FAQ for Current Students

Graduate students in the clinical program need to file their Thesis Topic Approval Form by the end of Summer III of their first year.
There is no deadline for graduate students in the Psychological Science program.
However, the Thesis Topic Approval Form must be filed no later than the semester preceding that in which the student expects to receive his/her degree.

It is the Department's expectation that graduate students in the clinical and psychological science degree programs will have completed all of their coursework by the end of their third year.

Because many of the clinical placements now require students to have their master's degree before they begin their clinical placement, clinical students are expected to graduate with the master's degree by the Spring semester of their third year.
For budgetary reasons, the Department only pays for Dissertation I (plus 1 CH of Supervised Clinical Experience for clinical students) beginning in the Fall semester of a student's fourth year. Students who have not graduated with the master's degree by this time may have to pay the difference between masters and doctoral level tuition until they complete the MA, which can result in significant out of pocket expenses.

The prospectus must be defended and the Notification of Approved Dissertation Topic and Prospectus Form must be filed with the College of Arts and Sciences no later than the semester preceding that in which the candidate expects to receive the degree.

Thesis I: Students are required to register for 3 CHs of Thesis I in two consecutive semesters for a total of 6 CHs before they can register for Thesis II. When a student registers for Thesis I, they need to be aware that the default is not 3 CHs.
Thesis II: After a student has completed 6 CHs of Thesis I, they must continuously register for 2 CHs of Thesis II through the semester in which they graduate.
Dissertation I: Students are required to register for 15 CHs of Dissertation I in two consecutive semesters for a total of 30 CHs before they can register for Dissertation II.
Dissertation II: After a student has completed 30 CHs of Dissertation I, they must continuously register for 15 CHs of Dissertation II through the semester in which they graduate.

The university expects graduate students to have finished all of their coursework by the time they begin registering for Dissertation credits.
In rare cases (e.g., Clinical Practicum, Supervised Clinical Experience), students can register for coursework while registering for Dissertation credits. However, if a student needs to register for more than 1 CH, the Graduate Coordinator needs to request and justify a course overload to the Dean.

Thesis Committee: The thesis committee will consist of at least four faculty members, including the advisor and three other departmental faculty members. At least one member of the examining committee will be from the Psychological Science faculty and one from the Clinical faculty.
Dissertation Committee: The dissertation committee consists of the advisor, two or more faculty members from the Department of Psychology (including both Psychological Science and Clinical faculty members), and one graduate faculty member from another department.
Faculty advisors can check a faculty member's graduate faculty status at the following website: /graduatestudies/graduate-faculty-status.

If a graduate student receives a grade of "C" in a course, the Graduate Handbook specifies those courses that a graduate student must remediate.
According to the Graduate College, grades below "C (2.0)" are not counted toward completion of requirements for any advanced degree, but are counted in evaluating a student's grade point average. Thus, if a student receives a grade of C- or below, the course does not count toward degree requirements; in this situation, regardless of whether the graduate student remediated the course (per Departmental policy), the student would need to register for another course to fulfill degree requirements.

For thesis orals, students should bring the Report of Thesis Final Examination form to their orals. They should complete the top half prior to their orals. (Form is available at: /psychology_new/report-thesis-final-examination)
For their dissertation orals, students should bring the Report of Dissertation Final Examination form to their orals. They should complete the top half prior to their orals. (Form is available at: /psychology_new/report-dissertation-final-examination)
For their dissertation orals, students also should bring their signature pages to their orals. (Sample signature pages are available in the Style Guide at: /cas/graduate-forms).
Once committee members have signed the Report of Thesis Final Examination or Report of Dissertation Final Examination forms, they should be returned to the Graduate Secretary, who obtains the Graduate Coordinator's and Chair's signatures, places a copy of the form in the student's file and forwards it to the College.
Two matters of etiquette:
- It is the student's responsibility to bring these forms to their orals and obtain the signatures. It is not appropriate to ask staff to circulate the forms for signatures.
- It is the faculty advisor's responsibility to request a Graduate Representative to their student's dissertation committee. The college asks that these requests be made 30 days in advance.

One important source of external funding for the Department is Federal Work Study.
To be eligible for Federal Work Study, students need to file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
It is the Department's expectation that ALL graduate students who expect to be on graduate assistantship or placement will complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine their eligibility for Federal Work Study. While the Department Expects all students to apply, the Department does not require students to accept Federal Work Study.

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