1. MENTOR, MENTORING COMMITTEE, ADMISSION, AND
HOME AREA GROUP
Each student
selecting an Individualized Graduate Major will have a 4-person faculty
Mentoring Committee, with at least 3 faculty members with their main
appointment in Psychology. The Chair of
the Mentoring Committee, who must have an appointment in Psychology with
graduate student privileges, will serve as the student's primary
mentor/advisor. The Chair of the
Mentoring Committee and the student are responsible for selecting the 3 other
members of the committee. The proposed
composition of the Mentoring Committee must be submitted to the Graduate
Committee by November 1 of the student's first year in the program, and any
subsequent changes in the composition of the Mentoring Committee must be
approved by the Graduate Committee. As
outlined in this document, the Graduate Committee is the "Higher
Authority" from which the student and his/her Mentoring Committee must
seek approval on various issues. The
Graduate Committee will closely monitor the progress of all students pursuing
an Individualized Graduate Major.
For students
electing the individualized Graduate Major at the outset, the typical sequence
would be that when the student applies for graduate study in Psychology, an
individual Psychology faculty member (or members in the case of joint primary
advisorship) would select the graduate student and be the primary
mentor/advisor. The graduate student's
"home" would be in the mentor's area group even though that Area Group's
requirements would not apply to the student.
The student would be considered a member of the mentor's Area Group for
the purpose of Fellowship rankings.
Provision of a home for the student in the mentor's Area Group would
prevent the student from becoming isolated and facilitate the student's social
connections to other students. The
student would be on the E-Mail student distribution list for this Area Group as
well as any other Area Groups relevant to the student's research interests. The student would be expected to attend
Brown-Bags in this Area Group unless the Mentoring Committee agreed that
Brown-Bags in another Area Group (or Area Groups) would be more
appropriate. The student would be
expected to attend at least 1 Psychology Department Brownbag per week and make
at least 1 presentation per year in a Psychology Department Brownbag.
2. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION
The student and
his/her Mentoring Committee will formulate an "Ideal" curriculum for
the student that must be approved by the Graduate Committee by the end of the
student's first semester. Of course, the
student's curriculum can evolve over time.
The Mentoring Committee must approve the curriculum on a
semester-by-semester basis, and the Graduate Committee must approve any
significant changes from the proposed curriculum. To earn the Ph.D., the student must fulfill
the Graduate School requirement of at least 32
graduate level credits (no audits or pass/fails) taken as a graduate student at
UW-Madison. However, it is expected that
students will complete significantly more than 32 graduate level credits.
3. DEPARTMENTAL COURSEWORK
REQUIREMENTS
The
departmental course requirements for the Individualized Graduate Major consist
of four different segments: core
courses, methodology courses, seminars, and workshops. The purpose of core courses is to give
students a broad base in psychology. The
methodology courses are intended to provide the skills necessary for designing
and analyzing research projects. And,
the seminars allow for depth in areas of special interest to the student. Finally, the workshops provide training in
the responsible conduct of research and professional development.
Core
Course Requirement
Average grade
of B or better and no grade lower than a BC in 2 core courses in
psychology representing no fewer than 2 different area groups.
By end of Year
1:
Complete at least 1 core course in
any area
By end of Year 3:
Complete core course requirement
Methodology
Requirement
Three
methodology courses from those approved by both the Mentoring Committee and the
Graduate Committee. Methodology courses
may include those from the list approved by the department and/or other
methodology courses not on the list (e.g., computer modeling, signal
processing, etc.) if they are especially relevant to the student's research
interests. The average grade for all 3
courses must be B or better.
By end of Year 1:
Complete at least 1 methodology course
By end of Year 3:
Complete methodology requirement
Seminar Requirement
Two graduate
level seminar/elective courses taken within the Department of Psychology. Graduate electives are graduate courses
numbered 600 or higher that are not counted as satisfying the Core or
Methodology requirements. Only courses
in which a grade of B or better or S can be used to fulfill
this requirement. One credit hour
"proseminar" courses may not be used to fulfill this requirement. NOTE: Courses taken to fulfill the outside-the-department
minor requirement may also be used to fulfill department requirements unless
specified otherwise. (source: Graduate Committee Minutes, 9/27/93)
By end of Year
2: Complete at least 1 seminar/elective
course in Psychology. The remaining
seminar/elective course in Psychology may be taken at any time before the
granting of the Ph.D. degree.
Professional
Development Requirement
Same as departmental requirements.
4. GRADUATE
SCHOOL MINOR REQUIREMENT
Students
selecting the Individualized Graduate Major must fulfill the Graduate School
Minor Requirement, as do students opting for the standard Psychology
Ph.D.
A Ph. D. Minor must be approved by your Mentor Committee Chair and Department Chair
at the time of certification for preliminary examination. Two options are
available:
- Requires a minimum of ten credits in a
single department/major field of study other than the student's major
department. Selection of this option requires approval from the minor
department.
- Requires a minimum of ten credits in
one or more departments and can include coursework in the major department.
Within Pyschology, courses that count toward the minor requirement must be taken
outside the student's major area group. Courses used to meet the coure course
requirement and the seminar/elective requirement may also be used toward
fulfilling the minor requirement. Methodology courses beyond the three required
may also count.
5. FIRST YEAR RESEARCH REQUIREMENT
A. CONTENT AND REQUIREMENTS
OF THE FIRST YEAR PROJECT
Same as departmental requirements.
B. FIRST YEAR PROJECT COMMITTEE
The committee will consist of three
Psychology faculty including the mentor and represent at least two Area
Groups. All members of the committee may (but need not) be from the
Mentoring Committee.
The duties of
the First Year Project Committee are identical for students selecting the
Individualized Graduate Major and those selecting the standard Psychology Ph.D.
Evaluation of
the First Year Project and the Retention Decision are identical to that for the
standard Psychology Ph.D.
6. CERTIFICATION FOR THE PRELIMINARY EXAM
A student who
has completed all core courses, 2 seminar/electives in Psychology, and at least
2 of the 3 methodology courses may apply for certification by notifying the Graduate Studies and Admissions office, gradinfo@psych.wisc.edu. Certification constitutes
permission by the Mentoring Committee for the student to take the preliminary
exam. The date of the student's prelims
is at the discretion of the Mentoring Committee, but cannot be before the
beginning of the third year. When
students are approved by their Mentoring Committees, a notice to that effect
will be posted outside the Chairperson's office and the certification will be
announced on the call for agenda items for the next faculty meeting. If any faculty member wishes to discuss the
certification decision, he/she may ask for discussion at the next faculty
meeting. If no one requests discussion
before that meeting, the certification will be considered final.
7. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS
Same as departmental requirements.
8. DOCTORAL DISSERTATION AND ORAL EXAMINATION
Same as departmental requirements. The Mentoring Committee may also be the Dissertation Committee provided it meets the composition rules.
9. SATISFACTORY PROGRESS
Department and Graduate School requirements for satisfactory
progress are identical for students selecting the Individualized Graduate Major
and those selecting the Traditional Psychology Ph.D., except that the Mentoring
Committee, rather than the student's Area Group, makes the judgments about satisfactory progress. (See Section VII.1-3 of the Guidelines, p.
5-6).
The Mentoring
Committee will review graduate student progress in the spring of each year by
no later than one month after the beginning of instruction. At the option of either the student or the
Mentoring Committee [e.g., if the student is having academic difficulties], a
student would be reviewed in the Fall semester as well.
The student and
the mentor will meet together with the other 4 members of the Mentoring
Committee at least once a year.
