour ratio of at least 3.0.

    4.2 Departmental Requirements

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    In addition to the general regulations of the Graduate School, the Department of Philosophy has adopted the following policies concerning the M.A. program:

    1. Logic Requirement. Students must satisfy either the logic competency requirement described in §2.1, or enroll in and pass (by receiving a grade of "B-" or better) an advanced logic course, typically PH 650.01.

    2. First-Year Seminar. Students may take the First-Year Seminar (PH 700), but are not required to do so.

    3. Distribution Requirements. Students must take at least four seminars (700/8xx courses) in three distribution areas, receiving a grade of B or better in each.

    4. Course-Number Requirement. Students must take at least 60 hours in Philosophy, of which at least 50 hours must be earned in regular coursework.

    5. GPA. Students must maintain an overall 3.0 GPA in Philosophy.

    Students may receive the M.A. degree by satisfying the above requirements and either writing a Master’s thesis or taking a Master’s examination. These options are described in the next section.

    4.3 Thesis and Non-Thesis Plans

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    The Thesis Plan. The Master’s thesis is supervised by a two-member faculty committee (approved in advance by the Graduate Committee). The student is to submit a complete and typed thesis draft to the faculty committee for approval. After the thesis draft has been approved, an oral examination, administered by the faculty committee, will be scheduled. The examination will stress the thesis topic, but need not be confined to it.

    The Non-Thesis Plan. The Master’s examination is to be administered by a two-member faculty committee (approved in advance by the Graduate Committee), which, in consultation with the student, will set an area and a reading list for the examination. The student need not be given questions in advance. In the written examination, the student must write on at least two questions over a four-hour period. A subsequent oral part may be administered at the discretion of the faculty comittee.

    5. Teaching Policies

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    The Department determines which students are eligible to receive teaching assignments, a power typically deferred to the Chair in the first instance (as a personnel matter). The acceptance of a teaching appointment constitutes acceptance of a contractual obligation to abide by departmental and University policies about teaching. Failure to observe them may result in immediate termination of a teaching appointment. Conversely, complaints concerning a teacher in charge are to be taken to the Chair.

    Students doing independent teaching are assigned courses by the Chair in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students who are assistants in lecture/recitation courses are assigned courses by the graduate student representatives-atlarge in consultation with the Chair. Graduate students in residence are asked to turn in a list of their preferences, which are used to determine teaching assignments.

    At the beginning of each academic year, an orientation is held for all new teaching assistants to give them information about teaching; to acquaint them with University facilities relevant to teaching (e.g. the Writing Center and videotaping facilities); to answer questions about duties, responsibilities, and objectives; to provide hands-on instruction in teaching; tips of the trade; and the like. New teaching assistants are expected to attend.

    5.1 Faculty Duties and Obligations

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    Instructors have an obligation to foster and improve the teaching abilities of the graduate students with whom they are associated, be they graders, teaching assistants, or mentored independent teachers. Equally, faculty members have the responsibility to treat their graduate students with respect and dignity, as the apprentice professionals they are. Faculty instructors therefore have certain obligations and duties regarding their graders and teaching assistants. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

    1. The instructor’s policy regarding graduate student attendance at lectures, time allowed for grading and returning papers, and the chain of responsibility for giving grades should be made clear at the beginning of the term. The instructor’s policy with regard to grading is to be made clear at the beginning of the term.

    2. If the responsibility for grading has been informally given to the grader or teaching assistant(s), the instructor should not change the grades without consultation, unless exceptional circumstances make such consultation impracticable. Nevertheless, the ultimate responsibility for grading rests with the instructor and cannot be delegated.

    3. It is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that the average weekly workload of the grader or teaching assistant(s) does not exceed the amount set by their contracts, typically 20 hours per week for a teaching assistant. The instructor must closely monitor workloads and adjust course requirements or personally assume more of the grading duties when it appears that this workload will be exceeded.

    4. Teaching assistants should be informed as early as possible (preferably at the beginning of the quarter) what material will be covered, in what order, what of that will be covered in lecture and what is to be covered in recitation section meetings.

    5. The instructor should attend one recitation section taught by the teaching assistant(s) near the beginning of the term and one near the end of the term.

    5.2 Graders

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    The principal duties and obligations of graduate students who are graders for a course include, but are not limited to, the following:

    1. Lecture attendance is mandatory if required by the instructor in charge.

    2. Office hours may be required by the instructor in charge to discuss student papers or exams.

    3. Regular or occasional discussions with the instructor in charge may be required.

    4. The grader will perform such duties as grading and commenting upon papers, constructing and grading exams, etc. as are assigned by the instructor in charge. These obligations are to be met on time, as specified by the instructor in charge. In particular, duties to students take prima facie precedence over academic obligations such as seminar presentations — unless specifically released by the instructor in charge.

    5. Many instructors schedule regular meetings with their graders; these are part of the obligation.

    At the end of the quarter, the instructor in charge offers a written evaluation of the performance of each grader, to be placed in the student’s file.

    5.3 Teaching Assistants

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    The principal duties and obligations of graduate students who are teaching assistants for a course — normally where they are given responsibility for one or more recitation sections — include, but are not limited to, the following:

    1. Prompt attendance at each recitation section meeting is absolutely required. If circumstances such as illness arise, and time permits, the teaching assistant should inform the instructor in charge and assist in arranging for a substitute approved by the instructor in charge. If a class is missed in whole or in substantial part, the matter should be reported to the intructor in charge, and a make-up class arranged to suit the convenience of the students. No assistant may change the time or place of any recitation section meeting without prior approval of the instructor in charge and appropriate notification of the Department.

    2. Attendance at all lectures is mandatory, unless excused by the lecturer in charge. The importance of this is not to be underestimated; much bad teaching has resulted from failure to observe this simple necessity. In particular, general familiarity with the material is not sufficient to warrant absence from lectures.

    3. Regular announced office hours (not just "by appointment") are expected of all teaching assistants. They must be kept; undergraduate students are often hesitant to see persons with an "appointments only" policy. At least two hours, on different days, are essential.

    4. The teaching assistant will perform such duties as grading and commenting upon papers, constructing and grading exams, discussing particular points in recitation section meetings, etc. as are assigned by the instructor in charge. These obligations are to be met on time, as specified by the instructor in charge. In particular, duties to students take prima facie precedence over academic obligations such as seminar presentations — unless specifically released by the instructor in charge.

    5. Many instructors schedule regular meetings with their teaching assistants; these are part of the obligation.

    At the end of the quarter, the instructor in charge offers a written evaluation of the performance of each grader, to be placed in the student’s file.

    5.4 Independent Teaching

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    The principal duties and obligations of graduate students who have the full responsibility for teaching a course include, but are not limited to, the following:

    1. Prompt attendance at each course meeting is absolutely required. If circumstances such as illness arise, and time permits, the student teacher should inform the faculty member responsible for the supervision of graduate teaching and assist in arranging for an approved substitute. If a class is missed in whole or in substantial part, the matter should be reported to the Graduate Teaching Supervisor, and a make-up class arranged to suit the convenience of the students. No assistant may change the time or place of any course meeting without prior approval of the Graduate Teaching Supervisor and appropriate notification of the Department.

    2. Regular announced office hours (not just "by appointment") are expected of all teachers. They must be kept; undergraduate students are often hesitant to see persons with an "appointments only" policy. At least two hours, on different days, are essential.

    3. All the ordinary obligations of a teacher, such as grading and commenting upon papers, constructing and grading examinations, submitting grades, etc. must be met on time. In particular, teaching duties take prima facie precedence over academic obligations.

    4. The student teacher is strongly encouraged to submit to the Graduate Teaching Supervisor a course syllabus that outlines the projected course and includes a list of required and suggested texts — before submitting textbook requisitions.

    5. The student teacher is required to have his or her course evaluated through the Office for the Evaluation of Teaching. Any alternative means of eliciting and recording student response must have the prior approval of the Graduate Teaching Supervisor. Additionally, faculty members may sit in on course meeting, either at the request of the Graduate Teaching Supervisor or of the student teacher. Many graduate students ask some faculty member to sit in regularly so that the faculty member can write a teaching letter for the student when the student looks for an academic position.

      5.5 Teaching Files

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      The graduate student’s departmental file is to contain all teaching evaluations of graduate students by faculty members. The file will be open to the student and faculty members. It will serve in the supervision of teaching, and in the writing of teaching letters. The Graduate Teaching Supervisor will see to it that annual teaching reports, as well as termby- term reports by instructors on their graders and assistants, are put in the student’s file.

      Students are encouraged to maintain his or her own teaching file, which should include course evaluations, course descriptions, and syllabi. It is also often worthwhile to keep other materials such as copies of major tests or term paper assignments. Copies of grade sheets or gradebooks are turned in at the end of the quarter and are maintained by the Department. The student’s teaching file serves four important purposes: a resource for professional development as a college teacher; an administrative record of past courses should questions concerning student grades or the like arise; a source of information for prospective employers; and a collection of materials to show prospective employers. (Prospective employers sometimes ask to see course evaluations, syllabi, etc.)

      6. Job Placement

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      The Department has an obligation actively to aid its students receiving doctoral degrees in securing suitable academic employment, above all and in the first instance to those seeking work for the first time; the Department will support its candidates for up to three years from their initial search for employment. While all members of the Department are expected to play an active role in placement, the major responsibility is shared by the Placement Director, the Placement Committee, and the student’s dissertation advisor. A faculty member who agrees to direct a dissertation thereby accepts the responsibility to work actively for the student in placing him or her in a suitable academic position, irrespective of his or her obligation to aid other job-seekers.

      To seek employment through the Department, the student must have either completed the dissertation or have a complete draft of the dissertation that the student’s advisor thinks will be finished within the academic year.

      6.1 Dossier

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      The prospective job-seeker must give the Placement Director a complete dossier on or before October 1. This dossier must contain at least three letters of recommendation, a curriculum vitae that is ready for reproduction, and a suitable dossier paper. Each member of the Placement Committee will examine each job-seeker’s dossier and make recommendations for how it can be improved. This is especially important regarding confidential letters of recommendation, since the Department has an obligation to protect a job-seeker against an inadvertently harmful letter.

      The Department maintains the job-seeker’s dossier, and will reproduce it and mail it out when necessary. The costs of reproducing and mailing the dossiers will be paid by the Department for as many as three years. After that period, these costs will be passed on to the job-seeker prior to each mailing. Once the dossiers have been mailed out, the Placement Officer will contact members of the Department, and in particular the key mentors of the various job-seekers, to decide what follow-up action, in the form of telephone calls and additional letters, is in order (if any).

      6.2 The Placement Evaluation Meeting

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      There will be a full meeting of the Department in early October to evaluate the potential job-seekers who have turned in their complete dossiers to the Placement Director by the October 1st deadline. Since the quality of the dissertation is a crucial input in this evaluation, it is important that for each potential job-seeker the dissertation advisor be present. If the advisor is unable to attend, he or she should give the Placement Director a written evaluation of the dissertation and the job-seeker before the meeting. For each jobseeker, the Department will decide the kinds of jobs to which it will nominate each jobseeker. This determination is a directive to the Placement Committee, and the Placement Officer will transmit it to the job-seeker.

      6.3 The Departmental Nomination System

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      The Placement Committee, based on the Departmental evaluation, letters of recommendation, and consultation with the advisors of various job-seekers, will decide which job-seekers are nominated by the Department for which jobs in particular. Before the publication of the first issue of Jobs for Philosophers, the Placement Committee will agree upon a standard covering paragraph for each job-seeker. When a single job-seeker is recommended for a job, this paragraph, or a suitably tailored version of it, will appear in a Departmental letter of nomination that is attached to the dossier. When two or more job-seekers are nominated for a given job, each dossier will be mailed separately with a letter attached to it that clearly indicates that the person is a Departmental nominee, and allude to the other nominees only by indicating how many there are. The letter is to describe the suitability of the candidate for the job and give no basis for rank-ordering the nominees. The names of the members of the Placement Committee are to appear on every letter of nomination, although only the Placement Director will sign them.

      Upon receipt of an issue of Jobs for Philosophers, the Placement Officer will notify each job-seeker of this fact so that they can give the Placement Director, within a fixed short period, a list of the jobs for which they want to be nominated. The Placement Committee will meet shortly after the job-seeker requests have been received and will decide, in part in the light of these stated preferences, who gets nominated for which positions. Immediately after this meeting, each job-seeker will receive a list of the jobs for which each person is to be nominated. A job-seeker has the right to petition the Placement Committee to reconsider one or more of its decisions.

      6.4 Preparation

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      To prepare for potential interviews and on-campus visits, the Department requires that during the Autumn Quarter each job-seeker undergo a mock interview and present a colloquium paper.

      Mock Interview. The mock interview is intended to simulate actual interview conditions and thereby to give job-seekers some experience at describing their research, teaching, abilities, and interests. The Placement Director assembles faculty members for this purpose, typically including at least one person who is familiar in the area of the jobseeker’s dissertation. The actual dissertation advisor typically does not attend the mock interview, and if present may only observe, not participate. The job-seeker is expected to respond to questions of the sort that would likely be asked in an actual interview; to speak about his or her dissertation project and research interests; to show mastery of the issues as well as the relevant literature in the areas of philosophy in which he or she has declared an area of specialization or competence; to describe courses that he or she is prepared to teach; and the like. At the conclusion of the mock interview, the faculty members offer the job-seeker advice about improving his or her performance in the interview situation.

      Colloquium Paper. Each job-seeker should be prepared to deliver a paper as part of an on-site visit, often, though not always, a paper distinct from the dossier paper. To prepare for such an event, each job-seeker is required to present a paper to the Department. There are several benefits from this. First, the job-seeker gets some practice at delivering the very paper he or she intends to deliver upon invitation. Second, the job-seeker must answer questions after delivering the paper, thereby getting a sense of the sorts of questions that might be raised elsewhere and practice at responding to such questions (and perhaps learning how to revise the paper in the process). Third, once the question period is over, faculty members offer the job-seeker advice about how to improve his or her performance.

      The importance of the mock interview and the colloquium paper cannot be overstated. During their graduate education students are rarely put in anything like the interview situation, and experience has shown that most students need practice at expounding and defending their arguments before an audience of professional philosophers. Seminar presentations and undergraduate teaching duties are often helpful in cultivating some skills needed for successful interviews and colloquium papers, but they are usually not sufficient by themselves. The Department encourages students to gain and exercise the skills necessary to find employment.

      7. Departmental Administrative Structure

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      The following description of the administrative structure of the Department is not complete. A complete description is given in the Department’s internal handbook "Rules of the Department of Philosophy" (available on request). The description here contains only those features most important to the graduate students.

      Each year the Department requests all current graduate students to select three of their number to act as representatives-at-large, who normally attend all Departmental meetings, unless specifically excluded by the faculty, which may occur (i) by a two-thirds majority vote of the regular faculty present, given a quorum; (ii) when matters dealing with confidential information or sensitive material related to graduate students is under discussion, as determined by the Chair, which does not require a vote by the faculty. The Department welcomes and encourages graduate student participation, and excludes graduate students from a meeting only after careful consideration. The representatives-atlarge may vote on all issues other than matters of graduate policy. In addition to the representatives-at-large, graduate students who have been appointed to the Graduate Committee and the Undergraduate Committee may attend regular meetings of the Department (unless specifically excluded as described above); these graduate students may vote on all matters that come before the Department, including matters of graduate policy.

      There are seven standing committees of the Department relevant to graduate students:

      1. The Executive Committee, composed of the Chair, who chairs the committee; the Director of Graduate Studies; the Director of Undergraduate Studies; and two other faculty members appointed by the Chair. Among other duties, the Executive Committee prepares the schedule of course offerings for the next year, and advises the Chair on Summer stipends.

      2. The Graduate Committee, which is composed of the Director of Graduate Studies, who chairs the committee; the Chair; three other faculty members appointed by the Chair; and two graduate student members selected by all current graduate students. Among other duties, the Graduate Committee oversees and administers all aspects of the graduate program; hears petitions and requests from students; approves committees for the Candidacy Examination, the Qualifying Examination, and for the dissertation; and interprets University, college, and departmental rules and policies concerning graduate students.

        (Note that the graduate student members may be excluded from the deliberations of the Graduate Committee if confidential or sensitive material is under discussion.)

      3. The Undergraduate Committee, which is composed of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, who chairs the committee; the Graduate Teaching Supervisor; two faculty members who appointed by the Chair; one graduate student member selected by all graduate students; and two undergraduate philosophy majors.

      4. The Placement Committee, which is composed of the Placement Director, who chairs the committee; the Chair; the Director of Graduate Studies; and another faculty member appointed by the Chair. This committee has as its charge to oversee and administer the efforts of its graduate students to find jobs in philosophy.

      5. The Curriculum Committee, which is composed of the Placement Director, who chairs the committee; the Director of Graduate Studies; the Director of Undergraduate Studies; two other faculty members appointed by the Chair; and at least one student (graduate or undergraduate). Among its other duties, the Curriculum Committee periodically reviews graduate and undergraduate course offerings; gives the Chair recommendations about the frequency of course offerings; and proposes changes in course offerings to the whole Department.

      6. The Graduate Admissions Committee, which is composed of the Director of Graduate Admissions, who chairs the Committee; and two other faculty members appointed by the Chair. This committee has as its charge to oversee and administer the process of graduate recruitment.

      7. The Colloquium Committee, which is composed of a variable number of members: one faculty member will serve as the Colloquium Coordinator, with at least four graduate students as additional members. This is to be primarily a graduate student committee, with graduate students making the decisions and coordinating the annual colloquium series, but with the faculty member serving as advisor and budget administrator. The duties of the Colloquium Committee are as follows: to prepare during Spring Quarter a schedule of colloquia by visiting and regular faculty members for the following academic year; to make invitations and all necessary arrangements for outside philosophers who visit the campus at the invitation of the Department in the colloquium series; to be in general charge of the Department commons room as it is used for colloquia.

      Besides these seven standing committees, the Department constitutes Search Committees for faculty recruitment as needed, which solicit advice from graduate students as they go about their work.

      An individual student grievance related to academic concerns should first be raised with the Director of Graduate Studies, then the Graduate Committee, then the Department. Every student has the right to appeal any decision made at the departmental level to the Graduate School according to the pertinent procedures spelled out in the Graduate School Handbook. For collective student grievances at the level of policy, the graduate students should make a formal presentation to the Department through its representatives-at-large. It should be noted that the Department does not have the power to amend or alter decisions made by committees that are directly constituted under the Graduate School, such as Candidacy Examination Committees.

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