Frequentely Asked Questions for Current Graduate Students
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
for Current Anthropology Graduate Students
Please note most questions can be answered by referring to the Anthropology Graduate Handbook (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/anthro/grad.html#graduatehandbook)or the Graduate Studies Academic Rules (http://www.upenn.edu/grad/rules.html#eval).
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
Q: Who must take the language exam?
A: All PhD candidates must take the language exam in their first year of study.
Q: I am a native speaker of a language other than English, do I need to take the language exam?
A: You may request a waiver from the language requirement from the graduate chair. If granted, you must inform the graduate coordinator so that the waiver is filed with GAS and a copy put in your records.
Q: Can I choose the language for the exam?
A: Yes. Exams are usually in French, Spanish, German or Russian but you may petition the GGC if you would like to be tested in another language.
Q: What is the format of the language exam?
The exam consists of written translation divided into a few sections based on anthropological text from various subfields (cultural/physical/archaeology/linguistics). You will be given three hours to complete the exam.
Q: May I bring materials to the language exam?
A: You may bring a dictionary only. You may not use your computer.
Q: Can I retake the exam if I fail the first time?
A: Yes.
COMP EXAMS:
Q: Who takes the COMP Exams?
A: All first year Ph.D. and MA candidates.
Q: When are the COMP Exams?
A: Usually the week after finals in April. The exams are morning and afternoon for two days.
Q: Will we receive study questions before the exams?
A: This is up to the individual faculty member administering each section of the exam. If questions are released, the graduate coordinator will send them out one week to ten days in advance of the exam, if possible.
Q: May I use my own computer to take the exam?
A: Yes.
Q: May I use other materials during the exam?
A: No.
Q: How are the exams graded?
A: Faculty members grade on a scale of High Pass, Pass, Low Pass or Fail. The respective faculty members then meet with the GGC to compile and discuss the scores. Exam results as well as student progress in the program is discussed. Final results are given to the GGC and GC.
Q: When will the results of the exams be released?
A: Hopefully the faculty is able to meet and grade the exams within one month. Results are sent out via e-mail and in a formal letter to each student.
MA/MS Degrees:
Q: What is the difference between your MA and MS program?
A: The MA program requires students take the four core courses based on the four major Anthropology subfields: archaeology, cultural, physical and linguistics. After completing the four core courses, you must take the Comprehensive Exams. Your degree is complete after passing the COMP Exams, successfully completing 10 CUs and depositing either a research paper or master’s thesis.
The MS is intended for students focused more toward medical Anthropology and other specific specializations and does not require any specific courses. Instead you work with your advisor to plan out the course of study which best suits your academic interests. In order to complete your degree you must successfully complete 10 CUs, pass a comprehensive exam administered by your advisor and submit a research paper or master’s thesis.
TIME LIMITS:
Q: How long do I have to complete the PhD degree?
A: Students have five years to complete all coursework and required exams (including the Oral Exam). Students have ten years to complete the entire PhD degree.
Q: How long do I have to complete the MA/MS degree?
A: Students have six years to complete all coursework. You may have an additional two semesters (one year) to complete your master’s research paper or thesis.
TRANSFER OF CREDITS:
Q: How many credits may I transfer to use toward my PhD degree?
A: You may transfer up to eight (8) courses from another school. Additionally, up to four (4) courses may be transferred from the College of Liberal and Professional Studies at Penn.
Q: How many credits may I transfer to use toward my MA/MS degree?
A: You may transfer up to two courses from another school. Additionally, up to four (4) courses may be transferred from CGS.
Q: How do I request a transfer of credits?
A: Send a request in writing to the GGC copying the Grad Coordinator. If approved by the GGC, the GC will submit the proper form to GAS for ultimate approval and official transfer of credit. Courses taken while enrolled as an undergraduate (except for submatriculating students) are NOT acceptable for transfer.
INCOMPLETES:
Q: What if I need to take an incomplete?
A: Incompletes are very much discouraged by the University, particularly if you are receiving fellowship funding. You may request an incomplete from your instructor. It is the sole decision of said instructor to whether or not to grant the incomplete.
You may be granted a short or long incomplete.
Q: How long do I have to complete the coursework for a grade?
A: Per the SAS Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, the current policy (from 9/28/07) regarding incompletes is as follows:
For Fall courses: In February of the following semester, we'll
send notices advising students about any Incompletes on their records as of February 1. This is simply a reminder to finish up the work promptly, or if the work is done, to prod the instructor to submit a grade. Incompletes still remaining as of April 1 will trigger a warning, which will be sent during April. You will need to respond to warnings with some urgency,
because Fall Incompletes remaining on your record as of August 1 will
result in a cutoff of financial aid for the new Fall semester. The aid
cutoff will be implemented early in August, so that departments have time to replace students who were scheduled to be Teaching Fellows.
For Spring courses: A similar cycle will be followed, with
advisory notices sent in June based on records as of June 1, warnings sent in October based on records as of October 1, and aid cutoffs implemented in December based on records as of December 1.
Besides cutoffs of financial aid, Incompletes remaining on a
student's record longer than one calendar year will trigger a registration hold. For example, if you have an Incomplete from Fall 2004 or earlier, you will not be able to register for Spring 2006.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Q: May I take a leave of absence from the program? If so, what is the procedure?
A: Leave of Absences (LOA) will be granted only for the following reasons: military service, medical leave, birth or adoption of a child. If you need to request a LOA, send a request in writing to the graduate coordinator. If approved, the GC signs the request and it is sent to the graduate office for processing.
Note: (1) You must send another written request to the graduate coordinator when you plan on returning from your LOA. (2) The degree clock is stopped only for military service; any other LOAs are included in the ten year to degree time limit.
EMPLOYMENT
Q: May I work while I am receiving my fellowship funding?
A: Per the policy concerning SAS-Funded Fellowships for PhD Students:
1. Because SAS fellowships are intended to enable the recipient to work full-time toward the Ph.D., a student is not permitted to accept employment in any month in which he or she receives a fellowship stipend if that employment is not compatible with continued progress toward the degree at a full-time rate.
2. As a general rule, students on fellowship may accept employment that requires less than ten hours of work per week (e.g., as a grader, tutor, or hourly research assistant). Employment requiring ten hours or more per week is normally prohibited. Any exceptions must be approved by both the Graduate Chair and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.
3. To help enforce these restrictions and to promote a more egalitarian distribution of funding opportunities, monthly payments from all University sources to students on fellowship may not exceed 130% of the student’s stipend.
4. SAS imposes no restrictions on employment hours or payments during months when a student does not receive a fellowship stipend. Thus a student who is not receiving aid during the summer may work as much as he or she chooses, and a student who has an opportunity for lucrative summer employment may opt to decline stipend payments in the summer.
FUNDING FOR TRAVEL TO CONFERENCES
Q: Can I have my travel and conference fees paid for by the department? If so, what is the process?
A: You may request funding to cover the expenses of attending a conference. You must submit the request PRIOR to making your trip and you must be a full time SAS graduate students in residence at the University. The Request for SAS Travel Subvention Form can be found by going to the Penn website and searching for “Travel Subvention” (http://www.polisci.upenn.edu/grad/travel.pdf) or you may ask the Graduate Coordinator for a copy of the form.
SUBMATRICULATION
Q: What is a submatric?
A: A Submatric is when an Undergraduate receives the Bachelor and Masters degree at the same time. One usually applies for the Masters degree in the fall of their junior year. Here is their website for additional information: http://www.college.upenn.edu/degree/submatric/index.php
Q: Where do I get the application for submatriculation?
A: The application is a two-step process. You can get an application for submatriculation from the College office or from the Anthropology Graduate Coordinator. The second part of the process is you must print out a formal graduate application from the GAS website and the Apply Yourself system at:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/gas/home/apply/app_forms.html
Q: What are the steps in the submatriculation application?
A: You need to meet with Dr. Srilata Gangulee in the College Office where you receive a permit to list your courses. Once the College has signed off on the form, you should set up an appointment with your Anthropology Advisor to go over what graduate courses will count toward the graduate degree. The permit is signed by both the Undergrad chair and the Grad Chair. Bring the signed application to the Graduate Coordinator. If you request a 999 to the list of graduate courses counting towards the degree, you will need to make an appointment with the Associate Graduate Dean to discuss this and have him sign the permit as well. That is the only time the Dean needs to be involved.
The permit should be submitted to the graduate office with a paper copy of the application which can be found on the GAS website: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/gas/home/apply/app_forms.html
The reason we ask for a paper copy is because everyone does not offer a masters degree so the only degree option for those people would be the PhD degree (on-line). A paper application keeps the process uniform for everyone. GAS holds any permits they receive until they also receive the paper application.
Q: How long do I have to complete the submatric program and my master’s degree?
A: Submatrics are supposed to finish the program at the same time as your undergraduate degree but can have the next semester to complete the degree if necessary. If you need more time than that, your program will be closed as a submatric and opened as a Masters candidate since you are no longer an undergraduate. If you are still an undergrad, you pay undergraduate rates for the graduate level courses. But once you become a graduate students, you are charged the standard graduate rate.
Q: What if I change the courses I take in the Submatric program?
A: If your courses changes, Marco Manzo in GAS may request an updated permit form when he reviews your record for graduation.
EXCHANGE SCHOLAR PROGRAM
Q: What is the exchange scholar program?
A: From the graduate website at: http://www.upenn.edu/grad/exchange.html
The Exchange Scholar Program enables a graduate student enrolled in a doctoral program in one of the participating institutions to study at one of the other graduate schools for a limited period of time so as to take advantage of particular educational opportunities not available on the home campus. The academic experience, including courses taken and/or research conducted with particular faculty at the visited institution, will be registered on the academic record maintained by the student's home institution.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The following are to be regarded as minimal terms and conditions of the program. Individual institutions may choose to establish more rigorous criteria, e.g., for eligibility or duration of study. Definitions (e.g., of "term," "academic year," and "hospitalization coverage") may also vary according to local policy and practice.
1. ELIGIBILITY-normally students will be eligible to be Exchange Scholars only after they have completed one full academic year in residence in a graduate degree program at their home institution.
2. DURATION-a minimum of one term of study and a maximum of one academic year will be permitted in the program. This program is not in operation during Summer Sessions.
3. REGISTRATION STATUS-Exchange Scholars will be registered by the home and host institutions in whatever category ("in absentia," "in residence," "special student," "Exchange Scholar") is appropriate at each place.
4. TUITION AND FINANCIAL AID-tuition will be charged and collected, and any financial aid will be provided, by the student's home institution.
5. HEALTH AND HOSPITALIZATION COVERAGE-the institution which the student is visiting will be responsible for assuring that hospitalization and health services are locally available. However, the host institution may either charge the student for such services or require that the student purchase coverage from the home institution.
6. BENEFITS-at the institution visited, Exchange Scholars will be accorded all the benefits of that institution's resident students. They will receive a student ID card which permits access to the host institution's libraries, labs, health facilities, athletic facilities, housing (as available) and the like. Where these services entail fees in addition to tuition,
the host institution will charge Exchange Scholars the same fees it charges its own graduate students.
7. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS-international students are understood to be under the continuing sponsorship of their home institution. All INS work for them must be done through the international student advisor at the home institution. International students on F-1 visas should note that they are not allowed to work at the host institution unless they obtain prior written approval from the Office of International Programs at the host institution.
8. RECORDS-upon completion of each term, officials of the institution visited will collect the information concerning the Exchange Scholar's course of study and forward it (with appropriate stamps/seals and signatures) to the Graduate School Dean of the student's home institution. Normally this information will include the course record (title, number, instructor, credit or class hours and grade received) and any special research conducted under the auspices of a faculty member. The information will then be posted on the student's academic record or made part of the record as appropriate to the home institution.
9. NOTIFICATION-the home institution will be responsible for notifying third parties of the Exchange Scholar's status and activities.
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS AND PROGRAMS
University of California at Berkeley
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Degrees Office 302 Sproul Hall #5900
University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-5900
Phone: 510-642-7330
Fax: 510-643-1524
e-mail: degrees@uclink.berkeley.edu
Academic Calendar: http://opa.vcbf.berkeley.edu/AcademicCalendar/calendar.cfm
Brown University
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Associate Dean of Graduate School
Box 1867
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Phone: 401-863-2843
Fax: 401-863-7341
e-mail: michael_diffily@brown.edu
Academic Calendar: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Registrar/calendar.html
University of Chicago
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Brooke Noonan
Manager, Fellowships and Traveling Scholar Programs
The University of Chicago
5801 South Ellis Avenue, Room 225
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-702-0871
e-mail: brookec@uchicago.edu
Academic Calendar: http://www.uchicago.edu/docs/accalendar.html
Columbia University
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Dean Aaron Koch, c/o Craig Knobles
109 Low Memorial Library
535 West 116th Street
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
Phone: 212-854-2889
Fax: 212-854-2863
e-mail: jck2@columbia.edu
Academic Calendar: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/registrar/cals_academic.html
Cornell University
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Ron Watkins
Director, Graduate Records
Cornell University
150 A Caldwell Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-2602
(607) 255-5824
(607) 255-1816 (fax)
email: rlw5@cornell.edu
Academic Calendar:
http://www.cuinfo.cornell.edu/Admin/CALEND.html
Harvard University
All Ph.D. programs in the Graduate School of Arts & Science
Contact: Rise Schepsle Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Harvard University
Byerly Hall, 2nd Floor,
8 Garden St. Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-495-1814
Fax: 617-495-2928
e-mail: gsas@fas.harvard.edu
Academic Calendar: http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/handbooks/student/chapter1/index.html
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D. programs in the School of Science: Biology; Brain & Cognitive Sciences; Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences; Mathematics; Physics; No programs in Engineering or Management; and others, with approval of proposed host department
Contact: Associate Dean for Graduate Students
Graduate Students Office
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 3-138
Cambridge, MA 02139-4301
Phone: 617-253-4869
Fax: 617-253-5620
e-mail: bestaton@mit.edu
Academic Calendar: http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/calendar.html
University of Pennsylvania
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Dr. Marco Manzo Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania
3401 Walnut Street, Suite 322A
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228
Phone: 215-898-7577
Fax: 215-573-8068
e-mail: mmanzo@sas.upenn.edu
Academic Calendar: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/3yearcal.html
Princeton University
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
201 Nassau Hall Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Phone: 609-258-3033
Fax: 609-258-6180
e-mail: dnredman@princeton.edu
Academic Calendar: http://ntigger.princeton.edu/registrar/acad/acad.htm
Stanford University
All Ph.D. programs in the School of Humanities and Sciences
Contact: Judith Haccou
Director of Admissions
Stanford University
630 Serra Street, Suite 120
Stanford, CA 94305-6032
Phone: 650-725-2547
Fax: 650-723-8371
e-mail: judith.haccou@stanford.edu
Academic Calendar: http://registrar.stanford.edu/pdf/Calendar_AY_0708.pdfl
Yale University
All Ph.D. programs
Contact: Thomas Burns
Assistant Dean
Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
P.O. Box 208236
New Haven, CT 06520
(203) 436-2628
FAX: (203) 432-7765
e-mail: thomas.burns@yale.edu
Academic Calendar: http://www.cs.yale.edu/admin/calendars.html
APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND APPROVAL
Complete the application (http://www.upenn.edu/grad/ExchSchApp.pdf) as indicated. Have your advisor and graduate chair sign the form (section E, #’s 1 and 2), then deliver the form to Pat Rae in the graduate office. All approvals must be obtained two months before the registration date at the host institution. Pat will write a cover letter and send the application to the Dean at the other institution. Once you have been accepted, you should receive a “welcome letter” from the host institution. You will need to carry health insurance, and it’s usually best to buy Penn’s plan, especially if you are still receiving any funding from Penn. Pat will register the student in a course or courses at Penn, for example: BRWN 995. You pay tuition at Penn, never at the host institution.
Please be aware that the host institution may charge an application fee or fees for services that are not covered by tuition. It is your responsibility to meet these charges. An exchange should NOT disrupt the TA obligation sequence (second and third year) for anthropology PhD students.
MODIFICATIONS
The Exchange Scholar Program was renewed in May 2001 for a five-year period. However, the participating institutions may modify the program at any time and individual institutions may withdraw from the program at any time.