Guide to Graduate Studies

New students’ initial consultant is the Director of Graduate Studies. Upon arrival in Chapel Hill, new students should contact him or her to work out the first semester’s program of study. Students should feel free to contact any faculty member for advice and help throughout their work here. Students should begin to explore the intellectual interests of each faculty member with the goal of choosing an appropriate person to serve as an advisor during the students’ tenure in the department. This decision does not have to be thought of as permanent in any way, but should be made as early in the first year as seems feasible. The prospective advisor should agree to serve as such, and the student should notify the department by completing the form entitled “Composition of the Graduate Committee.” The form should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies or the Student Services Manager.

Incoming students are required to take Anthropology 701, 703, and 705 during their first year. In addition, they will take whatever courses are required by their subfield:
1. Sociocultural students must complete 702 by the end of their second year. It is only offered biennially, so students are required to take it at the first opportunity.  In addition, students are highly encouraged to take 898 (Engaging Ethnography). 
2. HBEE students must choose additional courses in consultation with their advisor.
3. Archaeology students must choose additional courses in consultation with their advisor.
4. Medical Anthropology students must choose additional courses in consultation with their advisor.   
Any exceptions to these requirements must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

The remaining requirements are grouped into two categories: (1) Program Courses, (2) Professional Preparation Courses. The student should consult with his or her faculty advisor when choosing which courses to take. The requirements are set out in more detail below.

(1) Program Courses. Requirement: Minimum of three. Consult the program descriptions, your advisor, and the Director of Graduate Studies, as necessary. First and second year students should make every effort to enroll in scheduled seminars.

(2) Professional Preparation Courses. Requirement: One. The Professional Preparation Course must be selected from the following list:

710 Writing and Publishing in Anthropology
817 The Concept of Teaching of General Anthropology
897 or 898 (When taught as Research Design courses)
Other appropriate course, as approved by the student’s advisor and Director of Graduate Studies.

While any of these courses will satisfy the Ph.D. requirement, please note that successful completion of Anth 817 is a prerequisite for students who wish to serve as Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTFs) in the department, Summer School, or Continuing Studies. 

The Director of Graduate Studies can grant exemptions to this policy in individual cases, if the student can provide evidence of experience and proficiency in undergraduate teaching of Anthropology

Students interested in the Program in Medical Anthropology or the Program in Archaeology should identify that interest to the Director of Gradutate Studies upon entering the department their first year. Other students are advised to choose their Concentrations early in their studies, and no later than the end of their third semester. The choice of Concentration should be indicated in the Ph.D. Study Plan. Students are expected to take at least three courses in their chosen Concentration and, in consultation with their advisors, select other courses according to the guidelines listed in the descriptions of the Concentrations (Section II, A). The choice of a particular Concentration should serve to focus the student’s advanced training and preparation for the Ph.D. examinations. The issues and information which form the particular subject matter of each of the three Concentrations should not, however, be thought of as separate or mutually exclusive. Within any particular Concentration, the choice of a specific subfield or topic will define the focus for the student’s subsequent specialization and dissertation research.

Before the end of the third semester of graduate study, the student, in consultation with his or her advisor, will select a three member advisory committee. Members of the committee must be members of the Department of Anthropology faculty, adjunct faculty, or senior faculty associates. All are listed in the Graduate School Record. To formally constitute the committee, complete the “Composition of the Graduate Committee” form and submit it to the  Director of Graduate Studies.

A faculty representative from one or more departments in this University, other than Anthropology, may be added to the committee of three when his or her interests or competencies are relevant to the student’s program of study. It is not necessary for the student to have taken a formal minor in the department of such faculty representative.

The committee should meet whenever necessary to consider the student’s progress. The meetings should be both advisory and evaluative, and the committee chairperson should file a report in the student’s folder after each meeting. Reports could include open-ended comments, as well as evaluations of the student’s achievements and potential in theoretical sophistication, methodological competence, diligence, creativity, or knowledge of the field.

Each student is required to research and write a Fourth Semester Paper (FSP), to be presented to the department during the fourth semester of graduate study.  In collaboration with a three member Advisory Committee, the student prepares the paper during the third and fourth semesters.

 

STAGES OF PREPARATION

1)  Selection of Advisory Committee.

The student’s Advisory Committee will oversee preparation of the FSP. Students should select a primary advisor and two other faculty members to form a three-person advisory committee by the end of their second semester.  Although the advisory committee may form a portion of the dissertation committee (which is normally established in full by the end of the fifth semester), the student is free to choose different members for the two committees.  A form identifying the student’s Advisory Committee must be filed with the department by the last day of classes of the student’s second semester.  Note that it is possible to change the members of the committee should there be good reason to do so.

 

2) Option to Substitute.

If a student has already completed a writing project that is equivalent in content and scope to an FSP (as outlined below in section 3), the student may formally petition the department to accept this work as a substitute for the FSP requirement.  Normally, this substitute is either a Master’s thesis already accepted by another university department, a paper accepted for publication, or one that is already published.  No later than March 1 during the student’s second semester, the petition is made in writing to the Director of Graduate Studies, who then refers the matter to the student’s Advisory Committee.  It is the student’s responsibility to formulate this committee prior to submitting the petition. The committee then reviews the submitted work and comes to a decision as to whether it constitutes an acceptable substitute.  The chair of the Advisory Committee must communicate this decision in writing to both the student and the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) by the last day of classes in that semester.  The committee’s decision must be made on the work as submitted; if revisions are necessary in order to make the work acceptable, then these may be done in the context of submitting a regular FSP.  If the substitution is approved, the student is expected to use the time that otherwise would have been devoted to the FSP making significant progress toward the PhD.

 

3) Preparation of the Paper.

In many cases, data collection will form part of the student’s FSP activities.  In those cases, planning must be early in order to facilitate arrangements for the summer, and (if needed) for obtaining Human Research Ethics clearance in advance of data collection.  Thus, students are advised to begin thinking about and making preliminary plans for the paper well in advance of the fourth semester.  The topic should be finalized by the end of the second semester or the beginning of the third.  Many students take a reading course with their primary advisor in the second or third semester for the purpose of conducting research toward their FSP.

The topic for the FSP is chosen by the student in consultation with the student’s Advisory Committee.  While not required, it is often the case that topics for research and writing spring from work done in the Core courses or other of the student’s courses.  FSPs are a gauge of a student’s ability to discuss anthropological research and to write at a graduate level. Therefore, while students might choose to write on topics not explicitly anthropological by convention, FSPs must relate their thesis and argument to theoretical, methodological, or factual issues characteristic of some branch of anthropology.

FSPs may follow several formats: (1) an analytical essay/paper with a central thematic focus (or research question) based on existing research (or literature), (2) an analytical paper which includes a research question, original data collection, analysis, and interpretation, or (3) a publishable article or book chapter that can be a revision of an existing Master’s thesis.  For any of these options, a length between 20 and 60 pages (double spaced) of text (excluding bibliography, tables, figures, footnotes, etc.) is typical.  Students are encouraged to examine previous FSPs on file with faculty members or fellow graduate students.

If research for an FSP entails study of individual people, then the student’s research must be approved by the Office of Human Research Ethics (Behavioral IRB).  Information and guidelines on the protection of people involved in your research as informants or sources of data, as well as an outline for preparing a report on your research, are found on the university’s web site (see link below).  Forms are available online and in the Department office.  Note that application for IRB approval requires certification of training in ethical and regulatory obligations entailed in the conduct of research involving human participants or subjects (http://research.unc.edu/offices/human-research-ethics/index.htm).

Students are advised to establish a timeline for FSP completion with their Advisory Committee by September 1st of their third semester, and to circulate outlines and preliminary drafts of the paper among members of their Advisory Committee throughout the process.  Ideally, a complete draft of the paper should be delivered to the student’s primary advisor by March 1, and to the entire Advisory Committee by March 15, so they have a chance to review it and provide comments before final submission.

FSPs should be formatted and prepared in accordance with the guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts of a major anthropological journal (e.g., American Anthropologist, American Antiquity, American Journal of Physical Anthropology).

Each student who submits an FSP must register for 3 credit hours of Anth 901 with their advisor during the semester in which the paper is submitted.

 

4) Submission of Papers.

The student will place three copies of the FSP on file in the department office on or before April 1st.  If spring break falls on this date, then FSPs must be delivered to the department office no later than the first Monday after spring break.

All department faculty are invited to read and evaluate FSPs. At a minimum, however, each paper will be read by the student’s Advisory Committee and reviewed by the FSP Review Committee.  The Advisory Committee will prepare a brief written report of its evaluation of the FSP and will submit this report to the general faculty, the DGS, and the Chair of the department prior to the faculty meeting at which the FSPs will be discussed. The evaluation will be done with following scale: High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, and Fail.  The chair of the FSP Review Committee will also report that Committee’s evaluation to the same parties, focusing specifically on whether each paper meets the minimal criteria for an acceptable FSP.

If the FSP Review Committee finds problems with a paper that would merit a failing evaluation, they will confer with the student’s Advisory Committee and the DGS and develop a suggested course of revision at least one week prior to the scheduled general faculty discussion of the papers.

Continuation in the graduate program and eligibility for funding are dependent upon successfully completing the graduate core courses and satisfying the FSP requirement by the deadline.  However, exceptional cases do occur (illness or unexpected emergencies) and they warrant some consideration.  In such cases, the student will petition their primary advisor at least 48 hours prior to the due date and the advisor will discuss the possibility of an extension with the director of graduate studies.  If an extension is granted, the student should move to rectify any unacceptable or incomplete graduate work as soon as possible to avoid displacement in their funding priorities, as well as to avoid falling behind in their graduate study commitments.

At the end of the student’s fourth semester, the faculty, after reviewing the student’s course work, FSP (if required), and Ph.D. study plan, makes a decision approving or denying the student’s continuation in the graduate program.  The faculty also approves the final grade for each FSP, which is duly recorded by the DGS in Anth 901.

The student should file a Study Plan (prepared with the help of the student’s advisor and advisory committee) no later than March 1^st of their fourth semester.  The study plan is intended to provide a design for the student’s final coursework and their intended dissertation topic.  While not a requirement, convening the advisory committee to discuss the construction of the Ph.D. study plan will undoubtedly facilitate the successful plan completion (see the four responsibilities of the committee below).

a.  Construction of the Ph.D. Study Plan

It is the responsibility of the student’s advisory committee, immediately after its formation, to:

·        Review with the student the substance of his or her previous work, the nature of his or her
special interests (both topical and geographic), and any need for additional work,

·        Achieve a clear working agreement with the student as to his or her knowledge of the chosen
specialty and, if relevant, its ethnographic expression,

·        Decide how the student will satisfy language requirements stated below in Section III.C.,

·        Construct, in consultation with the student, the student’s Ph.D. Study Plan: a comprehensive
written schedule of anticipated course work, examinations, field research activity, and a
dissertation project (taking into account as fully as possible the student’s research objectives,
personal situation, and most probable sources of research funds).  See Appendix D for the
suggested form for the Ph.D. Study Plan.

b.  Distribution and Review of the Ph.D. Study Plan:

It is the joint responsibility of the student and the advisory committee to insure that the Ph.D. Study Plan is completed and a copy with the advisor’s signature filed in the main department office by March 1^st of the fourth semester.

The Ph.D. Study Plan will be available to all faculty members in the main department office for their information and to enable them to raise questions, make comments, or request further information prior to, or during, the faculty meeting to evaluate the progress of second year students. Former students seeking to re-enter the graduate program are normally required to prepare and distribute a Study Plan for departmental review.  In such cases they may follow the procedures in effect when they entered the program (described in earlier editions of this Guide) or those described here.

Near the end of the second year, the student will be evaluated by the faculty as a whole for continuation in the Ph.D. program. The evaluation will be based on a reading of the fourth semester paper by the student’s committee and other interested faculty members, on the faculty’s review of the student’s Ph.D. study plan, and on any additional statements supplied by any faculty member who has a special interest in the student’s performance. The faculty will decide whether or not to accept the student’s fourth semester paper, and whether or not to accept the student’s Ph.D. Study Plan. In either case approval may be made conditional upon certain amendments or modifications. The Director of Graduate Studies will notify the student in writing of the faculty’s decision as soon as possible after the evaluation. If the decision is positive, the student’s Study Plan will be declared in effect. The student’s advisor is responsible for conveying to the student the details of the review, and the nature of comments and suggestions made by the faculty in their review of the student’s progress.

The M.A. degree can be awarded under the following circumstances:

a. M.A. as completion of the M.A. in Anthropology for Health Professionals curriculum. (See Section II, C, above).

b. M.A. as exit degree. A student who will not be continuing in the Ph.D. program will be awarded the M.A. degree when requirements 2 through 6 are completed to a level of competency that satisfies the faculty that the M.A. is deserved.

c. M.A. as optional degree en route to Ph.D. Students continuing on to the second stage of the Ph.D. will be awarded the M.A. degree if they request it. Students are encouraged to request the award of this degree if they are planning to seek employment before completing the Ph.D.
program.

Students receiving the M.A., either as an exit degree or as an optional degree en route to the Ph.D., must complete the following:

a. the degree requirements set by the Graduate School, i.e., 30 hours of coursework, including a minimum of 3 hours of thesis registration (ANTH. 993). Details are given in the Graduate School Handbook.

b. the language requirement.

c. the submission of an accepted thesis. In most cases this will be a revised version of the Fourth Semester Paper. Please consult the Thesis and Dissertation Guide available from the Graduate School.

d. the M.A. oral examination (it has been the practice of the department to provide the M.A. oral examination in two parts, a defense of the thesis, and an oral comprehensive, a more general examination of the candidate’s understanding of anthropology and the place of the thesis in the wider field).

In order to be awarded the M.A. degree at the next Commencement, the student, after successfully defending the M.A. thesis in the oral examination, should submit the Master’s Comprehensive Exam Report (for the M.A. degree) to the Director of Graduate Studies.   The student should also indicate to the Director of Graduate Studies how the student has met the Language/Skill requirement referred to in 10.b above.  Once notification of successful defense of the M.A. thesis has been received from the M.A. thesis committee chairperson, the Director of Graduate Studies will endorse the student’s Application for Graduation, and forward it on to the Graduate School.

The Application for Graduation must be submitted to the Graduate School by the deadline for the semester in which the student will complete the M.A.   This deadline falls near the beginning of each semester, and is available from the Graduate School.  It is the student’s responsibility to submit the Application sufficiently early to the Director of Graduate Studies so as to allow enough time for the proper submission of the Application to the Graduate School.

The Ph.D. degree requires specialization in a defined area of study, and the completion of an acceptable dissertation based on original, creative research on some problem within this defined area. Our program is quite flexible; any area and problem of interest can be selected for study — provided they meet the approval of your advisor, Ph.D. committee, and the general faculty. Working in consultation with your advisor and committee, students are encouraged to begin the process of seeking funding for their research as early as possible. In addition, you will prepare and submit to your committee, a proposal for dissertation research — this document is the basis of your written and oral examinations. After completing these examinations, you will carry out dissertation research and writing.

By the end of the fifth semester of study, students should finalize their faculty advisory committee which is responsible for planning, scheduling, supervising, and evaluating work leading to the Ph.D. degree.

In most cases the degree committee chairperson, who is primarily responsible for administering the various formal stages of the student’s education, is also the student’s thesis or dissertation advisor, i.e., the member of the faculty whose specialties correspond most closely with the student’s own and who is thus primarily responsible for providing the student with intellectual guidance. It is within University policy, however, to divide the functions of committee chairperson and dissertation advisor between two persons if there is a sound reason for doing so in a particular case.

Along with the committee chairperson, who must be a tenured, tenure-track, or adjunct member of the department, the committee should include two additional members of the anthropology faculty. These three core members of the Ph.D. committee are normally, but not necessarily, the same people who formed the student’s committee during the first stage of the Ph.D. In addition, two other professors will be selected to aid in the development and evaluation of the student’s proposal, Ph.D. examinations, research, and dissertation. An emeritus professor can be a full member of the committee. One committee member can be chosen from outside the university. Please consult with your committee and the DGS on the selection of outside members.

The advisory committee is formally constituted when the student submits the “Report of Doctoral Committee Composition” form to the Director of Graduate Studies.

Prior to, or at the time of initiation of a dissertation proposal, it is the responsibility of the committee chairperson to submit the form Report of Doctoral Committee Composition, to the Director of Graduate Studies. The dissertation committee is nominated to the Graduate School by the  Director of Graduate Studies and appointed by the Dean. All subsequent changes in the composition of a doctoral dissertation committee must be similarly approved. Students proposing a committee, or change in an existing committee, must inform the Director of Graduate Studies.

If it is desirable to have an off-campus member of a Ph.D. committee, the committee chairperson should submit to the Director of Graduate Studies the Recommendation for Fixed Term Appointment for nominating the individual to the graduate faculty and a copy of the nominee’s vitae.

In setting up Ph.D. advisory committees, the department delegates responsibilities to certain colleagues. This implies that it has confidence in them to carry out responsibilities to the student, to the department, to the University, and to the profession to the best of their ability.

The trust placed in the committee must be reciprocated by the committee taking under serious consideration the suggestions or criticisms made by other members of the faculty. The committee should consider itself accountable for the actions it takes, or does not take, in response to faculty comments on the Ph.D. Study Plan.

A student’s Ph.D. committee is responsible for supervising progress and for periodic consulting (formally or informally) as either party feels necessary, but certainly once each semester. When a committee member is absent from the University for an extended period of time, that member is responsible for arranging for a replacement in consultation with the committee, the Departmental Chairperson, and the student involved. Should any changes in the student’s Study Plan become necessary, the committee must discuss them with the Departmental Chairperson and notify the entire faculty in writing. When the student is carrying out research away from the department, hence not in residence, the committee should continue to review the progress of the student’s project.

A student nearing the end of course work will prepare four documents to serve as guides in the design of written and oral Ph.D. examinations:

a. A Curriculum vitae (see Appendix G for the suggested form of a Curriculum vitae). In addition to the usual information, the Curriculum vitae circulated prior to the Ph.D. Examinations should also include a list of all coursework and other academic preparation.

b. A Statement of the background knowledge relevant to the student’s further work.  The statement briefly (five pages or less) but comprehensively will define the student’s area of special interests and competency; and is therefore a suitable basis for determining the content of the written and oral examinations.

c. A proposal for dissertation research, the acceptability of which will be determined independent of decisions of funding agencies to whom the student may have applied by submitting a similar proposal.

d. A statement noting the date of approval of the proposal by the University’s Institutional Review Board on the Use of Human Subjects in Research.  If approval is pending, that should be noted.  Proposals should be submitted to this committee for review well in advance of the examinations (See Appendix 1 and A Guide to the IRB Process for submission guidelines).

With the approval of the Ph.D. committee, the student should be prepared by the end of the sixth semester to distribute copies of the above documents, and announce the time and place of the written and oral examinations by memorandum, to the entire department at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled date of the examinations (see Appendix F for the suggested form for the covering memo to accompany the Documents Preceding the Ph.D. Examinations).

Ph.D. examinations will not be held between Fall and Spring semesters, or during the summer, scheduled holiday periods or within-semester breaks, except with the prior, unanimous consent of the faculty. It should be noted that the faculty almost never grant exceptions to this policy.

Permission of the full faculty is needed for a student to go beyond the eighth semester in the program without having taken the exams.

It is the responsibility of the chairperson of the dissertation committee to submit the form (see above), if this form has not already been submitted.  The doctoral examinations could be invalid if the composition of the committee has not been approved by the Graduate School.

The committee will compose the written part of the examination (to last no more than 8 hours), administer it to the student, grade it, and place both the examination questions and answers on file in the departmental office. Any non-committee member who wishes to attend the oral examination must inform the committee chairperson within one week after the distribution of the above mentioned documents. It is expected that the committee will consider both written and oral performance in reaching its final evaluation of the student. During the oral examination, the student will be expected to defend any answer on the written examination with which faculty members were dissatisfied and to be examined on his or her minor field or fields, if any. The oral examination also includes an evaluation of the quality and feasibility of the student’s dissertation project.

Even though the formal requirements of the Ph.D. program focus around formal examinations and a research dissertation oriented toward a specialty, it is important that the student acquire a sound education in general anthropology.

The committee chairperson will report the results of the written and oral examinations to the Departmental Chairperson as promptly as possible, and the latter will arrange to have the results of the examination reported to the entire department. It is also the committee chairperson’s responsibility to submit, in duplicate, the Doctoral Exam Reportform.

Following successful completion of the Ph.D. written and oral examinations, the student should fill out the top half of the Application for Admission to Candidacy in duplicate, and give these forms to his or her committee chairperson. The committee chairperson should fill in the requested information concerning language requirements, verify that all other requirements have been met, and pass the forms to the Director of Graduate Studies, who is to sign them and forward one copy to the Graduate School. The Graduate School will grant candidacy status only if the student has completed all Ph.D. coursework requirements, passed the written and first oral (i.e., “comprehensive”) exams, and satisfied the Ph.D. language requirement.

Following the successful completion of the Ph.D. examinations, the student normally undertakes research and completes a dissertation under the supervision of his or her Ph.D. committee.While not a formal degree requirement, it is expected that students engaged in writing their dissertations will make a presentation based on their research in the Departmental Seminars.

After completing the dissertation, it must be defended during a final oral examination attended by a five-person examination committee constituted according to the above defined principles.The committee chairperson should announce the time and place of the final oral examination, by memorandum to the entire department, at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled date of the examinations. The student is responsible for placing one copy of the final draft of the dissertation on file in the departmental office at least one week before the final oral examination. Any non-committee member who wishes to attend the final oral examinatihn must inform the committee chairperson at least three days before the date of the defense.

Students will not be permitted to defend dissertations between Fall and Spring semesters, or during the summer, scheduled holiday periods or within semester breaks, except with the prior unanimous consent of faculty. Similarly, only dates on which the University is in session can be counted in the required two week period between the announcement and the final oral examination.

The final oral examination should be held with respect to the final draft of the dissertation. The dissertation is not registered with the Graduate School prior to the oral examination. The committee chairperson is responsible for determining that the manuscript is in a form appropriate for evaluation. It is the student’s responsibility to distribute sufficient copies of the dissertation to the committee to allow each member the opportunity to evaluate the document well before the defense.

After the final oral examination, it is the responsibility of the committee chairperson to complete and submit the Doctoral Exam Report (see above), in duplicate, to the Student Services Manager. This form is forwarded to the Graduate School.

It is the student’s responsibility to deposit two copies of the dissertation with the Graduate School, in final form, along with two extra copies of the abstract. The title page must be signed by at least three members of the committee.

These submissions complete the student’s Ph.D. program.

The language requirements for the Ph.D. may be met by completing any two of the six tasks described below. The language requirements for the M.A. may be met by completing task “a”, “d”, or “f”. Completion of one of these tasks counts as completion of one of the two tasks required for the Ph.D.

Completion of task “f”, substitution of appropriate research skills courses, cannot be used to fulfill both of a student’s language requirements; the intent of these requirements is that at least one of the two language requirements be met through knowledge of a natural language.

a. Pass the standard course (102X), test (ETS), or transfer requirement as described in the Graduate School Handbook for one of the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Russian.
b. Pass the standard course, test, or transfer requirement for one of the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Russian (which was not chosen to fulfill task “a”).
c. Demonstrate advance competence in French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Russian by passing a 100-level course other than 101X or 102X, conducted in one of these languages or whose Required reading primarily is in one of these languages. It is expected that the language selected for task “c” will be the same as for Task “a”.
d. Demonstrate competence in a language other than French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Russian which is demonstrably relevant to the student’s thesis, dissertation, or specialty by passing a course or test in that language, considered by the student’s M.A. or Ph.D. committee to be of a level at least equal to 102X.
e. Demonstrate competence in a language demonstrably relevant to the student’s dissertation research or academic specialty, but for which no formal course or test is available, by whatever means the student can devise which satisfies his or her Ph.D. committee.
f. Pass two research skill courses approved by the student’s Ph.D. committee and the department as integral to thesis or dissertation research. Acceptable courses could be in topics such as these: phonological analysis (for research requiring knowledge of an unwritten language), cartography or soil analysis (for archaeological research), biostatistics (for research in physical anthropology), psychological testing (for research in psychological anthropology), survey methods (for research in social anthropology), statistics and computer science (for quantitative analysis), demographic analysis (for research in population anthropology), epidemiological measurement (for research in medical anthropology), or oral history methodology. In addition to being demonstrably relevant to the student’s research, such courses (with the exception of Anth. 725 and 726) must be offered by departments other than Anthropology, emphasize method rather than fact or theory, and be at the 100-level or above. Courses counted toward the research skill requirements may not be counted toward other M.A. or Ph.D. requirements in Anthropology.

1. Tasks a and b. Self-explanatory.
2. Tasks c. By completing task c, the student will be encouraged to develop usable rather than token competence in at least one language.
3. Tasks d and e. Since anthropologists typically specialize in studying non-Western regions, they must learn non-Western languages. Although a few such languages are taught as standard courses, most of the languages and dialects in which the anthropology student carries out field research are not. The student then, will be allowed partially to satisfy language requirements by competence in a field language not taught in a course. The student must devise the means of demonstrating competence to the satisfaction of the Ph.D. committee. Such demonstration might easily be arranged if a committee member were competent in the language, and could examine the student. Other possible arrangements include examination by a native speaker of the language. The burden of proof of competence is placed on the student, and the burden of assessment of competence is placed on the committee. The committee, however, must submit its final decision for approval by the Director of Gradutate Studies. The Director of Gradutate Studies can rule on the committee’s action or refer the decision to the faculty.
4. Task f. Each Ph.D. committee will be allowed flexibility in deciding what skills best serve a particular student’s research. The committee must, of course, conform to the guidelines mentioned above, and submit its recommendation to the Director of Gradutate Studies, and faculty, for approval.

International students for whom English is a second language can use English as one of the languages to fulfill their foreign language requirements. Completion of one of the following tasks counts as completion of the M.A. language requirement or as one of the two tasks required for the Ph.D.:

1. Pass the English English Proficiency Examination which is administered when one enters the graduate program.
2. Pass Linguistics 116X.
3. Demonstrate competence in English at a level considered sufficient by the student’s MA or PhD committee. In addition to direct interaction with the student, the committee may consider evidence such as the following as demonstrating proficiency in English: completion of a degree at an institution at which English is the primary language of instruction; employment in a position for which English is the primary language of communication.

For those students receiving the M.A. degree, completion of the first language requirement is reported on the form Application for Admission to Candidacy for A Master’s Degree. This form should be filled out by the student. The committee chairperson should verify the information to the Director of Gradutate Studies, who signs the form before its submission to the Graduate School.

For the Ph.D. degree, completion of language requirements is reported on two forms: Report of the First Doctoral Oral Examination (i.e., oral comprehensive exam), to be filled out, in duplicate, by the committee chairperson, signed by all members of the committee, and submitted through the departmental office to the Graduate School, and Application for Admission to Candidacy for a Doctoral Degree, to be filled out, in duplicate, by the student and the committee chairperson, signed by the Director of Gradutate Studies, and submitted to the Graduate School.

Students must be registered full-time to be eligible for tuition remissions.

Effective Fall 1999, a full-time student is one who meets either one of the following two conditions:

1. Registers for 9 or more credit hours in a semester.

2. Registers for a minimum of 3 hours of 392, 393, 394 in a semester. A student may register
for additional courses as needed, but must register for a minimum of 3 hours of 392, 393, 394 to
be considered full-time.

ConnectCarolina is the registration system. Instructions for using this system are listed below:

Access web registration at ConnectCarolina.

Enter your ONYEN and password in the provided field and press “submit.”

Enter your PIN number in the provided field and choose the appropriate semester from the pull-down menu, the press “GO.”

To ADD, you may use either the Course ID or the Call # shown under “Registration Options” to register for courses.  Course ID’s and Call #’s can be found in the Directory of Classes.  Example:  ANTH101 or 12345

To DROP a course, click on the button next to the course displayed under your schedule, and then click on the submit button located at the bottom of the “Registration Options” section.  Note:  Until you have registered for at least one class, no schedule appears under the schedule section.

To SEARCH, you must enter course information using the Course ID convention as indicated above.  After you enter the subject abbreviation, tab to the next block and enter the course number.  The system then displays sections of the course that will fit your schedule, sections of the course that you can waitlist, and sections of the course that have open seats, but do not fit your schedule.  The nbr. column on the list of sections that you can waitlist denotes the number of persons currently on that section’s waitlist.

To EXIT the system, you should click on “File” in the upper left corner of your screen and then click on “Exit”, or click on the “X” in the upper right-hand corner of your browser.  For security reasons, you do not want to use the “Back” button on your browser to exit the system.  Never get up from a public workstation and leave your schedule on the screen or your web registration session active.

PLEASE NOTE:  The web registration system times out in 10 minutes if no activity occurs during your session.  If 10 minutes passes with no activity (no drops, adds, waitlist, searches for courses), you will be returned to the sign-on page of ConnectCarolinaConnectCarolina.

Registration Process

1) An email message directing students to ConnectCarolina for registration information is sent to all continuing, new, transfer, and readmitted students prior to registration priority appointment dates each semester.  As new, transfer, or readmitted students are cleared for admission to the University; and email message will be sent at that time.

The following registration information can be found on ConnectCarolina:

*  Registration appointment date/time
*  University stop information
*  PIN, if applicable (based on School/Department policy)
*  Adviser Approval Block, if applicable (based on School/Department policy)
*  Address update

2) If a STOP is reflected under the stop section of ConnectCarolina, the student must clear the stop with the office listed before they will be able to register.

3) Students must plan their schedule.  Course information is available through the online services of the University Registrar.

4) Students must have their Personal Identification Number (PIN) which is a four-digit number used as a password that permits them to register.  Students cannot register through the registration system without entering their PIN.  Obtain your Personal Identification Number (PIN) from Dr. Donald Nonini, who is also Director of Graduate Studies and can assist you in planning your course schedule.   Academic Advising in the College of Arts and Sciences and General College – click here.

5)  Students may register online at ConnectCarolina.  They will need to know their ONYEN and password (PIN).  Students may use the registration system anytime on or after their appointment date to add, drop, or inquire, waitlist or see a listing of classes while the system is operating.  Students cannot try to access the system before their assigned appointment date as the system will not allow any transactions before they are scheduled to register.

6)  Students must pay or defer their tuition and fees before the payment deadline.  If Tuition and Fees are not paid or deferred by the deadline, their registration will be canceled and all courses dropped.  If students register during the billing period, a bill will be mailed to their Grade/Billing Address.  If they plan to register after the billing period, they must prepay or show proof of finanical aid prior to registering for the semester.  See the Registrar’s Calendar for payment deadlines for the appropriate semester.

For graduate students, the normal grade is “P” (Pass) but exceptionally fine work may earn an “H” (Honors), barely passing work an “L” (Low Pass), and failing work an “F” (Failure). The graduate student is automatically expelled if one receives an F or a total of three L’s. If one is expelled, one may petition the department for readmission. A student may ask the Instructor for the “Inc.” (Incomplete) if it appears that the student cannot complete coursework by the deadlines set by the Instructor, or by the time final grades are due. It is the Instructor’s right to refuse to grant the “Inc.” Even if the student is granted an “Inc.” one must remember that it will automatically revert to an “F” after one year (see Graduate School Handbook). One should be aware that “Incompletes” on a record may hurt one’s chances of receiving a high rating in faculty evaluations which result in decisions as to who will receive financial aid. No student may graduate with an “Inc.” on his or her record.

The grade “S” (Satisfactory) is a temporary grade in all courses except Anth 393 (Thesis) and Anth 394 (Dissertation), and should be replaced with a “H”, “P” or “L” before graduation. Failure to do so will result in the student’s not receiving the degree. A student with a grade of “S” in Anth 393 or Anth 394 receives credit hours for that course and may graduate with that grade unchanged.

Students who fail to take a final examination in a course are given the grade “AB” (Absent). The absence must be excused by the Dean of the Graduate School before the instructor can submit a change of grade form. If the absence is not excused within 30 days of the exam, the grade automatically becomes an F which makes the student ineligible to remain in graduate school.

Master’s candidates and doctoral candidates must fill out the candidacy forms (unless previously submitted) and have them signed by the Departmental Chairperson or Director of Graduate Studies. Return one copy, along with the degree form, to the Graduate School, 200 Bynum Hall-008A, Campus Box #4010. You must apply for the appropriate graduation no later than the deadlines listed. Degree deadline dates vary from semester to semester. Students are responsible for being aware of, and adhering to, the specific dates affecting their study plan and examinations. The Graduate School’s website lists these important dates and deadlines.

Coursework for the M.A. must include a minimum of 3 hours of ANTH 993, Master’s Thesis, and for the Ph.D. 3 hours of ANTH 994, Doctoral Dissertation. A student may split up these 3 hours over more than one semester.

The Graduate School also requires that all graduate students be registered during the semester in which they take their M.A. thesis defense and oral comprehensive exams and their Ph.D. written and oral comprehensive examinations. Further, students must be registered during the semester in which they defend their Ph.D. dissertations and submit them to the Graduate School (if the defense and the submission occur in two different semesters, the student must be registered for at least one of those semesters).

The department requires that any student receiving an MA or a Ph.D. in a given semester submit a letter with the following information to the  Director of Graduate Studies. You must submit this letter by the second Friday in June for August graduation, by the second Friday in October for December graduation, and by the second Friday in February for May graduation.

(1) Degree candidate’s first name, middle name or initial, last name
(2) Major
(3) Title of dissertation or project
(4) under the direction of (Name of doctoral advisor)

[EXAMPLE: Joseph Shepard Bryan, Anthropology, Title of Dissertation or Project. (Under the direction of Professor James T. Smith].

The Graduate School is no longer able to register students during a semester after the published deadline given in the University calendar. Examinations taken during a semester in which the student is not registered will not be accepted as valid by the Graduate School.

During the Fall and Spring semesters, the cheapest registration for in-state students is 3 hours of credit.

As stated above in the explanation of degree requirements, departmental actions involving individual student degree committees can take place only while the University is in session during the Fall and Spring semesters. In other words, M.A. examinations, Ph.D. written and oral examinations, and Ph.D. final examinations (dissertation defenses) cannot be held during the holiday period between Fall and Spring semesters, during within-semester breaks, or during the summer, except with the prior, unanimous consent of the faculty. All such events are departmental matters, not simply the concern of individual student degree committees. Students should note that in the past requests for summer defenses have almost always been denied, even when supported by the members of the committee involved. Similarly, only dates on which the University is in session can be counted as elapsed time for the purpose of fulfilling the two week period specified in the regulations concerning announcements of M.A. examinations, Ph.D. written and oral examinations, and Ph.D. final examinations.

Students can expect a two to three week interval (depending on the length of the document) between submitting drafts of fourth semester papers, theses, Ph.D. Study Plans, and dissertations to their committee members and receiving them back with comments.

Students are also reminded that M.A. and Ph.D. defenses should be scheduled on the basis of substantially approved drafts; all committee members should have had ample time to comment on the earlier draft(s), and have been satisfied with changes made on the basis of their comments, prior to the defense. The chairperson of a student’s committee should ensure that all committee members receive a draft of the thesis/dissertation at least one month prior to the tentatively scheduled defense; the committee members, in turn, have an obligation to read the draft in a timely manner and to lodge any major objections well before the defense takes place. Defenses should not be scheduled on the basis of drafts that have not been fully reviewed by all members of the degree committee. Similarly second year students should provide their committee members with ample time to comment on drafts of their fourth semester papers prior to placing the final copies on file in the departmental office for evaluation by the faculty as a whole.

The M.A. degree requires the satisfactory completion of at least 30 semester hours of graduate work which must include at least 3 hours of ANTH 393. The M.A. also requires minimum residence credit of two semesters.

The Ph.D. degree requires four semesters of residence credit, at least two of which must be earned in continuous registration at UNC-CH. The Ph.D. requirement includes time in residence at UNC while working toward the M.A. if that degree is received first.

Consult the Graduate School Handbook for details of calculating residence credits.

The University time restriction is 5 calendar years from the date of first registration in the master’s program to complete the master’s degree, excluding time for which a leave of absence has been secured from the Graduate School.

The University time restriction is 8 calendar years from the date of first registration in the doctoral program to complete the doctoral degree, excluding time for which a leave of absence has been secured from the Graduate School.  A student admitted to a master’s program and later given formal permission to proceed to the doctoral degree has eight calendar years from the date of receipt of the master’s degree to complete the doctoral degree.  Reapplication is required to continue pursuit of the degree if the eight-year limit expires.It is very important that students apply for a leave of absence where full-time work or personal obligations prevent them from making progress towards the degree (see Section G below.) A leave of absence “stop the clock” on the time limit may help avoid difficulties in securing extensions. Note that leave of absence will affect health insurance and other University benefits.

Extensions to the above time limits for completion of the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees can be granted only by petition to the Dean of the Graduate School. A student should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies and complete the Request for Extension of Time form , asking him or her to forward to the Dean the department’s recommendation regarding the extension (which may be for approval or denial, depending on circumstances).  Submitting a petition directly to the Dean without obtaining a statement from the department unnecessarily complicates and delays the review process.

A student who fails to register for a semester is dropped from the University roll and must be readmitted. Applications for readmission for the Fall semester must be filed with the graduate school by July 1st. The deadline for the Spring semester is December 1st.

Official withdrawal from the University is required if a student wishes to drop all courses after a semester begins.   The student must obtain a Withdrawal Form from the department and complete the withdrawal steps as indicated on the form.  If at the time of withdrawal the student is failing any course, a grade of F is assigned to the student’s permanent record and the student becomes ineligible to continue in the Graduate School.

A student who withdraws during the first semester of enrollment in an academic program must formally apply for new admission (Admission Applicaiton, application fee, current GRE scores, etc.) to the program if he or she wishes to pursue the degree at some future date.

Withdrawal from the University is not equivalent to a formal leave of absence from the Graduate School.

A student who receives a medical withdrawal may be required to receive medical clearance before being readmitted.

International students who withdraw from the University may face critical consequences regarding their visa status.  International students should contact the Office of International Student and Scholar Services to discuss the implications of noncompliance well in advance of proessing a withdrawal.

Withdrawal from the University also has financial consequences for students who have been awarded tuition remission and/or in-state tuition awards through a fellowship or assistantship appointment.

Within the eight-year limit, a student in good academic standing may request one leave of absence from graduate study for a definite stated period of time (up to one year) during which the student does not plan to make academic progress.  To be eligible for a leave of absence, a student must not have received an extension of the degree time limit and must not have temporary grades of IN or AB on courses taken.  A leave of absence between degrees is not allowed.

In advance of the leave period, the student must complete and submit a Request for Leave of Absence Form to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval.  If approved, it will then be forwarded to the Graduate School for approval.  If the Graduate School approves the leave of absence, the time of that leave will not count against the total time allowed for the degree.  Readmission to the Graduate School after an approved leave of absence is generally a formality.  Ordinarily, a leave of absence may not be renewed.

Regardless of whether a graduate student officially secures a leave from the Graduate School, the student must notify his or her advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies, in writing, of intent to take a leave. The notification will be placed in the student’s file. Failure to notify will be taken into account when the student applies for readmission.

Students should be aware that while on leave, they cannot be considered enrolled students and therefore will not have access to campus services and benefits afforded to enrolled students, including eligibility for holding student employment positions (e.g., TA or RA) or student health insurange, among other services.

Students taking advantage of the Parental Leave Policy do not need to file a separate Leave of Absence request.

A formal request for readmission to The Graduate School is required whenever a student fails to register for a regular (fall/spring) semester or withdraws during a semester for any reason-whether the student had an approved leave of absence, withdrew during the semester, or simply did not register.  To resume their studies, such students must submit an Application for Readmission according to the following deadlines:

*  July 1 for the Fall semester

*  December 1 for the Spring semester

Readmission after a long absence is not automatic and will be reviewed carefully by the academic program prior to making a recommendation to The Graduate School.  If a student is not registered for as long as two academic years, a new immunization record and Medical History Form must also be submitted to Student Health Service to avoid future registration cancellation.

You should make early and regular visits to the Office of Information and Communication (307 Bynum Hall) for help in seeking research funds. You can also find Graduate Funding opportunities and information about funding workshops on the web at: http://research.unc.edu/

The department makes every effort to support students but there are not enough teaching and research assistantships to provide stipends to all students every semester. To increase your overall chances of funding and to avoid disappointment you are strongly encouraged to seek other sources of funding.  While we will also circulate notices to you of some funding competitions through the year, it is best to go to 307 Bynum Hall, for external government and foundation sources for study stipends and for research costs, and the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, for information on federal work-study funds and work-study and/or research assignments in Anthropology.

Awards are made near the end of the academic year (late April-early May) after faculty meetings to consider each student’s progress, including particular performance in the Core (for 1st year students) and 4th Semester Papers and Study Plans (for 2nd year students).

For the purposes of awarding assistantships, faculty members rank those students with whom they have had recent (within the last two years) interaction in a course, as an advisee, a committee member, an RA or a TA. Rankings are based on a combination of academic achievement and satisfactory performance as a TA (substantive efforts to improve are taken into account). The combined faculty rankings are used in making funding decisions. Because academic achievement is (or should be) affected by experience, students are divided into groups (incoming or first year, second year, third year, four year plus), and awards are made based on ranking within the groups. When funds are short, first, second and third year students are given priority over senior graduate students, who have had four or more years of funding. One assumption is that senior graduate students have more opportunities for external funding.

Two special sources for student support in the department are the John Honigmann and Steven Polgar Funds. The Honigmann Fund provides an annual prize for outstanding graduate work in general anthropology and also provides emergency personal loans. Please see the Business Officer to receive and pay back your loan. The Polgar Fund provides an annual prize for outstanding work in applied anthropology.

1. Eligibility for Departmental Awards

Students must have submitted an acceptable fourth semester paper and had the Ph.D. Study Plan declared in effect in order to be eligible for any kind of financial aid administered by the department after the fourth semester.

Two semesters seem an appropriate time limit to seek financial support for students who have completed fieldwork (or the equivalent) and are engaged in writing doctoral dissertations. The Awards Committee will take this point under advisement.

2. Tuition Remissions and Instate Awards

The Graduate School does not allow more than ten semesters of tuition remission and/or in-state tuition awards.

Semesters in which the student does not receive a tuition award (remission and/or instate tuition) from the Graduate School do not count toward the ten semester limit.   Students who complete a degree in one academic program and then enroll in another academic program or change academic programs without receiving a degree are only eligible for the 10 semesters as noted above during their enrollment at the University. No student is eligible for more than a total of ten (10) semesters of tuition remission and/or in-state tuition awards during their enrollment at the University, regardless of rate of remission or award.