Ph.D. in Anthropology (Social Cultural and Archaeology)
and Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology

Graduate Division Rules

Below are a few miscellanous rules and regulations from Graduate Division that will be helpful to know.

Normative Time
Normative time is the number of terms which the university considers normal for the completion of a Ph.D. in a given subject. Normative time for Anthropology is twelve terms and begins with the first term of enrollment. Students are allowed to withdraw for two semesters without losing a semester of normative time, provided the time is taken for reasons other than research (e.g., medical or family emergency). If a student takes a year off after his or her second year, the student will be considered a third-year student when he or she returns, even though chronologically the student will be resuming studies four years after being admitted. A student does not have to take off a full year, or two consecutive semesters, e.g., the student can take a semester off in the second year and one in the fourth year, if so desired. Any semester of withdrawal and any semester spent in the field doing research—beyond two—is counted against the student's balance of normative time.

How Normative Time Affects Financial Aid from Graduate Division
Under current Graduate Division regulations, a student who advances to candidacy before the end of his or her sixth term is eligible for a full-year fellowship from Graduate Division for the following year. Students advancing in their seventh or eighth terms will be awarded a half-year fellowship. Students advancing after their eighth year are eligible to compete for a limited number of half-year fellowships.

Notice of Withdrawal
If students find it necessary to withdraw from the university at any time they must file a Notice of Withdrawal. Failure to obtain this official release will preclude re-admission.

Application for Re-admission
If the student withdraws from the university and wishes to return at some point, he or she must apply for re-admission. If the student knows the date he or she wishes to return then the student should submit the Application for Re-admission petition along with the Notice of Withdrawal petition. The fee for re-admission is $40.00. Exceptions will be considered by the Associate Dean of the Graduate Division if the student has been unable to re-admit for reasons beyond his or her control. If the student has been gone for more than five years, he or she may, at the department’s discretion, have to re-apply for admission, i.e., fill out a new graduate school admission application.

Full Time
Eight units of study is considered full time. The eight units may be all Anthro 299 (directed research units), but the student must register for up to at least eight units. If students are on a fellowship or training grant, or some other non-employment type of support, or are international students, they may be required to enroll in a minimum of twelve units.

Note: Medical Anthropology
During the semesters in which Medical Anthropology students are enrolled in courses on the San Francisco Campus, they must maintain full time enrollment on the Berkeley campus. This is usually done by enrolling in Anthro 299 directed by the student's advisor.

Grading Options
An Academic Senate regulation, enforced by both Graduate Division and the Office of the Registrar, is that upon filing for the Ph.D., a graduate student is required to have taken no less than two-thirds of his or her total unit load (in courses numbered 1-298) for a letter grade; i.e., only one-third of units may be taken under the satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) option. Anthropology 299, 300-, 400- and 600- series courses do not count in this calculation. An “S” is equivalent to B- level work.
If the student has taken the proper balance (2/3 units graded, 1/3 units S/U) of units up until advancement to candidacy, and then takes only 299 courses (or an occasional 301 class if the student is a GSI), the student will be maintaining the proper balance. Students should check their balances upon registration for classes for the following semester. (The Graduate Student Affairs Officer receives unofficial transcripts each term so students may check their balances.) Students discovering they have too many S/U units may take Anthro 298 (directed readings) for up to eight letter-graded units. Anthro 298 and 299 need to be pre-arranged with the professor.

Request for Change in Higher Degree Committee
A student may reconstitute a masters thesis, orals or dissertation committee, or the subject and title of his or her dissertation, at any time during the calendar year or at any point in his or her graduate career by submitting a petition for faculty approval. The petition form, the Request for Change in Higher Degree Committee, (a.k.a. “the pink sheet”) is available from the Graduate Student Affairs Officer and requires the Head Graduate Advisor’s signature.

Application for Candidacy for the Master’s Degree
If students have not already earned a Master’s Degree in Anthropology or a related field, they may earn a Master’s Degree at the end of the first year (or first 24 units) as part of the progress toward the doctorate. Students must submit the Application for Candidacy for the Master’s Degree no later than the end of the third week of the semester in which they will be awarded the degree.

Application for Use of Filing Fee
When students are about to complete the dissertation and are preparing to file, they may go on filing fee status. Students may go on filing fee status once during their graduate career. Filing fee status is not required in order to file the dissertation; the student may file if registered. When on filing fee status students are not considered to be registered students for any purpose, other than for the final reading and filing of the dissertation. While on filing fee status, student loans are not deferred. A student may only go on filing fee status during the academic year for either fall or spring semester (or the student may enroll in summer session in order to file). Students may purchase Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) while on filing fee status. (The SHIP office may be reached at 642.5700 for more information on student health insurance.)

Change of Address
Students should keep every office on campus with which they have been involved notified of any change of address.

Optimally, a student should be able to file address changes with the Graduate Student Affairs Officer, who can enter such changes directly into the Registrar’s on-line records. This entry will in turn be received by Loans and Receivables, who bill for registration and other fees. However, it is best to double-check with these offices (Registrar: 120 Sproul Hall, 643.7490; Loans and Receivables: 192 University Hall, 642.2836) to ensure the change of address has been recorded. There have been cases where the student’s W-2, registration materials and Graduate Division information have all gone to separate addresses.

It is especially important to have notified Payroll (171 University Hall, 642.1336) of any change of address as the payroll office does not rely on the Registrar’s database for address changes. Students should contact Anthropology’s Academic Personnel Officer and fill out a personal data form in order to notify Payroll of a change in address.

Ph.D. in Anthropology
(Social Cultural / Archaeology)

Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology

Master of Arts in Folklore

Undergraduate Program

Faculty

Office Hours

Lecture Series
290 Lecture Series
MedAnthro Lecture Series
ARF Brown Bag Lecture Series
Emeritus Lecture Series

Student Organizations
K.A.S.
A.G.O.R.A.
Graduate Student Contacts