Student Handbook
Overview and Policies
School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
Claremont Graduate University
Contents
Welcome
Mission Statement
The School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
Important Phone Numbers, Addresses, and Individuals
General Expectations
Assumptions
Evaluation procedures
What is expected of graduate students
Grievances
Student Organizations
Student Advocacy Association (SAA)
Graduate Student Council (GSC)
Financial Aid
Internal fellowships
External fellowships
Other sources of funding
Faculty Advisors, Department Chair, and Associate Department Chair
The Graduate Faculty in Psychology (GFIP)
Involvement in Research:
Master's research
Dissertation research
Expected Review Time for Papers
Program Synopsis
Prerequisites, Requirements, and Timelines:
Dual degrees
Sample target timelines
Actual time to complete a Ph.D
Summary of Steps in the CGU Psychology Ph.D. Program
Essential Program Documents
Other Useful Information
Department office
Academic computing
Institute of Organizational & Program Evaluation Research
Summer
Faculty sabbaticals
Research and instructional equipment
Research and travel expenses
Research space
Library/lounge
Photocopy machine
Miscellaneous
Using Human Subjects
Plagiarism
Welcome to the graduate program in psychology at Claremont Graduate University! We think you will find that our program offers an unusual, even unique, combination of elements that can make your graduate studies both stimulating and rewarding. Its uniqueness comes from the blending of apparent contradictions. For example, the curriculum allows students to tailor their graduate program to their own individual interests and needs to a considerable degree, but it also maintains an overall coherence and responsiveness to external employment opportunities. Departmental norms provide high academic standards while striving for a collegial and supportive environment for students. Similarly, the cluster arrangement of the Claremont Colleges provides the resources of a full-spectrum university and a large department (e.g., over 50 graduate faculty in psychology) with the personalization and relative intimacy of a small department (the core graduate faculty). We wish success for you in the program, at the same time, recognizing that there will be challenges and difficulties along the way.
This Handbook is a program overview. It provides an introduction to the psychology department, and the policies and procedures that will affect you throughout your graduate career, and especially in your first year. Supplementary materials are available in the SBOS office and in the lounge, with details on specific topics such as master's projects, portfolios, research tools, orals, and dissertations. You should consult these resources when they are most relevant for you.
With best wishes for your success,
The CGU Psychology Faculty, Staff, and Students
The mission of Claremont Graduate University is to prepare a diverse group of outstanding individuals to assume leadership roles in the worldwide community through teaching, research, and practice in selected fields.
Mission Statement of the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
The School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences is committed to conducting social science research and evaluations that will influence constructive social change, and to providing scholars and practitioners the means to influence the direction of institutions for the betterment of society.
The School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University encompasses the Ph.D. and M.A. degree programs in psychology in the areas of Applied Social Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Applied Developmental Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Positive Psychology, and Evaluation Science, and the M.S. program in Human Resources Design.
Claremont Graduate University is located at 123 E. Eighth Street, Claremont, CA 91711.
For information, call (909) 621-8084 Fax: (909) 621-8905
Click here to view the most commonly requested phone numbers and addresses for CGU faculty and staff.
Click here for the CGU Faculty/Staff Directory.
You are well aware that success in graduate school requires a high level of academic performance. The best preparation for the challenges, and possibly the anxiety, raised by this circumstance is a firm understanding of what is expected of you and how you will be evaluated as a graduate student. In this section, therefore, we will try to provide you with a straightforward account of the assumptions implicit in the department's relations with graduate students, what is expected of students in the program, and the procedures employed by the department to monitor students' academic performance.
The graduate psychology program operates on two primary assumptions about students:
First, we assume that each student admitted is academically capable and should be expected to succeed in graduate school. There are no "weed-out" courses designed to fail students or otherwise screen them after entry into the program. As a small program devoted exclusively to graduate education, our philosophy is to provide personalized, distinctive graduate education in a context of support, respect, and encouragement for students while, at the same time, maintaining high academic standards.
Second, the program assumes that students are responsible for their own education. Our role is to provide opportunity, resources, guidance, teaching, and encouragement. It is your responsibility to set your own educational and professional goals and assertively use the available resources to attain those goals. Do not approach the program passively, saying, "Tell me what to do." Approach it actively asking, "How will I use this program (class, requirement, etc.) to help achieve my goals?"
The SBOS psychology faculty meets at the end of each semester to review the academic performance and progress of each graduate student in the program. The input to that meeting consists of transcripts and grades, reports of the academic and research advisors and others working with the student (including graduate faculty from outside the core faculty), prior letters and communications from the student file, and, at the student's option, a memo from the student regarding accomplishments or extenuating circumstances. It is highly recommended that students provide their academic advisors with a brief summary of activities and plans at the end of each semester. This facilitates communication between yourself and your advisor and formally documents your activities and progress. Include any pertinent information that affects your progress through the program (i.e., employment, extra activities, etc.). The faculty then reviews the available material, receives reports from faculty members knowledgeable about a student's activities, and reaches a collective judgment in open discussion regarding whether the student has fallen below the expected level of academic performance.
The faculty review of students' academic performance and progress attends to three areas: course work, research, and timely progress through the program. Below we describe what is expected of you in each category.
1) Course work and grades. You are expected to do well in all your courses, not only with regard to specific course requirements, but in the quality and vigor of your inquiry, discussion, and writing. Graduate students in this program are expected to maintain at least a B average (i.e., 3.0) in their course work and falling below that level will put your academic status in jeopardy.
2) Research. Every Ph.D. student is expected to be engaged in a research project under faculty supervision every semester in the program. Ph.D. students are required to be enrolled in the Directed Research seminar during their first year at CGU. The goal of the Directed Research seminar is to launch each student on an empirical research project with a faculty research advisor here at CGU. This research project is to be each student’s M.A. thesis research (if he or she entered without a Master's degree) or their "first year research project" (if he or she entered with a Masters degree). All Ph.D. students are required to complete (a) the proposal for their thesis or first year project by the end of their third semester in the program, and (b) the empirical project itself by the end of their third year in the program. These research projects, when completed, can also serve as a portfolio item in students’ portfolio.
Both the proposal and the project must be reviewed and signed off by two faculty members. These two faculty members include the student’s research advisor and a second reader selected by the research advisor in consultation with the student. Students who fail to meet either of these requirements will be transferred from the Ph.D. program to the terminal Master’s degree program. Although ordinarily the empirical project is actually the research proposed in the proposal, and students are encourage to develop their proposal with this goal in mind, in fact, sometimes students change their course of study after their first year and actually complete this research requirement with a different research project. Either way, the same time deadlines apply.
A common misjudgment, especially among first and second year graduate students, is to neglect the research activities in favor of the more immediate and pressing demands of the course work. Although each program requires different types of research activity, it is important to note that the Ph.D. is a research degree – course work is preparation; research is the main event.
3) Progress. You are expected to make steady progress through the formal requirements of the program, subject to reasonable allowances for individual circumstances of family, finances, health, and other such constraints. You are expected to meet the various specific program deadlines (e.g., qualifying courses and portfolio finished within three years) or provide an acceptable explanation for delays. Check the specific timetable of your program for these deadlines.
Entering students who have not completed an empirical Master’s degree in psychology are required to submit a research proposal to their research advisor and their Directed Research supervisor prior to the end of the Spring Semester of their first year. Students who do not have an official Master’s proposal signed off by both readers at the end of their third semester and those who do not have their Master’s project completed and approved by both readers at the end of Spring Semester of their third year will be transferred from the Ph.D. program to the terminal Master’s degree program.
Entering students who already have completed a Master’s degree in psychology with an empirical Master’s thesis (approved by their academic advisor) are required to submit to their Directed Research supervisor at the end of Spring Semester of their first year a written product related to their research work done during the year.
In addition to meeting the specific deadlines, you should have a plan for yourself that brings you to the completion of your degree well within the institutionally set time limits, seven years from entry with a B.A. degree, six years from entry with an M.A. degree. The CGU administration will sometimes grant extensions of these time limits, upon recommendation of the department, but in psychology we are reluctant to make such recommendations unless we see active progress before the time limit expires. (See "Institutional Time Limits and Departmental Policy on Extensions" in this Handbook.)
4) Participation in Departmental Affairs. We expect students to attend colloquia, social/organizational and cognitive/developmental lunches, department sponsored conferences, and other such activities that are designed to enhance students' development and broaden their horizons. Life in the department benefits greatly from the generous contribution of those students who help with the colloquium arrangements, orientation activities, serve as student representatives at the faculty meetings, and other such volunteer activities.
5) Ethics. We expect graduate students to uphold the standards of ethics and behavior appropriate to academic life and the profession of psychology. This means academic honesty, as covered in the CGU Bulletin, regarding plagiarism, cheating on exams, unauthorized collaboration, and so forth. (Be sure to attend to the section on plagiarism in this Handbook.) More broadly, however, it means maintaining professional standards of conduct in all your activities as a graduate student. Especially sensitive are relations with "clients" and sponsors, whether these be businesses or agencies sponsoring research projects, field placement hosts, persons in field settings where research is being conducted, those establishing consulting relationships with you, patients and families in the Autism Clinic, and so forth.
Virtually everyone with whom you come in contact while in your role as a CGU graduate student should be treated in a professional manner (including the faculty, staff, and other students). "Professional," of course, does not necessarily mean cold, stuffy, or distantly formal. The major principles are confidentiality of privileged information, not overreaching or overstating your competence and knowledge or that of the discipline, fulfillment of obligations and commitments, reasonable self-control, protecting clients from risk, jeopardy, deception, or embarrassment, and general professional demeanor (dress, language, etc.). Read and understand the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists; it applies to you in your role as a graduate student in psychology.
If you should ever feel wronged by a decision or practice of any faculty member or the CGU Psychology program, the first step should be to discuss the problem with your advisor, the Associate Department Chair, and/or the Department Chair. If the problem is not resolved, and you feel there has been a breach of established practice or policy, you should contact the Dean of Students for information necessary to initiate a formal grievance procedure.
Student Organizations
The Student Advocacy Association (SAA) is the psychology students' formal representation to faculty and administration. The SAA Executive Board includes students from all concentration areas. The board members meet regularly to discuss relevant issues. Individual board members also are responsible to attend faculty meetings, or oversee the activities of student committees.
SAA organizes social activities, provides moral and functional support to students, and keeps abreast of upcoming conferences and calls-for-papers. In addition, the SAA Executive Board works on a variety of projects to improve the welfare of students and the department. Two members of SAA serve as faculty liaisons and attend faculty meetings in order to represent the student perspective during discussions regarding various SBOS issues.
SAA is most effective when all students participate. There is a suggestion box and calendar of activities located in the Austin Lounge, or you can talk to any student representative. Meetings are open to any student who would like to come by. Students are encouraged to learn about the activities of the Executive Board and to participate in the committees.
The Graduate Student Council is a student organization made up of representatives from each of the academic programs at CGU. The Council is funded through the University, which means it spends money that comes from tuition dollars. The formal mission of the Council is to facilitate dialogue between students and the administration, faculty, and staff. More specifically, duties include awarding money to students through academic awards, hosting parties each year, publishing a newsletter, and providing financial support to various student groups on campus. The monthly Council meetings are usually attended by the administration, meaning that the issues students raise are heard. Because the Council works closely with the Dean of Students, talking to your Council representatives is probably the best way to have your concerns heard beyond the department level.
The best funding, of course, is fellowship money since it requires nothing in return except good performance in your studies. There are two sources: internal CGU fellowships and various external programs. The department strives for increased CGU fellowship support for psychology students from many sources, but the vexing fact of the matter is that CGU funding is very limited, well below what we think our students need. At best, the CGU fellowships will provide a supplement, and all students will require some other sources of funding.
If you don't have personal sources, our best advice is that you adopt an entrepreneurial strategy. Aggressively identify and pursue any possible funding options while broadcasting your interest to faculty, students, and anyone else who may have helpful information. You should haunt the CGU financial aid office for whatever information and support they can provide. The department makes considerable effort to bring in funding and support the student quest for funding, and you should have no hesitancy about talking with your advisor and any other relevant faculty member about your financial needs. The following list identifies the "usual" modes of support for psychology graduate students.
Internal fellowships are awarded by CGU, upon recommendation by the psychology faculty, and are divided between those going to new students (offered at the time of admission) and those going to students who are already in the program.
Four principles guide financial aid decisions for continuing students. These are:
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to continue support for students who entered with support and who are doing well in the program
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to support students who have the heaviest tuition burden
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to support students who show exceptional academic merit
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to support students with greatest financial need
Judgments of academic merit are based on faculty evaluations of academic promise and performance, progress toward completing program requirements, various professional activities, as well as performance in course work. Fellowships are generally awarded to students in their early years, particularly in the first and second years when the tuition burden is high, and in the third year for students entering the program without an MA degree. Financial need is considered for students rated similarly in terms of academic merit.
For first year students with good academic performance, it is departmental policy to attempt to continue aid into the second year at the same level of aid that was awarded at admission.
For second year students who do not transfer in units for graduate work completed elsewhere, it is departmental policy to attempt to continue aid into the third year, though generally at a reduced level.
Students who have a GPA less than 3.0, or more than two grades of Incomplete, are not eligible for institutional financial aid.
Please be aware that most fellowship opportunities are highly competitive and you need to file promptly when deadlines arise. Deadlines vary throughout the year so be aware and don't wait until spring to start applying. Below are just some of the major funding opportunities, in no way an exhaustive list. It takes some work but additional sources can be located. In addition to these suggestions, see APA's funding resources webpage and our resource page for sources of funding.
California State Fellowships. Available on a competitive basis, which emphasizes financial need, to graduate students who have completed less than one year of graduate study and have been in the state a year (i.e., "residents"). Apply early spring semester; applications available in the department or financial aid office.
National Science Foundation. NSF has a general fellowship competition and a separate minority competition for students with less than one year of graduate study. Requirements emphasize GRE scores and GPAs but are flexible, especially in the minority program. The department obtains application kits each year and passes them out to interested students who are likely to be competitive. Inquire with the department chair for details, and see the NSF's site as well.
Minority support. There are several good programs for supporting minority graduate students (e.g., from the American Psychological Association). Minority means African American, Latino, American Indian, Eskimo, etc. and some programs include Asian. If you are a minority, even if only on one side of the family twice removed, contact the department chair to be sure that your status is known.
Roles of Faculty Advisors, School Dean, and Associate Department Chair
Each student will have an academic and research advisor throughout his/her tenure in the program. When students first enter the program they are assigned an initial (or pro tem) academic advisor with whom to consult regarding admission questions and the first semester registration. Temporarily, this faculty member also serves as the student's initial research advisor. This initial advisor is most often a full-time CGU psychology faculty member.
As students become more familiar with the program and the faculty, it is expected that they will choose a research advisor: a faculty member with whom they are most closely involved in research. Any member of the Graduate Faculty in Psychology may serve as a faculty research advisor to graduate students (see the next section for a description of the composition of the Graduate Faculty in Psychology). However, when a student is working most closely with a faculty member from outside of the core faculty, our procedures specify that he/she should consult that person as a "research advisor" and maintain an "academic advisor" from among the full-time CGU psychology faculty. The graduate faculty from the other colleges are sometimes not as familiar with the procedures and requirements of the graduate program and may not be the best source for current advice on such matters. Most students who choose a research advisor who is a full-time CGU psychology faculty member also choose the same faculty member to be their academic advisor.
The choice of advisors is entirely up to you and you may change advisors any time simply by informing the department office and your new and old advisors of your current preference. Selecting and changing faculty advisors is a routine matter for the faculty; do not be concerned about offending someone by your choice or your decision to change as necessary throughout your graduate career.
Faculty research and academic advisors are "deputized" by the department to perform a variety of academic functions and to make certain routine decisions regarding the advisees in their charge. Academic advisors will approve course work for registration each semester and interpret and clarify program requirements and procedures, while research advisors normally will chair the portfolio, thesis, qualifying orals, and dissertation committees.
An important function of the faculty research advisor is to recommend members for the various supervisory and examination committees with which a student must deal during his/her progress through the program. In particular, the research advisor selects (for recommendation, via the Department Chair to the CGU Dean of Faculty) the qualifying examination committee that administers the qualifying oral examination, the dissertation supervisory committee, and the final dissertation examination committee. Research advisors generally make this selection in consultation with the individual student, but we must emphasize that the faculty research advisor and Department Chair nominate the committee; the student does not. The faculty research advisor similarly recommends the readers for Master's theses and for portfolio papers. Indeed, except for papers done as a course assignment, all others (master's theses and proposals, dissertation drafts and proposals, and portfolio papers) should be submitted directly to the faculty research advisor, who will make arrangements for appropriate readers. As with committee selection, it is not the student's responsibility to select readers, though the advisor may consult with the student in making the selection.
Graduate student matters not handled routinely by the faculty advisors, such as problems with courses, an advisor, and personal or professional progress, are a primary responsibility of the Associate Department Chair (currently Kathy Pezdek). The Associate Department Chair also evaluates students' transcripts to see what prerequisite requirements have been satisfied, and coordinates financial aid and fellowship allocations in the department. You should feel that you have "an ear" in the department. All of the faculty, but especially your advisors and the Associate Department Chair, are ready to listen if you have problems and to help you succeed.
The functional faculty for the graduate program in psychology is known officially as the Graduate Faculty in Psychology (GFIP). The GFIP includes the full-time core CGU psychology faculty, certain graduate faculty members of other CGU departments who have agreed to work with psychology students, and those members of the faculty at the various other Claremont Colleges who have been nominated to membership by the CGU Psychology Executive Committee (the core faculty) and approved by the CGU Dean of Faculty. Not all members of the psychology faculty in the other colleges are members of the GFIP, but most are. The exceptions are primarily persons on short-term contracts, visiting faculty, or part-time faculty. A list of the GFIP appears in the masthead of the psychology section of the CGU Bulletin and a list annotated with research interests and other information is available from the psychology department office.
By virtue of belonging to the Graduate Faculty in Psychology, the faculty at the other Claremont Colleges can supervise graduate students, sit on committees, act as research advisors and sponsors, and pretty much do everything with graduate students that the full-time CGU faculty can. They have, in effect, volunteered to work with graduate students--but they are not obligated to do so. They are most responsive to industrious students who want to work with them on shared interests in relationships of mutual benefit.
In addition to the core CGU faculty in psychology there are about 40 members of the Graduate Faculty in Psychology from the other Claremont Colleges and other departments in the Graduate University. While not available full-time to graduate students, these additional members of the GFIP represent a valuable resource for the graduate program. It is the participation of the faculty from the other colleges that permits the graduate psychology program to cover the broad range of student interests and areas of study that are represented. You should expect to have substantial contact with several undergraduate psychology faculty during the course of your graduate career. It is your responsibility to take the initiative in identifying those pertinent to your interests and reaching out to make contact with them, possibly for research supervision or course work, or perhaps only to meet them and discuss your interests and obtain their input to your graduate education.
Early in the semester, a directory of the Graduate Faculty in Psychology will be made available to you. This directory includes a brief summary of research interests, recent publications, and a listing of graduate students with whom the faculty member has worked in recent years. You will have the opportunity to meet some of these faculty members at departmental activities, such as Brown Bag lunches or colloquia.
For a list of the current Graduate Faculty in Psychology, click here.
As noted earlier in this document, you are expected to be engaged in research throughout your term as a graduate student. This does not necessarily mean collecting data and running a study, but it does mean some independent inquiry, theoretical or conceptual if not empirical, as a regular part of your activities. A typical and appropriate sequence would be for a student to begin research on a master's project the first semester, get involved in follow-up research, faculty research projects, portfolio-related research, or other independent research when the MA is completed, then begin developing dissertation research after the qualifying orals.
Since good research, like good conversation, does not mean much unless it is shared, you are also strongly encouraged to disseminate the results of your research through the professional networks that exist for that purpose. A relatively accessible vehicle, for example, is presentation of papers at the annual meetings of the Western Psychological Association (WPA), which is usually held on the West Coast some time in April, the American Psychological Society (APS) which usually meets in June, and the American Psychological Association (APA) which usually meets in August. Be sure to seek out organizations that focus on your special interests, such as the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), the American Evaluation Association (AEA), the Academy of Management, and divisions within larger organizations such as APA Division 7 for Developmental Psychology. Applications for presenting papers is usually six months prior to the date of the conference. You should also take every opportunity to write up your results for submission to an appropriate journal and eventual publication. Publication and conference presentations not only provide valuable experience in communicating and learning about professional networks, but get you started building a vita and establishing a professional identity. Such documented accomplishments and professional activities can considerably improve your employment prospects as a new Ph.D.
Students who have completed their first year and are working on a Master's project have the opportunity to share their progress with incoming students. During the Thursday and Friday Brown Bag seminars students sometimes make short presentations of their work. This gives new students an opportunity to see the different types of Master's projects being completed and gives the second year students an opportunity to polish their presentation skills.
Research Requirements for First Year Ph.D. Students. The specific research requirements for first year Ph.D. students are specified in the section above on “What is Expected of Graduate Students,” item 2, Research.
Dissertation research. Like master's research, dissertation research should best be an extension or continuation of an ongoing interest or research program. It is a misconception to believe that the dissertation work has to be completely independent to the extent that no one else can have any input. You should expect to get some guidance on prospective dissertation topics from your faculty research advisor, and the topic should evolve from discussion or previous work, not simply be brought to the advisor for approval. Although your dissertation topic does not have to be brand new to the field, you do have to develop it to the point where it is distinct from what anyone else is doing. Also, like the master's, it is appropriate in most cases to set somewhat modest goals for the dissertation project. While dissertation work is expected to be a significant contribution to the discipline (more so than master's work), it nonetheless should be of manageable scope. Remember, it is the quality of the work and the thinking that goes into it that counts, not the amount of effort and time the project takes.
When students give a draft of their thesis, portfolio papers, or other official program requirements to faculty members to review, the students should expect that ordinarily the faculty will review the work and return it to them with comments within two weeks. The review of dissertations may take longer. If a faculty member is not able to review student work within two weeks, the faculty member should contact the student to explain the situation and provide an anticipated date for completing the review. For example, because the period just before the end of the semester is particularly demanding for faculty, additional review time may be necessary at those times. It is the responsibility of the student to keep faculty apprised of when subsequent drafts of papers will be turned in. Faculty members are not required to review drafts of theses, dissertations, and other official program requirements while on sabbatical, nor are they required to do so during summer months.
The following sections are a general overview of the psychology department program. This program is designed around individual needs and goals; this section is intended to help you meet the program requirements while allowing you to take control of your progress through the program. This information is not all-inclusive and is not intended to convey that you are solely responsible for structuring your education. However, use this information to prepare yourself when you meet with your advisor to plan your activities in achieving your educational objective. You will not need to know the specifics of this section until you are well into the first semester. Don't let this stop you from reading through this section to attain an overview of all the tasks and opportunities before you.
Like all graduate programs, the program in psychology is structured around a set of requirements for prerequisites, courses, research tools, examinations, deadlines, and the like. In addition, there are certain institutional requirements that must be met, e.g., residency and degree unit requirements. The details of these matters are fully documented in the CGU Bulletin. It is your responsibility to read the Bulletin and study the supporting material from the department office.
We recommend that you sit down during your first semester and chart out all the requirements and when and how you think you will meet them. With this homework done, meet with your advisor to go over the plan and to get answers to any questions that this exercise has turned up. By the end of the first year if you enter with a master's degree, or by the end of the second year if you do your master's project at CGU, the department ordinarily will schedule you for a program and portfolio planning meeting with a faculty committee to formalize an individualized plan for completing your Ph.D. program. By that point you are not only expected to be very informed about program requirements and deadlines, but to have realistic and appropriate ideas about how you will meet those requirements. Sample portfolio plans are available in the department office.
Dual degrees. The Psychology program supports dual degree combinations involving a Psychology Ph.D. and a Master's degree in Business Administration, Information Science, or Public Policy. Dual degrees are also available for Evaluation Master’s students, such as Human Resources Design and Master’s of Business Administration. Other combinations may be possible but need to be arranged on an individual basis. More information is available in the CGU Bulletin and in the Dual Degree Program document, available in the psychology department office.
Sample target timelines. To provide some guidance for your program planning, we offer below some target timelines for students entering with the B.A. and those entering with the M.A. These timelines are reasonable goals for full-time students and they provide for meeting all departmental requirements. Part-time students will need to adjust these guidelines to a slower pace, but should not plan on extending them by more than one or two years.
Actual time to complete a Ph.D. The actual time to complete a Ph.D. varies considerably. The National Research Council (1991) reported that nationally the median elapsed time between B.A. and Ph.D. in psychology is 7.4 years. A tabulation of 35 recent psychology Ph.D.s from SBOS showed a mean of 4.2 years to complete the portfolio, and a mean time to Ph.D. of 6.5 years. In this sample, students entering with an empirical Masters’s degree in psychology finished about a semester earlier than students entering with a Bachelor’s degree.
Timeline for Completion of Degree
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ENTERING WITH B.A.
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ENTERING WITH M.A. (see above)
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By the end of the first year:
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Prerequisite deficiencies
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Prerequisite deficiencies
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Statistics sequence 308a, b, c, & d
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Statistics sequence 308a, b, c, & d
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One qualifying core course
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One qualifying core course
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M.A. proposal signed off
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Directed research project
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M.A. project started
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Portfolio planning meeting
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By the end of the second year:
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Qualifying core course
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Qualifying core course
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M.A. thesis completed
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Research tools completed
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Portfolio planning meeting
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Field placement/Teaching seminar
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Some portfolio items completed
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Some portfolio items completed
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Course work completed
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By the end of the third year:
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Qualifying courses completed
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Qualifying courses completed
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Portfolio completed
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Portfolio completed
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Research tools completed
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Oral qualifying examination
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Field placement/Teaching seminar
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Dissertation proposal approved
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Course work completed
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Dissertation project under way
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Oral qualifying examination
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By the end of the fourth year:
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Dissertation proposal approved
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Dissertation complete
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Dissertation project under way
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Degree awarded (Congratulations!)
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Dissertation complete?
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By the end of the fifth year:
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Dissertation complete
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Degree awarded (Congratulations!)
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Summary of Steps in the CGU Psychology Ph.D. Program
Registration. Meet with initial academic advisor. Review program requirements and prerequisites, and plan registration for the first semester.
Psychology 302: Research Methods. Required of all graduate students. Students who have taken a comparable graduate-level course are encouraged to discuss with the instructor whether they should take a waiver examination.
Psychology 306: Directed Research. During their first two semesters, students will enroll in Directed Research (306). If arrangements are made with the 306 instructor to work with a faculty supervisor from outside the core faculty, the student must keep the 306 instructor informed about research plans and progress. An approved research proposal is required by the end of classes in the Fall semester of the second year for students who do not have an M.A. degree in psychology with an empirical thesis.
Psychology 308a, b, c & d: Statistics sequence. Required of all graduate students. Students who have already taken a statistics course comparable to any of these modules are encouraged to take the waiver examination given at the beginning of the semester. The waiver exam must be passed for graduate units in comparable courses to be acceptable for transfer into CGU.
Methodology. All students are required to take (or waive) at least 8 units of methodology courses beyond the required Research Methods course 302. Psychology 308a, b, c, and d and any course from the Psychology 315 series count toward this requirement.
Qualifying Core Courses. All students are required to take and pass two or more Qualifying Core Course seminars, in their area of specialization, within the first three years of graduate study.
Directed Research Projects. All students are required to conduct an empirical research project prior to advancement into the Ph.D. program. An empirical M.A. project satisfies this requirement.
Unit Requirements. The M.A. degree with a co-concentration in Program Evaluation requires 48 units, the M.A. degree requires a minimum of 48 units, and the Ph.D. requires 72 units.
Transfer of Credit. Students entering with a completed master's degree that included an empirical study, may petition the faculty through their academic advisor for acceptance of up to 24 graduate units of relevant course work completed elsewhere to apply toward the 72 unit requirement for the Ph.D. degree. Courses completed more than 5 years before first enrollment at CGU are not acceptable unless the student completed a Master's degree and the courses in question were completed as part of the M.A. requirement. Courses showing grades below B (or the equivalent) are not acceptable. Students who completed a masters degree elsewhere that did not require an empirical thesis may transfer up to 16 units of relevant coursework that was completed as part of their masters degree program. These students are also required to complete an M.A. thesis or empirical first year project at CGU.
Students who expect to transfer in graduate units from a previous masters program are expected to complete all of the requirements for that masters degree prior to entering the CGU program. Students have until the last day of classes in their second semester to complete all of the requirements for a previous masters degree program. After that time, the number of units that can be transferred to CGU from the previous graduate program is limited to 6 units.
Students entering without a MA degree may petition the faculty to transfer 6 units of graduate credit. Ordinarily, no transfer credit is accepted for courses taken outside of Claremont while a student is enrolled at CGU. However, such courses may meet prerequisite or portfolio requirements. With the approval of the academic advisor, a student may take selected upper division courses at the Claremont Colleges for graduate credit.
Dual Degree. Students who wish to enroll in a dual degree program with another department must make arrangements for the program in the first semester at CGU. If an M.A. or M.B.A. is earned in another department and a Ph.D. earned in Psychology, no M.A. is awarded in Psychology. Dual degree programs provide a savings in total units compared to earning the degrees sequentially.
M.A. Degree. An M.A. Degree is required en route to the Ph.D. degree. The Master's Proposal, Master's Program Outline, and M.A. thesis, and at least 48 units of course work must be completed and approved by commencement day in Spring Semester of the third year from initial registration in the Ph.D. program (up to 6 units may be thesis research). A maximum of 6 semester units of prior graduate work completed elsewhere may be transferred into the M.A. program upon recommendation of the advisor and program chair.
Master's Proposal. Submit to the psychology office a copy of the approved proposal along with an official form signed by the thesis advisor and member(s) of the committee. The form is available in the department office. An approved Master's proposal must be submitted by the end of the Fall semester of the second year at CGU or the student will be transferred from the Ph.D. program to the terminal M.A. program. Be sure to obtain approval of the Institutional Review Board if you plan to use human subjects in your research. No thesis is required for the Program Evaluation concentration.
M.A. Thesis Committee. Consists of the research advisor and one or two committee members. Normally early drafts of the thesis are reviewed only by the thesis advisor. Membership on the committee is recommended by the research advisor to the department chair.
M.A. Oral. A formal oral examination is held at the discretion of the Advisor, and may include a third examiner who reads the finished thesis (or publishable paper). See the current CGU Bulletin for the deadline date for the M.A. oral.
Master's Degree Program Outline. Prior to the final date for completion of all requirements, the Master's Program Outline will be completed by the psychology office staff. One copy of the final thesis or publishable paper is submitted to the psychology office.
Teaching or Field Work. All SBOS Ph.D. students are required to take either the Field Placement Seminar (with an accompanying internship) or the Teaching Seminar (with an accompanying teaching experience). The teaching requirement can be satisfied either by (a) taking the Teaching of Psychology course that is taught in SBOS or (b) serving as a Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) Fellow. Students may participate in more than one of these options; however, because of redundancy in the subject matter, students may not apply more than a total of 4-units of teaching courses toward a graduate degree. In addition, none of these options will satisfy the portfolio item of a two course sequence outside of Psychology.
Ph.D. Program Planning and Portfolio Committee. A meeting is held with a supervisory committee consisting of a chair and one or two faculty members to plan the student's program and the portfolio. The meeting is usually scheduled during the second year. Normally the student’s research advisor and academic advisor are members of the portfolio committee; at least one member of the committee must be core faculty. Portfolio Guidelines and Guidelines for Preparing Review Papers for the Portfolios are available in the psychology office.
Portfolio Form. This detailed plan for the individual student's portfolio is submitted to the psychology office after the portfolio planning meeting, with a copy given to the student.
Program Planning Summary. This plan for meeting all program requirements normally is prepared at the program planning meeting and submitted to the psychology office.
Portfolio. A cumulative portfolio is assembled to provide evidence of professional development within an area of career specialization. A minimum of six different products or experiences that are relevant to the professional goals and specialization area are to be submitted and approved, by the end of the third year of graduate study (fourth year if fewer than 40 units are taken during the first two years).
Research Tools. Two research tools must be completed before taking the oral qualifying examination. A list of the approved research tools is available in the department office along with guides for individual tools.
Residency. Residency consists of two semesters of full-time study (12 units each), to be completed within a 24-month period, or completion of 48 units of course work within a 36-month period, including work in summer sessions. Only 12 units in any one semester may be applied toward the 72-unit minimum requirement for the Ph.D. degree and toward meeting the residence requirement, though additional (overload) units may be taken any semester for academic credit and for unit requirements beyond 72 units in dual degree programs.
Oral Qualifying Examination. The following requirements must be met before a student is permitted to take the oral qualifying examination: Completion of qualifying courses, completion of portfolio items and program outline form, completion of residency, satisfaction of research tool requirement, completion of not less than two years of full-time graduate study (48 units) or their equivalent (including the period for which transfer credit was received). When the student is ready for the qualifying examination, the student's research advisor nominates three committee members, confirms that they have agreed to serve, and the department chair recommends the membership to the Dean of Faculty for University approval. This recommendation must be made at least TWO WEEKS before the examination. It is desirable that one member of the committee be a faculty member with little or no prior contact with the student. Before the examination, the examining committee will have available for their review:
1. Statement of professional development from the student. Guidelines and samples are available in the Psychology office.
2. Current curriculum vitae for the student.
3. Summary of academic progress from department files, including portfolio and accompanying documents.
Dissertation Committee. A Dissertation Supervisory Committee, normally three Graduate Faculty in Psychology members, one of whom must be a member of the SBOS Core Faculty, must be approved by the Dean prior to approval of the dissertation proposal. The procedure is for the committee chair, in consultation with the student, to select two other faculty and secure their agreement to be on the committee. The department chair recommends the committee membership to the Dean for approval. Once a draft of the dissertation has been approved by the chair, a fourth member will be chosen from outside the Claremont Colleges. See "Final Oral Examination," below, for more details.
The following are the guidelines from the CGU Handbook. Please note that SBOS requires a four-person committee, with the fourth member from outside the Claremont community and the chair being a research advisor from the Graduate Faculty in Psychology:
"Each dissertation committee will consist of at least three members drawn from the core CGU faculty or the Claremont Colleges extended faculty on the condition that at least one committee member must be a core CGU faculty member in the candidate’s school. Claremont Graduate University encourages the inclusion on each dissertation committee of an expert in the student’s field from outside the Claremont Colleges. There may be an outside examiner on a four-person committee, but not on a three-person committee. The outside examiner may be a faculty member from another institution, or a qualified practitioner. The outside examiner has a vote in the committee’s proceedings only with the consent of the dean of the school. The chair of the candidate’s committee must be a member of the core CGU faculty or the Claremont Colleges extended faculty. Each dissertation committee must be approved by the Dean." (CGU Handbook, updated 11/28/06)
Advancement to Candidacy. When the Dissertation Supervisory Committee accepts the final form of the dissertation proposal and a 350 word abstract, the signed approval form and abstract are submitted to the Registrar's office and the Dean via the Psychology office. It is common for the dissertation committee to meet with the student to discuss the proposal prior to approval. Upon approval by the Dean, the student is advanced to candidacy. NOTE: Advancement must occur at least SIX MONTHS before the final oral defense.
Dissertation. Although early drafts of the dissertation are normally reviewed only by the dissertation chair, each member of the Supervisory Committee must approve the final draft before it is submitted to the outside visiting examiner. An outside visiting examiner should be sent a final copy of the dissertation at least TWO WEEKS in advance of the scheduled date of the examination unless other arrangements are made.
Final Oral Examination. A recommendation of the committee membership by the dissertation chair and the department chair must be given to the CGU Dean of Faculty THREE WEEKS before the date of the final oral examination. The form is accompanied by an abstract of the dissertation no more than 350 words in length and written so as to be comprehensible to a public as wide as possible within obvious constraints of accuracy.
All Final Oral Examination Committees in SBOS consist of at least four examiners. One member will be a qualified visiting examiner from outside the CGU Graduate Faculty in Psychology. This person must have a Ph.D., and usually has expertise in the area of research of the student's dissertation. Usually the outside examiner is recommended by the dissertation chair in consultation with the student.
The deadline for scheduling doctoral orals is published in the current CGU Bulletin. Normally a final copy of the dissertation is prepared after the orals, for final approval of any changes by the committee chair and possibly other committee members. The final original copy plus at least 2 photocopies must be submitted to the psychology office prior to the final date for completion of all requirements, as listed in the CGU Bulletin.
Time Limits. No more than 7 years from the time a student begins graduate study will be allowed for the fulfillment of all degree requirements (6 years if 13-24 units of transfer credit are accepted toward degree; 6.5 years if 1-12 units are transferred in).
Time extensions are allowed only if certain conditions are met. The psychology faculty will not grant an extension longer than one year at a time. Only students who have passed the oral qualifying examination will be considered for a second extension. Only students who have been advanced to doctoral candidacy and are making satisfactory progress on the dissertation will be considered for a third extension. No more than three years of extensions will be granted. For the full policy on extensions of time limits, click on the link above.
Department office. An important center of activity is the department office. You will soon come to know and appreciate the office staff, who are extraordinarily supportive of Psychology graduate students on a day-to-day basis. They are the keepers of telephone messages, checks, program documents, required forms, and also the cookie jar. You are always welcome in the department office, but be mindful of the need for the staff to accomplish the business of the department. Socializing should not be allowed to interfere with office work.
Academic computing. The academic computing labs (Rooms 111 and 113) are located near the psychology department office. Room 111 is staffed with computer attendants only during specified hours. Room 113 is sometimes used for classes. See Lab doors for hours. There is a fee associated with using the laser printer, but dot matrix printers are available at no cost. In addition, the Academic Computing Center regularly offers workshops and specialized classes on specific applications (e.g., Internet, Microsoft Word).
Institute of Organizational & Program Evaluation Research (IOPER). The Institute is located at 175 East 12th Street near Dartmouth Avenue in Claremont. This institute is sponsored by SBOS. Many funded research projects are run through the institute, and SBOS students may find opportunities for paid research employment. The research institute also posts and keeps on file potential internships and fellowship opportunities. It is a good idea to meet with the coordinator sometime during your first year and discuss your employment needs. Although the research institute does not have a list of jobs just waiting for students to fill, it can be of assistance in networking and evaluating your qualifications and potential positions of interest. Bring your resume or vita to be kept on file.
Summer. CGU in general and the psychology program in particular are on a two-semester academic calendar. Though the department may sponsor a summer session program, which can be attractive to students wishing to accelerate their progress toward the unit requirement, it by no means provides a full academic program in the summer. Summer is the time that most of us make significant headway on our research and writing. Although you will not ordinarily take course work during the summer, you should plan to accelerate your research activities during the summer hiatus from classes. Also, you should know that the psychology faculty are on nine-month academic year contracts. Unless they specifically contract to teach a summer session course, they are quite literally not employed by CGU over the summer. Many of the faculty are out of town during the summer or use the time for projects of their own. You should plan your academic work so that you do not need to ask faculty to read papers, meet on committees, etc. over the summer. While some faculty members will perform these functions if the need is urgent and they happen to be in town, it is definitely above and beyond the call of duty and should be viewed as a courtesy and not an obligation.
Faculty sabbaticals. You also should pay attention to the faculty sabbatical schedule. Normally, each full-time faculty member will be on leave every seventh semester. Courses routinely taught by that person generally are scheduled in such a way that the sabbatical leave causes no interruption, but there are occasional exceptions. Faculty on sabbatical leaves have no obligation to sit on student supervisory or examination committees, advise students, or perform any other departmental functions. Contact your professors to find out when they will begin their sabbatical and how it may affect your CGU career.
Research and instructional equipment. The department maintains some research and audiovisual equipment for general use. Instructional and faculty research use have priority for this equipment, but it can be checked out for student use with advance notification. Also, the department has a small budget for equipment purchase. If you need a piece of equipment for your research that is not already in our inventory, contact your advisor or the Department Chair to determine if it can be purchased.
Research and travel expenses. Through the Jenness Hannigan fellowship, the department can provide some small help with unreimbursed research expenses, including student travel to conferences and other such events. In addition, APA and WPA generally provide some travel stipends to students on a competitive basis. If you are submitting a paper to one of these conferences, be sure to apply to that Association for travel funding if you are eligible.
Research space. Research space within the department is limited, and is allocated to core faculty at the beginning of each academic year according to need. Fortunately most research projects for both faculty and students are conducted in the field, and we can manage with somewhat less laboratory space than more traditional programs. If you need laboratory space or equipment on campus, check with your research advisor to see if he or she has the necessary facilities. If not, the department will make an effort to help you obtain what you need, either in the department or elsewhere on campus.
Library. Through the generosity of the Austin family, many current psychology journals and reference books are available in the department's Austin Library (ACB 118). The integrity of these materials depends very much upon an honor system among users. Please do not remove books, journals, or articles from Austin Library except for immediate photocopying and prompt return. Reference books are kept in the locked cabinet in the SBOS Lounge, and the key is available through the department office. Annual orders are placed for journals and books for Austin Library and any suggestions you have for new acquisitions are welcome. Also, the department maintains a reasonably complete set of the dissertations and master's theses that have been completed by psychology graduate students. They can be examined and checked out through the department office.
Lounge. The SBOS Lounge is intended to be a place where you can relax and interact with other students. Here you will find readings for some courses, your student mail box, and bulletin boards with job listings and other important information. If you need a quieter place to study, you may wish to use the Austin Library, or Honnold Library, which is just one block away.
Photocopy machine. The University provides photocopy machines at both the Mail Room (Harper Hall) and the Honnold-Mudd Library for student use. The photocopy machine in the department office is for office use only.
When you plan to conduct research with human subjects, you must secure the approval of the CGU Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to contacting subjects. The purpose of the IRB is to review research proposals to ensure compliance with Federal guidelines regarding the protection of human subjects from psychological and physical harm. It is the policy of Claremont Graduate University that research involving human subjects conducted by or under the direction of the CGU investigator--faculty, staff, or student--funded or not, regardless of location, must be submitted to the CGU IRB for review, and must not be conducted without IRB approval.
Many of the research projects conducted in the psychology department will actually be "exempt" from review from the full IRB, but you must obtain IRB approval even for "exempt" projects. The most common types of projects that are exempt are those that involve standard educational tests or those that involve survey or interview procedures, as long as (a) the subjects' identity is confidential, (b) the subjects’ responses do not put them at risk, or (c) the research does not deal with sensitive aspects of the subjects' own behavior, such as illegal conduct. The full list of exemption categories and the procedure for obtaining IRB approval for your projects can be obtained in the psychology office.
Plagiarism is a most serious offense in academia, subject to severe sanctions, including expulsion from school. Ignorance is no excuse, so it is important that you know what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Plagiarism is presenting words or ideas of another without giving appropriate credit. Even if plagiarism is unintentional, it is still a serious breach of ethical standards in academia, and the plagiarist is subject to sanctions.
The most obvious form of plagiarism is when exact words are taken from someone else's work and presented without a proper citation. Less obvious, but still plagiarism, is when ideas are taken and used without proper citation. Even if the work of another is paraphrased into your own words, you must cite the original source. Exact words must be enclosed in quotation marks and a citation given. If you draw material from a secondary source, you must cite both the original writer and the author of the secondary source. See the APA Publication Manual for detailed examples of proper citation format.
When you take notes from your reading, you should use quotation marks and other personal conventions to identify words and ideas that are taken directly from the other author, so that when you use your notes later you will be able to give appropriate citations. It is good practice to include the full APA-style reference in your notes so that you will be able to give the proper citation.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your reader can determine the source of all of the ideas and words that you present. For example, if an entire paragraph is drawn from another source, but a citation is given to only part of the paragraph, the rest of the 'borrowed' material is plagiarized.
Last updated 5/30/08
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