Welcome to the Wonderful World of Bureaucracy

Prepared by Mary Braun

This guide presents information about requirements and bureaucratic matters relating to the Ph.D. program in economics.  Any questions in regards to the graduate program should be addressed to me.

Candidacy

To be advanced to candidacy, Ph.D. students in economics must have the following requirements completed:

• Passed the micro theory prelim.

• Passed the macro theory prelim.

• Passed one field prelim.

• Completed Econ 600, 671 and 672 with a grade of B- or above or passed the relevant equivalency exam.

• Completed two cognate courses with a grade of B- or above. If you have taken Econ 671, this counts as a cognate since it is cross-listed as Stat 505.

• Completed six credit hours in either Econ 609, 610, 617, 619, 620, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, or 751 with a grade of B- or above.

I prepare the paperwork for students to be advanced to candidacy.   As soon as you have passed all the required prelims for candidacy, your record is evaluated to determine if you have met the requirements. If you have, the paperwork will be processed.  If you have not, I’ll send an e-mail outlining the outstanding requirements.

Rackham requires all doctoral students to enroll for a minimum of 36 Rackham Fee Credits (18 RFCs if the student has a prior master’s degree).  Information about how Rackham Fee Credits are calculated is available on their web site under the Office of Academic Records and Dissertations.

The term you are advanced to candidacy, you register for 8 hours of Econ 990.  Once Rackham approves your candidacy paperwork, the Registrar's Office changes that enrollment to the candidacy number, Econ 995.  The section number should be the faculty member who is the chair of your committee.  Since few folks know who this is the first term they are advanced to candidacy, you should enroll with a faculty member in your major research field.  Always talk with the faculty you have chosen before you register.  Each faculty has his/her own expectation of what dissertation research involves in any given term.  Since the faculty turn in a grade sheet (marked S-satisfactory or U-unsatisfactory) at the end of the term it is very important that both of you understand just what constitutes satisfactory progress during the term.

Graduate students who are candidates are much more attractive hires for faculty recruiting research assistants since the tuition charge is less.  In addition, several fellowship programs and internships require applicants to be candidates.  The department encourages students to become candidates as soon as possible in their academic careers.

Candidates can enroll for one free course every term.  You can enroll for credit or as a visit.  After your first year as a candidate, you are required to enroll for the field seminar that is most appropriate for their research interest each term.    This requirement can be waived if there is another course you wish to have posted to your academic record.

Commonly Used Acronyms

ABD--a student who has completed All But Dissertation in the Ph.D. program

CV--curriculum vitae, an academic job resume

DGS—Director of Graduate Studies

GEO--Graduate Employees Organization (the graduate student instructor union)

GSI--Graduate Student Instructor

GSM—Graduate Student Mentor

LS&A--College of Literature, Science, and Arts.  The Economics Department is in this College

Cognates

Every student advanced to candidacy and/or awarded a Master's degree in Economics must complete two cognate courses (a minimum of four credit hours).  This is a Rackham requirement.  Econ 671 counts as one cognate since it is cross-listed as Stat 505.  You do not need to register for the course as Stat 505 to get cognate credit.  Most LS&A departments give graduate credit for any 400-level course they offer to students outside their own discipline. Sometimes, this may involves additional work.  Students must check with the department that is offering the course to confirm that the course 1) is approved for graduate credit and 2) if there is additional work required of students taking it for graduate credit.  Any undergraduate course that has been approved for graduate credit, any graduate course in another department, or a cross-listed graduate-level economics course fulfills this requirement. 

If you have attended another institution and taken a graduate-level course not in economics with a B or better, you can use that course to satisfy the cognate requirement.  Let me know if you have and I will write a memo to Rackham requesting their approval.

Dissertation Committee Membership

All dissertation committees must have at least four members.  At least two of those must be faculty in the economics department.  You can have as many committee members as you think are appropriate.  However, be aware that the more committee members, the more likelihood of encountering scheduling difficulties. The committee must have one cognate member.  The cognate member must have a regular appointment in a Rackham department.  You can have members of your committee that are not associated with the University or with a Rackham department, but they cannot be the sole chair of the committee or the cognate member.  Every member of your dissertation committee must have a Ph.D. 

Rackham must approve your dissertation committee.  Typically, I complete the paperwork once you have defended your proposal using the names listed on the proposal form. There is no notification to your dissertation committee members that they have been nominated or approved for this service.  A dissertation committee can be changed at any time.  Rackham requires all students to have their dissertation committee approved at least one month prior to a format check.

Dropping/Adding A Course        

You have until the last day of the term to drop or add a course to your schedule.  However, after the third week of the term, a grade of W will be posted to your record if you drop a course.  The W does not count toward your GPA nor turn into a grade in the future.  Details about the impact of adjusting your schedule on your tuition charges are discussed in detail on the Office of the Registrar’s web site.

You use Wolverine Access to add or drop a course until the third week of the term.  Any course changes made after that date, you must stop by my office to pick up a paper slip.  You have the paper slip signed by the faculty teaching the course and your faculty adviser and then take it to the Registrar’s Office for them to process.

Fellowships

See the "Departmental Fellowship Information" brochure that outlines fellowship guidelines and deadlines for detailed information.

Graders and Hourly Employees

See the "Departmental Fellowship Information" brochure that outlines fellowship guidelines and deadlines for further information.

Graduate Student Instructors

Graduate student instructors (often called teaching assistants at other universities) are hired by the doctoral program using the procedures outlined in the "Rules and Regulations of the Graduate Program" memo. 

Incompletes

Individual faculty set the incomplete policy for their own course.  You must talk to the faculty to come to an understanding that an incomplete will be given for any particular course and just what remains to be completed.  There is no time limit for completing the work unless imposed by the faculty.  The faculty turns in an I on the grade sheet and that I appears as the grade on your transcript.  Once the work has been completed, that I is crossed out on the transcript and the grade you received is posted beside it.

Independent reading course

Any student who has worked out an independent reading course with an appropriate faculty member registers for Econ 700, the section number of the faculty, and a selection of 1 to 8 credit hours (typically 3 credit hours). You must send me an e-mail to get permission to enroll in Econ 700.

Master's Degree

Students have finished a Master's degree in Economics if they have taken six credit-hours of theory courses (601-607); Econ 600, 671, and 672 with a grade of B- or better or the equivalency exam in those courses; two cognate courses; and two field courses.  The field courses can be either a sequence or two distinct fields.  You must have 30 credit hours on your transcript to be awarded a Master's and have at least a B (5.00) GPA.

Students are encouraged to apply for a Master's as soon as the appropriate course work is complete.  Many fellowships offered outside the department and summer internships require applicants to have completed a Master's degree.  In addition, you will want to note on your CV (resume), that you have completed a Master's degree.  You can only do this if it is posted on your transcript.  It is only posted on your transcript if you applied and received it.  If you do not apply for it when you first complete the coursework, you can still apply any term after that.  However, the date you apply for the degree is the one posted on your transcript; it will not be back-dated to the date you actually finished the Master's degree course requirement.

You must email me at the beginning of the term you will be completing your Master’s degree.  This allows me to notify the Registrar’s Office so they can allow you access to the Rackham web site to apply on-line for this degree.

Students who have earned a Master’s degree in Economics at another institution are not eligible to earn a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan unless there is a significant difference in the coursework.  A student in this circumstance must submit a written explanation outlining the differences when they submit the diploma application.

Master’s degrees are awarded for April, August, and December.  

Prelims

See the "Rules and Regulations of the Graduate Program" memo for information about the preliminary examinations administered by the doctoral program.

Proposal Defense

All students must defend a proposal by September 30 of the year they go on the job market.  Students are encouraged to defend a proposal as much in advance of that deadline as possible.

What is a proposal?  It is whatever your committee, and particularly your committee chairperson, says it is.   Generally, a proposal consists of the following elements: 1) proposed table of contents for the dissertation; 2) a draft of at least one of the chapters in the table of contents; and 3) a detailed plan for unwritten chapters of the dissertation (e.g., sketch of theory, sources of data, plans for estimation, etc.).

You and your chair should set a target date for a defense as early as possible, preferably several months.  The actual date should be set at least four weeks in advance.   The committee should be given at least three weeks to review the proposal prior to the defense.  This can be shortened if the members of the committee have already seen earlier drafts.

The proposal defense is entirely within the province of the department.  Therefore, you do not need to be registered for the term in which you defend your proposal.  There is, however, a proposal defense form that your committee completes and returns to me.

The graduate program recommends that all members of the dissertation committee attend the proposal defense.  However, this is often not the case.  Many proposal defenses do not include one or more members of the committee due to scheduling difficulties or uncertainty over the cognate member.  The dissertation chair determines what constitutes appropriate attendance at the proposal defense.  The advice of the graduate program office would be to caution the student that it is important that all members of the dissertation committee be clear about the topic and the direction of your research.

A proposal defense can be graded as a Pass; Pass II, subject to approval of suggested minor changes; Provisional Pass, subject to approval of major changes; and Rejection.  A student expecting to go on the job market must have obtained either a Pass or Pass II at their proposal defense.

In order to remain in Group 1 for a GSI position, a student must successfully defend her proposal by the beginning of the fifth year.  Since GSI assignments are made in mid-June, “the beginning of the fifth year” is currently interpreted as “the end of the fourth year.”  Thus, students who have just finished the fourth year must have a proposal defended when GSI appointments are made to be in Group 1.  Students who have just finished the fourth year but do not have a proposal defended when GSI assignments for the fall term are made in June are in Group 3.  If a student is in Group 3 when GSI assignments are made but subsequently defends her proposal, her status will be upgraded to Group 1.

Registration after you've completed the required coursework but before candidacy

All students working as a Graduate Student Research Assistant, Instructor, or Staff Assistant must be registered for at least six hours during the term of their appointment, regardless of the fraction of that appointment.  If you have completed all the required coursework but are not a candidate, you can register for Econ 990 with a selection from 1 to 8 hours.  If you don't want to enroll for anything but Econ 990, you would register for 6 hours.  If you have one course to take, you can register for 3 hours of Econ 990 that brings your registration for that term to 6 hours.  You have to designate faculty you will be working on your pre-dissertation research.  You should both have the same understanding of just what this pre-dissertation research will encompass during the term since the faculty will be turning in a grade sheet at the end of the term for this course. You must send me an e-mail to get permission to enroll in Econ 900.

Research Assistantships

See the "Rules and Regulations of the Graduate Program" memo for detailed information.

Travel Grants

Rackham administers a Travel Grant program for graduate students.   You should refer to their web sites for details of that program.  The Department has a travel grant program awards $150 plus 1/2 of the remaining travel expenses up to $300 if a student is presenting a paper at the meeting of a recognized economic organization.  The department travel award is available only once to students over the course of their program and can't be used to give or attend seminars at other universities.  To apply for this award, return a copy of travel receipts and the conference program listing you as a participant to me.

Visiting a course

You can enroll in any graduate economics course as a visit instead of credit with the permission of the faculty.  The faculty determines the parameters of the visit status for their own course.  You can not register for a VI on Wolverine Access.  You must pick up a paper election worksheet from me in Room 250 Lorch and have it signed by the Director of Graduate Studies and the faculty teaching the course.  That paper worksheet then gets submitted to the Registrar’s Office.    Your transcript will list the course grade as VI.  The VI never turns into a grade or figures into your grade point average.  The same tuition charge is assessed for a visit as it is for courses taken for credit.

8/10/2006