Requirements For Advancement to Candidacy:
- Classified students may file for Advancement to Candidacy, no sooner
than their second semester as a classified student and no later than the
semester prior to the expected final semester of their graduate career.
Carefully check the requirements for advancement and check deadlines on
the university calendar. Note: the deadlines are usually early in the
semester.
- Before a student may Advance to Candidacy they must satisfactorily
complete the Graduate Student Writing Requirement. Instructions for the
completion of this requirement are listed in [Appendix
C]. The scoring
rubric used to evaluate student submissions is also provided in [Appendix
C].
- To advance to candidacy a student must:
- Engage a member of the graduate program faculty to serve as research
advisor and thesis committee chair.
- Establish a Thesis Committee with a minimum of three members of the
graduate program faculty, and at least two members of the Biology
Department graduate program faculty. Non-faculty professionals having
special expertise relevant to the student's research program may be
included as additional (e.g., fourth) members of the thesis committee if
they have attained adjunct faculty status within the Biology Department
or other University department.
- Develop of coherent program of study including identification of 30
units of course work and a thesis research plan. The requirements for
this are described in the catalog and summarized in [Appendix
B].
- Have completed at least nine units of coursework toward your
proposed program - not including the semester you are enrolled in when
you apply for candidacy.
- Have achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in all course
work taken from the earliest term listed on the petition for advancement
to candidacy. The GPA includes all coursework taken in this timeframe,
including courses in other departments unrelated to the biology degree
program.
- Students are required to submit their thesis proposal to the Biology
Department at least one week before any deadline dates. The proposal
must be approved by all members of the thesis committee prior to
distribution to the department. The Biology Department faculty is
permitted at least two weeks to review the proposed thesis. The proposal
will be considered by the department at departmental meetings or by
special ballot, not less than two-week review period. These proposals
can be submitted at any time to the department faculty for formal
review. However, the Graduate Division has deadlines that pertain to
graduation during the following semester, and each student is
responsible for meeting deadline dates.
- During the department review the proposal will be evaluated for
meeting the Graduate Division writing requirement. Students who do not
meet the writing requirement guidelines will be asked to rewrite their
proposal and submit it a second time. Students are urged to submit the
proposal before the deadline to allow time for revisions.
- Students are required to submit the Advancement to Candidacy Form,
signed by the student and their thesis program advisor, to the Graduate
Coordinator for approval. The form is attached to the thesis proposal
and distributed to the Biology Department.
- The cover sheet of the thesis proposal should contain the names of
the student's thesis committee, thesis program advisors name, student's
name, date, and the title of the project.
|
