Department of Sociology
Bowling Green State University

INTRODUCTION

The Department of Sociology offers several programmatic areas of study at both the M.A. and Ph.D. level. Most students, particularly those at the doctoral level, will specialize in one of four areas: Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies or Social Psychology. While the strength of the department lies within these four areas of specialization, students are encouraged to plan a course of study meeting their own particular interests and career objectives. Additional faculty expertise in the areas of Applied Demography, Gerontology and Quantitative Methods results in considerable flexibility in the design of individualized programs of study. Regardless of area of specialization, students in the program build a firm foundation in research methodology, statistics, and theory. Since graduates are employed in both academic and non-academic settings, the program specialty areas provide the flexibility to prepare students for a broad spectrum of professional opportunities. The M.A. programs in Applied Demography and Family Studies, for example, are especially designed to prepare individuals for careers in the public sector, private industry, service organizations, and governmental agencies.

The purpose of this handbook is to acquaint students with faculty expectations and departmental requirements for the award of the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. These requirements in no way replace those described in the Graduate Catalog or in the program statements of the specialized areas in which students may choose to concentrate. Instead, this handbook sets forth the minimum requirements, which must be met by all graduate students in the Department of Sociology. It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the requirements and guidelines specified in this document.

In addition to the formal policies identified in this handbook, the Department of Sociology also has an informal set of operating principles based on the conviction that the student is the prime concern of the department. The spirit of this philosophy is outlined below:

• In both formal and informal settings, we encourage lively interaction, the sharing of ideas, scholarly collaboration, and mutual support among faculty and students.
• We attempt to promote close intellectual relationships between faculty and students. The accessibility of the faculty is well established and is facilitated by a favorable faculty-to-student ratio.
• Graduate students are treated as motivated junior scholars. Learning experiences are arranged to enhance student skills and are oriented to future careers.
• The departmental climate for professional development is humanistic and is designed to foster intellectual craftsmanship.

 

MASTER'S DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

ADMISSION TO THE M.A. PROGRAM

Admission to the M.A. program is contingent upon a satisfactory undergraduate record and a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution. Applicants are required to submit transcripts of all previous college work, scores on the Graduate Record Examination, a sample of academic writing (e.g., a class paper), and three letters of recommendation, at least two of which are from professors familiar with the applicant's academic work. The department also requires that applicants include a brief five-hundred word essay describing the research interests that they hope to pursue in graduate school, their professional goals and aspirations, and why they believe that the BGSU Sociology Department's graduate program will help them pursue these interests and achieve these goals. This essay is particularly important since it helps the Graduate Committee decide if the department can meet the applicant's career goals.

Applicants are required to have completed undergraduate courses in sociological theory, methodology, and statistics. In cases where applicants are deficient in sociological background, they may be admitted on a conditional basis providing that the deficiencies are remedied during the course of study toward the Master's degree. In such cases, a remedial plan will be developed by the Director of Graduate Studies for the student's guidance.

Upon admission to the program, students are assigned to the department's Director of Graduate Studies for advisory assistance. Students continue to work closely with the Director of Graduate Studies for the duration of their program. Prior to the beginning of their third semester, all students must select a major advisor. The major advisor and Director of Graduate Studies will work together with the student to make certain that a proper and approved plan of study is undertaken in preparation for the student's intended career.

CURRICULUM AND REQUIREMENTS

The M.A. degree is offered in five programmatic areas: Applied Demography, Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies and Social Psychology. All Master's degree students are required to complete graduate courses in Classical Sociological Theory (SOC 601), Statistical Techniques and Applications in Sociology (SOC 610), Intermediate Methodology (SOC 611), and Intermediate Statistics (SOC 612). Research Design (SOC 713) is also required for Plan II students (see below). Classical Sociological Theory is not required for students in the Applied Demography program. These students substitute courses in demographic theory for the general theory requirement. Teaching Introductory Sociology (SOC 660) is not required for M.A. students, but it is recommended for those who plan to teach upon completion of their degree, as well as for those who intend to continue on the Ph.D. degree.

Each of the five programmatic areas of study at the M.A. level specifies course requirements in addition to those noted above. Further information about these requirements is presented in the specialty area program statements available in the departmental offices or on the Sociology web page (http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/soc).

Only grades of A or B are acceptable in required courses. Students who do not achieve a grade of A or B in these courses may be permitted to (a) repeat the course or (b) take a comparable course in another department. Option (b) is available only if the student has first taken the departmental course and achieved a grade lower than B . Any course taken under Option (b) must first be approved by the Graduate Committee and the area faculty. Under no circumstances will an independent studies course be permitted as a substitute for a required course in which the student has earned a grade of C or lower.

A minimum grade point average of 3.0 in graduate work is required to maintain academic good standing at the M.A. level. A student whose grade point average falls below this level will be placed on academic probation. Two consecutive semesters of academic probation status will result in dismissal from the program.

Students are encouraged to take relevant graduate courses in other departments as part of their program. A minor sequence of courses in another discipline is permitted as part of an interdisciplinary Master's degree (See the Graduate Catalog for further details). Credits earned through internships or cooperative education assignments may count for no more than three semester hours (six for the Applied Demography program) toward the minimum degree requirements. Such internship and apprenticeship experiences are encouraged by the Department, and efforts are made to assist interested students in securing these experiences. A minimum of 37.5 clock hours of internship experience are required for every one hour of academic credit.

Occasionally, students also develop independent readings courses (SOC 685) with professors who possess an expertise in an area where courses are not regularly offered. A maximum of 6 hours of Readings in Sociology, also referred to as Independent Study, may be used by a student to satisfy the requirements of the M.A. degree. Additional independent study credit hours may be taken, but these will not count toward the degree requirements.

Students may pursue the Master's degree under Plan I or Plan II, as they choose, with the exception of the Applied Demography area-individuals selecting this area must choose Plan 1 and write a formal thesis.

Plan I requires the writing of a formal thesis and a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate course work. At least 3, but not more than 6, of these required 30 hours may be thesis credit (SOC 699). However, more than 6 hours of SOC 699 may be accumulated by students who earn more than 30 credit hours. The Master's thesis need not be empirical, although it should be an original contribution to the research literature. Prior to beginning formal work on the thesis, the student must form a thesis committee. The thesis committee consists minimally of the student's thesis advisor and two other full-time graduate faculty from the Department of Sociology. However, it is possible for a student to request that a faculty member from another department substitute for one of the sociology department members.

A public oral presentation of the thesis proposal is required. The proposal is a detailed description of the research problem and theoretical and methodological approaches taken to examine it (See Appendix C). At least one week prior to the suggested date of the proposal defense, the student and advisor will notify the entire department of the upcoming defense and make available to all interested parties, in the main departmental office, a copy of the proposal. Failure to either notify the department or to make available a copy of the proposal at least one week prior to the defense will result in the postponement of the proposal defense. This notification period is required so that all interested parties are given an appropriate opportunity to review the proposal and to make the necessary arrangements to attend the defense.

After successfully defending the proposal, the student must apply to the Graduate College for approval of the topic; a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all graduate work is required to apply for thesis topic approval. Once a student has a thesis proposal approved by the Graduate College , s/he must be in continuous registration for at least one hour of SOC 699 per semester, excluding summers, until the thesis is completed. Students who plan to graduate during the summer session must be enrolled in SOC 699 that term.

Upon completion of the thesis, the student must pass a public oral defense conducted by his/her committee. As in the case of the thesis proposal defense, all departmental members must be notified at least one week prior to the thesis defense, and a copy of the thesis must simultaneously be made available in the departmental offices. Failure to provide at least one week's notice will result in postponement of the defense. In addition to an examination over the thesis content area, the defense also evaluates the student's general knowledge of sociology. The final copy of the completed thesis must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately four weeks prior to commencement. Students failing to meet this deadline will not be eligible for graduation that semester.

Plan II requires at least 33 semester hours of graduate course work, including Research Design (SOC 713). This option is not available to Applied Demography students. Plan II students are required to pass a four-hour comprehensive examination in their area of specialization, a two-hour examination in sociological theory, and a two-hour examination in quantitative methods. The M.A. comprehensive examinations in the core areas of theory and quantitative methods, and in the student's major area, are constructed and graded by examination committees made up of all sociology graduate faculty teaching in that area. Thus, each M.A. student generally will have three different exam committees: one each for the major area, theory, and quantitative methods. Students are not permitted to choose the faculty constituting their exam committees. Such a practice would undermine the standardization of these examinations that the department seeks to maintain. While Plan I students and their major advisor do choose thesis committee members, the composition of examination committees for Plan II students is determined by the department faculty in the respective examination areas. Examination committees and thesis committees are separate entities having different functions. Comprehensive examinations for Plan II students are offered during the same examination periods that Ph.D. preliminary exams are given.

There are three comprehensive examination periods during the academic year: the week prior to the beginning of fall semester (mid-August), the week prior to the beginning of spring semester (early January), and the week following the end of spring semester (early May). The May exam period is an option only for those who have failed on their first taking of an exam. Students taking a comprehensive examination for the first time may do so only during the August and January periods. During any one exam period it is possible, though not required, for a student to take multiple examinations. Examination results are communicated to students within two weeks by the chair of the examination committee.

Students are encouraged to meet with area faculty before taking their examinations. To assist in exam preparation, area faculty will advise students on reading materials and discuss approaches to answering questions. Plan II students should review the section in this Handbook on preliminary examination procedures for Ph.D. students insofar as the M.A. level exams will follow the general guidelines specified therein.

M.A. students choosing the non-thesis option are expected to complete their examinations no later than the end of their fourth semester in the program. Most M.A. students choosing the non-thesis option will find the following timetable for taking exams the most suitable:

Fall, Year 2 Required Theory Exam
Spring, Year 2 Required Exams in Quantitative methods and Major Area

Note that it also is possible to take the theory examination during the spring or summer semester of the first year since most M.A. students will have taken the required classical theory course during the fall term of their first year. Taking the theory exam at this point means that there will be greater flexibility as to when the other two exams are taken; it also may mean that it will not be necessary to take two exams during the same semester.

Completion of the comprehensive examinations by the time periods specified above will be taken as an indication of satisfactory progression through the program. Students who do not complete their exams in a timely fashion, as outlined above, will be considered not to be making satisfactory progress through the program, and their assistantship and status in the program will be in jeopardy. Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to retake any of the required exams only once. After twice failing the same exam, the student will be terminated from the program.

POLICY GUIDELINES FOR MASTER'S STUDENTS

1. The completion of the M.A. degree in Sociology usually takes two years. Completion of the degree over the course of a single year rarely occurs. Although possible, such an achievement is likely only under ideal circumstances in terms of course offerings and other contingencies.

2. A major concentration in the Master's program must include at least three regular content courses. Independent study courses may not be included within this minimum. Graduate courses from another university or another department at Bowling Green may be included within a major as part of these requirements, so long as these receive the prior approval of the departmental Graduate Committee. The departmental area program statements list the required courses for the various areas of specialization.

3. All students must file a Tentative Degree Plan (TDP) prior to the completion of 24 hours of graduate coursework. Failure to do so will mean that the student is not in good academic standing and may jeopardize their status in the program and eligibility for departmental funding.

4. Master's students in the Plan II (non-thesis) track must complete one of the three required comprehensive examinations prior to the end of the third semester of full-time study in order to maintain academic good standing and to remain eligible for departmental funding.

5. Plan I (thesis) students are required to have an approved thesis proposal prior to the end of their third semester of full-time graduate study in order to maintain academic good standing and to remain eligible for departmental funding.

6. Plan I students must register for a minimum of 3 hours of Thesis Research (SOC 699) as a degree requirement. A maximum of 6 hours of SOC 699 may be credited toward the minimum degree requirements, although the student is expected to register for as many additional hours as necessary to complete the thesis.

7. Plan I students may not enroll in SOC 699 (Thesis Research) prior to the completion of two semesters of full-time study in the M.A. program (i.e., prior to completing 24 credit hours). Thereafter, students may enroll in as many hours of SOC 699 per semester as they wish, but they also must take at least one substantive area seminar per semester (independent studies, teaching introductory sociology, or professional development courses do not fulfill this requirement). During summer semesters, students may enroll exclusively in SOC 699.

8. Students may take a maximum of 6 hours of Readings in Sociology (SOC 685), also referred to as Independent Study, to meet the M.A. degree requirements.

9. Students who register for Thesis Research (SOC 699) are required thereafter to maintain continuous registration in SOC 699 (at least one hour per semester), excluding summer, until the thesis is accepted by the Graduate College. Students who plan to graduate during the summer session must be enrolled in SOC 699 that term.

10. The final copy of the completed thesis must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately four weeks prior to commencement. Students failing to meet this deadline will not be eligible for graduation that semester.

11. Once a comprehensive examination is attempted under Plan II, a student may not switch from Plan II to Plan I. Once a thesis proposal is approved under Plan I, a student may request to switch from Plan I to Plan II; such a request, however, will be approved by the departmental Graduate Committee and by the Dean of the Graduate College only in rare circumstances (i.e., when the research project becomes physically or technically impossible to implement).

The student should consult the Graduate Catalog for general policies affecting M.A. students.

DOCTORAL DEGREE REQUIREENTS

The objectives of the doctoral program are to provide a broad background in general sociology and to create the capacity for theoretically relevant, rigorous research in at least one area of specialization. Although faculty interests within sociology are wide-ranging (See Appendix D), doctoral students are encouraged to major in one of the following areas

The emphasis on these four programmatic areas of study is not intended to be restrictive, and recent students have not found it so. Faculty will work with students to accommodate various other interests so long as they are consistent with faculty expertise. See Appendix D for a listing of the teaching/research interests of faculty.

ADMISSION TO THE PH.D. PROGRAM
Only strongly motivated individuals whose records indicate that they are capable of successfully completing a Ph.D. degree are admitted to the program. In applying for admission, prospective students must include the following items along with the application form:

1. Transcripts of all previous college work.
2. Scores on the Graduate Record Examination.

3. Three letters of reference from former professors at the graduate level. At least one of the letters of recommendation must be from a member of the student's Master's thesis committee, preferably the Chair, who will address issues relevant to the thesis (i.e. completion timeline, theoretical and methodological sophistication/rigor, etc.). Those students who do not submit a letter from the Chair of their thesis committee should provide an explanation for excluding as a letter writer the individual most familiar with their work.

4. A sample of academic writing (e.g., a class paper).

5.  A copy of the applicant's thesis, thesis proposal if the thesis is not yet completed, or a sample of other academic writing, such as a class paper, if the thesis proposal is not yet completed.

6. A 500-word essay describing the research interests the applicant hopes to pursue in graduate school, their professional goals and aspirations, and why they believe that the BGSU Sociology Department's graduate program will help them pursue these interests and achieve these goals.

7.  International students are required to submit scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Prospective students are also encouraged to visit the Department of Sociology, if practical, to discuss their plans with the Director of Graduate Studies and members of the faculty.

The following guidelines are used in evaluating applicants for admission:

Admission to the doctoral program in sociology is contingent on the completion of a Master's degree in sociology or the equivalent. Students who fail to complete the Master's thesis prior to the beginning of the semester in which they are to commence the Ph.D. program will automatically be denied admission into the program and must reapply following the successful completion of all requirements for the Master's degree.

Letters of recommendation, scores on the Graduate Record Examination, the personal statement, thesis proposal, and grade point average for previous graduate study are considered in the admission decision. Students deficient in one or more of these areas will be evaluated by taking into account any additional pertinent information the applicant may submit.

Upon admission to the program, students are assigned to the department's Director of Graduate Studies for advisory assistance. Students continue to work closely with the Director of Graduate Studies for the duration of their program. Prior to beginning their third semester, once they have clarified their goals and become acquainted with the faculty, students must select a major advisor. The Director of Graduate Studies and major advisor will work together to make certain that the student progresses smoothly through the program.

 

CURRICULUM AND REQUIREMENTS

Doctoral students are required to complete 60 semester hours of graduate course credit beyond the Master’s degree. Of these, a minimum of 16 credits must be Dissertation Research (SOC 799); however, no more than 30 credits of SOC 799 may be applied to the 60-hour requirement. Hour requirements, however, are secondary in importance to breadth and depth of knowledge as evidenced by performance on the major area preliminary examination and demonstrated research competence. The dissertation, a mature piece of scholarship embodying the results of original research, is central to the student’s plan of study. Students are expected to develop a dissertation proposal early in their program.

Ph.D. students are given considerable flexibility in developing their programs of study, although all students are expected to achieve a level of basic competence in theory, research methods and statistics. Most Ph.D. students will choose a major and a minor area of concentration from among the following five areas: Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies, Quantitative Methods (minor concentration only), or Social Psychology.

All doctoral students are required to take six basic courses in theory and quantitative methods: Classical Sociological Theory (SOC 601), Contemporary Sociological Theory (SOC 602), Statistical Techniques and Applications in Sociology (SOC 610), Intermediate Methodology (SOC 611), Intermediate Statistics (SOC 612), and Research Design (SOC 713). Doctoral students also must take Teaching Introductory Sociology (SOC 660) and a minimum of 16 semester hours of Dissertation Research (SOC 799). Credits earned through internships or cooperative education assignments may count for no more than 3 semester hours within the minimum degree requirements; however, such apprenticeship experiences are encouraged by the Department. A minimum of 37.5 clock hours of internship experience are required for every one hour of academic credit.

Ph.D. candidates also sometimes take Readings for Preliminary Examinations (SOC 798) to help them prepare for the exams (see below). Students may take a maximum of 12 semester hours of SOC 798. In addition, there are occasions when a student will want to work individually with a professor possessing expertise in an area where courses are not regularly offered. Such students have the option of developing independent readings courses (SOC 785) with interested professors. A maximum of 9 hours of Readings in Sociology, also referred to as Independent Study, may be used by a student to satisfy the Ph.D. degree requirements. Additional credit hours may be taken, but these will not count toward the degree requirements.

Only grades of A or B are acceptable in required courses. Students who do not achieve a grade of A or B in these courses may be permitted to (a) repeat the course or (b) take a comparable course in another department. Option (b) is available only if the student has first taken the departmental course and achieved a grade lower than B. Any course taken under Option (b) must first be approved by the Graduate Committee and the area faculty. Under no circumstances will an independent studies course be permitted as a substitute for a required course in which the student has earned a grade of C or lower.

A minimum grade point average of 3.2 in graduate work is required to maintain academic good standing at the doctoral level. A student whose grade point average falls below this level will be placed on academic probation. Two consecutive semesters of academic probation status will result in dismissal from the program

RESIDENCY
A student is considered to be in residence whenever he or she is registered on campus as a doctoral student. The minimum residency requirement for the Ph.D. degree is met by completing 15 hours of course work (not including SOC 799) on the main campus in two consecutive semesters, with no fewer than three hours of registration in either of the two semesters. It is strongly recommended that the student's first year of doctoral study be spent in residence

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Doctoral students may fulfill the Graduate College language requirement by demonstrating proficiency in either a foreign language or a computer language. Courses used to satisfy degree requirements at Bowling Green or another institution may not be used to fulfill the language requirement. Similarly, a student may not transfer credit from another college or university to satisfy this requirement.

ADVISOR AND COMMITTEES
During their tenure in the program, students select courses, prepare for their preliminary examination, and attend to other departmental and Graduate College requirements in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. In addition, doctoral students select a major advisor prior to the beginning of their third semester of course work. The major advisor is the faculty member with whom the student will work most closely during his/her time in the program and serves as chair of the dissertation committee. Major advisors are selected from department faculty who are members of the graduate faculty. In consultation with his/her major advisor, the student selects a minimum of three additional dissertation committee members. At least two of these committee members must come from within the department. Finally, the Dean of the Graduate College appoints a Graduate Faculty Representative to the student's dissertation committee.

In addition to the dissertation committee, Ph.D. students also work with their preliminary examination committee. Students are not permitted to choose the faculty constituting their exam committee. Such a practice would undermine the standardization of these examinations that the department seeks to maintain. Although students and their major advisor do choose dissertation committee members (with the exception of the Graduate Faculty Representative assigned by the Graduate College), the composition of examination committees is determined by the department faculty in the respective examination areas. Examination and dissertation committees are separate entities having different functions, although membership may overlap in some instances. The Graduate Faculty Representative is the only member who must be on both the dissertation committee and the major area preliminary examination committee.

MAJOR AREA CONCENTRATION
All Ph.D. students are required to choose a major area of concentration within the sociology department and take a minimum of 5 courses in that area. Most students will major in Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies or Social Psychology, but it is possible to major in a departmental area other than one of these four. However, it is the student's responsibility to discuss such an intent with the Director of Graduate Studies to make certain that there is sufficient faculty expertise in the area to permit specialized advanced study, and that the general course and preliminary examination requirements for the major area of concentration can be satisfied. The student must then submit a formal request along with the appropriate documentation for the new departmental major (i.e., specific courses constituting the major and the faculty willing to offer them and to constitute the major area exam committee) to the Graduate Committee for approval.

MAJOR AREA PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION PROCEDURES
All Ph.D. students are required to take an eight-hour written examination in their major area of concentration. Because the major area concentration serves to integrate students into a specialized area of the discipline so that they actually become criminologists, demographers, family sociologists, or social psychologists, performance on the preliminary exam should indicate mastery of the subject matter of the area, not only of that material covered in seminars the student has taken. The preliminary examination encourages students to review, internalize, and integrate the wide breadth of ideas, techniques, and issues within their major area of concentration. Exams also serve as gatekeepers in that they help detect, and justify the termination of, students who fail to master the subject matter of their area of concentration.

Examination Periods

Preliminary examinations are administered at three times during the academic year: the week prior to the beginning of fall semester (mid-August), the week prior to the beginning of spring semester (early January), and the week following the end of spring semester (early May). The May exam period is an option only for those who have failed on their first taking of the exam. Students taking their preliminary examination for the first time may do so only during the August and January periods.

Doctoral students are expected to take their major area preliminary examination prior to or during their fifth semester of full-time study beyond the M.A degree. To remain in good academic standing, Ph.D. students must complete the major area preliminary examinations no later than the beginning of their sixth semester in the program

Doctoral students should recognize that it is to their advantage to complete their preliminary examination as soon as possible; in this way, more time can be devoted to dissertation work. It is expected that that once the required courses for the major area have been completed, the student is ready to take the preliminary examination in that area.

Completion of the preliminary examinations by the time periods specified above will be taken as an indication of satisfactory progression through the program. Students who do not complete their exams in a timely fashion, as outlined above, will be considered not to be making satisfactory progress through the program, and their assistantship and status in the program will be in jeopardy. These requirements will be waived only in very extenuating circumstances, after careful consideration by the Graduate Committee.

Examination Eligibility
Students must be in good academic standing in order to take the preliminary examination. This consists of a minimum 3.2 GPA in post-master's work, no grade lower than B in any major area course, and successful completion of the language requirement. All required area courses also must be completed prior to the examination date.

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Examination Committee
The area program statement identifies the area director and all area faculty who participate in the examination process.

The area director acts as chair of the examination committee and solicits questions from the other area faculty.

All area faculty submit exam questions to the area chair/exam chair, who then constructs a draft of the examination. All area faculty review the draft and approve the final version of the examination.

All area faculty serve as graders of the examination.

Question Pool
Questions can be submitted each exam period by area faculty in good standing with the Graduate College (i.e., graduate faculty status) and these become part of the preliminary examination question pool. In this fashion, each area accumulates a number of questions that may reappear on subsequent examinations.

In order to accommodate new faculty and new developments in the area, new or modified questions are likely to appear each time the area exam is offered.

Copies of all old preliminary exams are available from the area chair or departmental secretary for students to review in preparation for their examination.

Examination Preparation
Students are encouraged to meet with area faculty before taking their examination. To assist in exam preparation, area faculty will advise students on reading materials, discuss approaches to answering questions, and will, at the student's request, evaluate sample answers given to questions from old examinations on file.

Examination Format and Content

The preliminary examination is an eight-hour written exam administered in two parts on separate consecutive days or during the morning and afternoon of a single day. Part I will be administered in the morning of the exam day. Students have the option of taking Part II during the afternoon of the same day Part I is taken, or during the morning of the next day.

The content of the examination is not limited to material covered in required and elective seminars, but reflects the breadth and depth of the area's subject matter. The examination is given in two parts:

Part I is a general examination covering theories and methods common to all students majoring in the area, regardless of specialization within that area.

Part II is a specialized examination. Students declare their specialization in one of several pre-approved areas of concentration. Each area explicitly designates the sub-areas available for specialized study/examination in the area program statement.

Grading Procedures
The chair of the exam committee makes copies of the examination and distributes these to the graders, including the Graduate Faculty Representative assigned by the Graduate College . The Graduate Faculty Representative must be a reader of the examination and must sign the appropriate form notifying the Graduate College that the exam has been completed.

Each committee member independently grades the exam within two weeks of the exam date.

Committee members may award grades of High Pass , Pass, Low Pass , or Fail when evaluating individual questions, but only grades of High Pass , Pass, or Fail are reported as final exam grades. The evaluation agreed upon by the majority of committee members determines the final grades reported to the student and to the Director of Graduate Studies. Three grades are reported: one each for Part I, Part II, and Overall.

A student may fail either Part I or Part II of the exam and still pass the other part. In this circumstance the student must retake only the part that was failed. The exam on the failed portion must be completed within one calendar year of the date the exam was first taken. If the failed portion of the exam is not taken within one calendar year of the first attempt, the entire major area examination must be retaken.

Students will be formally notified of their examination results within two weeks after having written the exam. For those failing the exam, an informal meeting will be scheduled between the student and the examination committee approximately two to three weeks after the written examination. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the reasons for the failure and to formulate a plan of study for re-taking the examination.

Feedback regarding results may be delayed beyond the standard two weeks for those taking a previously failed examination during the May exam period. This is because the May examination and its grading occur during the summer session when some faculty are out of town. Depending on faculty availability, grading of the May exam might involve only a simply majority of the area faculty. This contrasts with the January and August exam periods, when all area faculty evaluate the examination. Similarly, the informal meeting for those who fail the May examination might be delayed beyond the standard two-three weeks after the written exam, and may be attended by a simply majority of area faculty rather than all area faculty.

If a student fails the major area written exam twice (either the entire exam or any one part), s/he will be terminated from the program.

Notification of Results

Once the area committee agrees on the student's final grades for the written examination, the exam chair will report these grades (High Pass, Pass or Fail for Part I, Part II and Overall) to the student and Director of Graduate Studies via a written memorandum. Those failing the examination will be notified of their grades prior to the informal meeting between the student and the examination committee.

MINOR AREA CONCENTRATION

All Ph.D. students are required to choose a minor area of concentration within the sociology department and must take a minimum of 4 courses in that area. In addition, students also may choose, at their option, a second minor from another BGSU department or combination of departments.

A departmental minor is required for all doctoral students. While most students will minor in Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies, Quantitative Methods or Social Psychology, it is possible to minor in a departmental area other than one of these five. However, it is the student's responsibility to discuss such an intent with the Director of Graduate Studies to make certain that there is sufficient faculty expertise in the area to permit specialized advanced study, and that the general course requirements for minor areas of concentration can be satisfied. The student must then submit a formal request along with the appropriate documentation for the new departmental minor (i.e., specific courses constituting the minor and the faculty willing to offer them) to the Graduate Committee for approval.

Since the minor area concentration serves to broaden students' general knowledge and encourages the integration of a different area of sociology into the major area, Ph.D. students cannot major and minor in the same general area. Departmental guidelines require that the minor area of concentration be in an area other than the student's major or sub-area of that major. That is, a minor area of concentration should not be confused with areas of specialization within a major area. Most students who major in one of the department's four areas of concentration will also specialize in one of its sub-areas, and will have that sub-area emphasized on the major area examination. For example, a student majoring in Criminology and Deviance might specialize in juvenile delinquency, corrections, or the sociology of law. The minor area concentration, however, must be in an area completely separate from the major area. A specialization in a sub-area does not constitute an appropriate minor for someone majoring in that area. For example, corrections is not an acceptable minor for someone majoring in Criminology and Deviance and specializing in juvenile delinquency. A student with a major in Criminology and Deviance could, however, minor in Demography, Family Studies, Quantitative Methods, or Social Psychology. The same logic applies to students majoring in one of the other three areas.

There is no minor area preliminary examination. Instead, proficiency in the minor area of concentration is satisfied by completion of a four-course sequence as specified in the area program statements for Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies, and Social Psychology. A six-course sequence is required for a minor in Quantitative Methods.

In order for the minor area of concentration to be certified by the department, the student must achieve a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 in the four (six for quantitative methods) area courses (i.e., at least one grade of A and three of B for a minor in Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies, or Social Psychology, or one grade of A and five of B for a minor in Quantitative Methods ). These courses must be seminar-based or other regularly offered courses; independent studies courses may not be counted among the required minor area courses. Students who fail to achieve the required 3.2 GPA (3.167 for quantitative methods) after taking the specified courses have several options:

Take additional courses in the area until the grades received in any combination of four (six for Quantitative Methods) courses result in a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2 (3.167 for quantitative methods).

After having taken all area courses offered without achieving the required GPA, re-take a course(s) in order to improve and replace the original grade, thus raising the cumulative GPA to at least 3.2 (3.167 for Quantitative Methods) in any combination of four (six for quantitative methods) area courses.

Choose a second area of minor concentration, subject to the same course and cumulative GPA requirements noted above. Students who fail to achieve the required cumulative GPA in this second area of concentration will not be permitted to choose a third area.

Students who have exhausted all of these options without achieving the required minimum GPA to certify the minor area concentration will be terminated from the program.

Extra-Departmental Minor
In addition to the required departmental minor, students may elect, at their option, to obtain a second minor in another BGSU department or combination of departments that offer graduate courses or have graduate faculty. Under no circumstances, however, will students be permitted to substitute an extra-departmental minor for the required departmental minor. If a student wishes to pursue an outside minor it is his/her responsibility to submit to the Graduate Committee a formal request along with appropriate documentation. Documentation must include all of t he following: (a) the student's written justification for the proposed minor, including the relationship between the outside minor and the student's academic program and career plans; (b) a list of proposed courses in the minor area, including course descriptions; and (c) written confirmation by the Graduate Coordinator or Chair of the outside department that the proposed courses will be offered during the period the student plans to complete his/her coursework. Students minoring outside of the sociology department must take a minimum of three courses in the outside minor area. Independent studies courses cannot be counted toward the minimum course requirements for the minor concentration. The student, Director of Graduate Studies and the student's major advisor will work with faculty from the outside department to determine an appropriate course of study.

DISSERTATION

The dissertation is a mature piece of scholarship embodying the results of original research. Students should develop a dissertation proposal early in their program, and be prepared to publicly defend the research topic no later than during the sixth semester of full-time study. The proposal is a detailed description of the research problem and planned research. Prior to any formal defense, however, the proposal should be reviewed by the student's entire dissertation committee. The dissertation committee minimally consists of the student's major advisor, three other full-time graduate faculty, at least two of whom must come from the Department of Sociology, and one at-large Graduate Faculty Representative appointed by the Graduate Dean.

After the committee's informal approval, a public proposal defense will be held. At least one week prior to the defense, the student will provide all members of the department, faculty and students with their dissertation abstract. At the same time a copy of the full proposal must be made available in the department office. Failure to notify the department at least one week prior to the defense, or the failure to make a copy of the complete proposal available will result in a delay of the student's defense. The proposal will be revised as necessary following the formal defense. Subsequent to committee approval an abstract of the proposed research must be submitted to the Graduate College so that the dissertation topic and committee can be approved.

Once a student has a dissertation proposal approved by the Graduate College , she/he must be in continuous registration for at least one hour of SOC 799 per semester, excluding summers, until the dissertation is completed. Students who plan to graduate during the summer session must be enrolled in SOC 799 that term.

Upon completion of the dissertation, the student must pass a public oral defense conducted by his/her committee. The results of the dissertation defense must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately six weeks prior to commencement. At least one week prior to the defense, the student will provide all members of the department, faculty and students, with their dissertation abstract. At the same time a copy of the complete dissertation must be made available in the department office. Failure to either notify the department or to make available a copy of the proposal at least one week prior to the defense will result in the postponement of the proposal defense. In addition to the dissertation subject matter, the oral examination also evaluates the student's general knowledge of sociology. The final copy of the completed dissertation must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately four weeks prior to commencement. Students failing to meet the Graduate College deadlines will not be eligible for graduation that semester.

POLICY GUIDELINES FOR PH.D. STUDENTS

1.A major concentration at the doctoral level must include at least five scheduled courses; at least four scheduled courses are required for a minor concentration. Independent study courses may not be included as part of the minimum requirements for any major or minor area of concentration. Graduate courses from another university or another department on this campus, however, may be included within a major or minor concentration, contingent upon prior approval by the departmental Graduate Committee. The respective program statements for the departmental areas of concentration should be consulted for a list of required courses.

2. All students must file a Tentative Degree Plan (TDP) prior to completing 24 hours of graduate course work. Failure to do so will mean that the student is not in good academic standing and this may jeopardize their status in the program and eligibility for departmental funding.

3.  The major area preliminary examination should be completed prior to the beginning of the fifth semester of full time post-master's study, and must be completed no later than the beginning of the sixth semester of full time post-master's study. Students who do not complete their exam in this manner will not be making satisfactory progress through the program, and their assistantship and status in the program will be in jeopardy .

4.  A request to take the major area preliminary examination must be filed with the Graduate College at least one month prior to the examination. It is at this point that the Graduate Dean appoints a Graduate Faculty Representative to participate in the preliminary examination process. This faculty representative must be a member of the exam committee, and also serves on the dissertation committee. It is the responsibility of the Ph.D. student to apply to the Graduate College for the appointment of the at-large faculty representative before the preliminary exam is taken. The Dean has emphasized that a preliminary examination taken in the absence of Graduate Faculty Representative participation will be declared invalid (i.e., the exam will have to be retaken).

5.  Students are not permitted to choose the faculty constituting their preliminary examination committee. Such a practice would undermine the standardization of examinations that the department seeks to achieve. While students and their major advisor do choose dissertation committee members, the composition of examination committees is determined by the faculty in the respective examination areas. Examination committees and dissertation committees are separate entities having different functions. While there likely will be some overlap between a student's preliminary exam committee and his/her dissertation committee, the only member that must be on both committees is the Graduate Faculty Representative.

6. Students may take a maximum of 9 hours of Readings in Sociology (SOC 785), also referred to as Independent Study, to meet the Ph.D. degree requirements.

7.Students may take a maximum of 12 semester hours of Readings for Preliminary Examinations (SOC 798).

8. A doctoral student may not enroll in SOC 799 (Dissertation Research) until the major area preliminary exam has been successfully completed. A minimum of 16 hours of SOC 799 is required, but no more than 30 hours of SOC 799 may be included within the minimum number of credits required for the degree. Additional credit hours may be taken, but these will not count toward the degree requirements.

9. The dissertation proposal must be defended successfully no later than the sixth semester of full time post-master's study. Failure to do so will mean that the student is not making satisfactory progress through the program, and this will jeopardize their funding status. The major area preliminary exam must be completed prior to defending the dissertation proposal.

10. A student who registers for Dissertation Research (SOC 799) is required thereafter to maintain continuous registration in SOC 799 (at least one hour per semester), excluding summer session, until the dissertation is completed and accepted by the Graduate College. Students who plan to graduate in summer must enroll in SOC 799 that term .

11.  Since the dissertation defense is a public presentation of the research, the student is required by the Graduate College to publicize the date of the defense by notifying The Monitor , the University's weekly newsletter for faculty and staff, about four weeks before the oral defense is to be held. This is a Graduate College requirement.

12. Upon completion of the dissertation, the student must pass a public oral defense conducted by his/her committee. The results of the dissertation defense must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately six weeks prior to commencement. Students failing to meet this deadline will not be eligible for graduation that semester

13.  The final copy of the completed dissertation must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately four weeks prior to commencement. Students failing to meet this deadline will not be eligible for graduation that semester.

The student also should consult the Graduate Catalog for general policies affecting Ph.D. students.

POLICY GUIDELINES FOR ALL SOCIOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENTS

1. Only grades of A or B are acceptable in required courses. Students who do not achieve a grade of A or B in these courses may be permitted to (a) repeat the course or (b) take a comparable course in another department. Option (b) is available only if the student has first taken the departmental course and achieved a grade lower than B. Any course taken under Option (b) must first be approved by the Graduate Committee and the area faculty. Under no circumstances will an independent studies course be permitted as a substitute for a required course in which the student has earned a grade of C or lower.

2. A minimum graduate grade point average of 3.0 at the M.A. level and 3.2 at the Ph.D. level is required to maintain academic good standing. A student whose grade point average falls below the acceptable level will be placed on academic probation. Two consecutive semesters of academic probation status will result in dismissal from the program.

3. Graduate students who accumulate more than two incomplete grades other than for approved research courses (i.e., SOC 699 and SOC 799) will not be in good academic standing. Students with more than two incomplete grades are subject to termination from the program.

4  Any student failing a M.A. comprehensive or Ph.D. preliminary examination may take the exam a second time. If the exam is failed twice, the student will be dismissed from the program.

5. Students holding research or teaching assistantships are required to register for at least 12 graduate credit hours per semester as defined by Graduate College policy. Funded students who fail to register for 12 credits will have their stipends terminated effective the date this occurs. Students with summer stipends are required to register for at least 9 semester hours of credit, or risk termination of their stipends.

6. A Master's degree student may hold an assistantship for a maximum of two academic years (four semesters). A Ph.D. student may be funded for a maximum of three years (six semesters) if they received the M.A. degree from Bowling Green , or four years (eight semesters) if the M.A. was earned elsewhere. These are the standard funding limits for students who maintain academic good standing and acceptable degree progress. Depending upon a variety of circumstances, students may be funded beyond these standard periods, but there is no guarantee of such supplemental funding. The purpose of this policy is to encourage steady progress through the program and timely completion of the degree.

7. Graduate fellowships and assistantships are not automatically renewed from one year to the next. An award or appointment is subject to immediate termination if a student is not in academic good standing or is not making satisfactory progress toward a degree. The University's Graduate Council has specified the following conditions under which an assistantship remains in force and is renewable:

In order for graduate students to retain their appointments as graduate assistants, teaching fellows, non-service fellows, or other fellows or positions of part-time employment by the university, the following conditions shall be met:

a. Maintain a grade point average of 3.0 at the M.A. level, 3.2 at the Ph.D. level.

b. Perform satisfactorily the employment normal to the position held. Satisfactory performance in employment is qualitatively and quantitatively acceptable work as defined by the immediate supervisor or by other departmental mechanisms for making such determinations.

c. Make satisfactory progress toward a degree.
" Satisfactory progress toward a degree " includes:

a. Conformance to the policies concerning minimum hours of registration in courses each semester.

b. Successfully completing the courses attempted each semester (except registration in thesis or dissertation research). A student may accumulate no more than two "incompletes" in his/her degree program (excepting thesis and dissertation credits) in order to be considered to be making satisfactory degree progress. These include "I's" in courses for which the change-of-grade deadline has lapsed and those still within the allowable time limit.

In addition to the above, departmental guidelines presume timely completion of the preliminary examination as a prerequisite for retaining assistantships or fellowships.

8. A graduate seminar entitled Teaching Introductory Sociology (SOC 660) is offered each year and is required for all Ph.D. students. SOC 660 is not required for M.A. students, but it is recommended for those who plan to teach upon completion of their M.A. degree, as well as for those who intend to continue on the Ph.D. degree.

9.  SOC 685 and SOC 785 ( Readings in Sociology) are special problems or readings courses intended to support specific research or program objectives. They must be approved by both the instructor and the Director of Graduate Studies prior to registration. The form for approval of independent study is available in the sociology department office. SOC 685 and SOC 785 are graded on a satisfactory-unsatisfactory basis. Department policy precludes more than 6 hours of independent study as part of the minimum course credits required for the M.A. degree, or more than 9 hours as part of the minimum course credits required for the Ph.D. degree. Additional credit hours may be taken, but these will not count toward the degree requirements.

10. Students are urged to consult the Thesis and Dissertation Handbook available from the Graduate College . This document serves as a guide in the details of thesis and dissertation preparation. Students must follow the manuscript preparation guidelines specified in this handbook.

11. Students should submit their completed thesis or dissertation to members of their committee at least two weeks prior to the final oral defense.

12.  All students are expected to read and abide by the regulations set forth in the Graduate Catalog .

DEGREE TIME LIMITS AND REVALIDATION PROCEDURES

Graduate College policy requires that the M.A. degree be completed within 6 years from the end of the semester of the first course used to fulfill degree requirements. The Ph.D. degree must be completed within 8 years from the end of the semester of the first course used to fulfill degree requirements. Students who anticipate that they will not complete all requirements for the appropriate degree within these time limits must request a time extension and will be required to revalidate certain course work. Master's students may apply for an extension of up to one year if the request is made before the time limit has elapsed. An extension does not "stop the clock" on the time to degree limit and the student will be expected to revalidate all out-of-date course work. A doctoral student may apply for an extension of one year if the request is made before the time limit has elapsed. Doctoral students may be granted two extensions, not to exceed a total of two calendar years. Final approval of a request for an extension of time rests with the Graduate Dean or his/her designate.

If the extension is approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate College , revalidation of outdated courses will be necessary. All courses that will be more than six years old for M.A. students, or eight years old for doctoral students, at the time of graduation will require revalidation. All revalidation must be completed at the departmental level, be endorsed by the Director of Graduate Studies, and be submitted to the Graduate College by 5:00 p.m. of the Friday of exam week.

The maximum time allowed to complete the M.A. degree with revalidation is seven years from the end of the semester of the earliest course used to fulfill degree requirements, as noted on the TDP. The maximum time to complete the doctoral degree with revalidation is nine years from the end of the semester of the earliest course used to fulfill degree requirements, as noted on the TDP.

Revalidation will be administered on a course-by-course basis at the departmental level. The following procedures will be observed by the Department of Sociology:

An ad hoc committee composed of the Director of Graduate Studies and at least four faculty members in the department will administer an oral exam over the subject matter of the course(s) in question. Members of the ad hoc committee will be appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies and will be representatives of the area(s) in which revalidation is being sought. The examination will be limited to the content of the course(s) at issue, and will not be as rigorous or as comprehensive as the departmental preliminary exam. The purpose of the oral exam is to give the student the opportunity to demonstrate to the committee that s/he is current in the subject matter of the course.

In cases where several courses require revalidation, they will be clustered into meaningful areas (e.g., criminology/ deviance, demography, family studies, quantitative methods, social psychology) for purposes of organization and ease of administration. The student can expect to be questioned for 45-60 minutes over the content of each course. If two demography courses are involved, for example, the examination will last approximately two hours.

As a general rule, separate exam sessions will be set for the various content areas that require revalidation. For example, the student will not be required to revalidate criminology, statistics, and social psychology courses during the same exam session. If a student chooses to have one exam session covering all courses that require revalidation, however, that wish will be honored.

While oral examination will be the most common method of revalidation, students may also demonstrate currency in the area by retaking the course(s) in question, or by submitting copies of recent pertinent publications, or by submitting a description of recent employment that demonstrates mastery of the course content. These alternative methods of revalidation must be evaluated and approved by the ad hoc revalidation committee.

Whichever method is used, revalidation has occurred if at least two-thirds of the ad hoc committee agrees that the student has revalidated the course in question.

APPENDIX A

Degree Progress Checklist: M.A. Program

Requirements for all M.A. Students

1. Undergraduate theory (if necessary)

2. Undergraduate methodology (if necessary)

3. Undergraduate statistics (if necessary)

4. Required courses:

a. SOC 601 - Classical Sociological Theory (not required for Applied Demography).

b. SOC 610 - Statistical Techniques and Applications in Sociology

c. SOC 611 - Intermediate Methodology

d. SOC 612 - Intermediate Statistics

e. SOC 699 - Thesis Research (3 hours minimum, 6 hours maximum)

f. Required courses for major area of concentration

6.  Select major advisor by the end of the second semester.

Plan I ( Thesis Route ) Requirements

1. Formation of thesis committee consisting of major advisor and at least two full-time sociology graduate faculty members.

2. Public oral presentation of thesis proposal. The proposal must be a detailed description, not an abstract, of the research problem and the theoretical/methodological orientation.

3. Complete at least 30 semester hours of graduate course credit. At least 3 of these credits must be Thesis Research (SOC 699); however, not more than 6 hours of SOC 699 may be counted toward the fulfillment of the minimum credit hour requirements.

4. Completed thesis submitted to committee at least two weeks prior to the oral defense.

5. Submission of completed thesis to the Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately four weeks prior to commencement.

6. Application for graduation by deadline specified in the Graduate Catalog .

 

Plan II ( Examination Route ) Requirements (not an option for Applied Demography)

1. SOC 713 - Research Design

2. Complete 33 semester hours of graduate course credit.

3. Comprehensive written examination in sociological theory (2 hours) - during or after the second semester in the program.

4. Comprehensive written examination in quantitative methods (2 hours) - after the second or during the third semester in the program.

5. Comprehensive written examination in major area (4 hours) - during the third or fourth semester in the program.

6. Application for graduation by deadline specified in the Graduate Catalog .

 

These points of degree progress are used by the Graduate Committee in determining eligibility for renewal of contracts and continuation in the program. Those students not entering in the Fall Semester should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies for alternative deadlines.

 

APPENDIX B

Degree Progress Checklist: Ph.D. Program

1. Meet residency requirement as specified in the Graduate Catalog

2. File Tentative Degree Plan prior to the completion of 24 credit hours of graduate course work.

3. Declare major and minor areas by end of the second semester of course work.

4. Select major advisor by end of second semester.

5. Required courses:

a. SOC 601 - Classical Sociological Theory

b. SOC 602 - Contemporary Sociological Theory

c. SOC 610 - Statistical Techniques and Applications in Sociology

d. SOC 611 - Intermediate Methodology

e. SOC 612 - Intermediate Statistics

f. SOC 660 - Teaching Introductory Sociology

g. SOC 713 - Research Design

h. SOC 799 - Dissertation Research (16 hours minimum; 30 hours maximum).

i. Required courses for major and minor areas of concentration

6. Apply to Graduate College for the assignment of a Graduate Faculty Representative at least one month prior to taking major area preliminary examination.

7. Major area preliminary examination should be completed prior to the beginning the fifth semester, and must be completed prior to the beginning of the sixth semester.

8. Complete at least 60 semester hours of graduate course credit beyond the Master's degree. At least 16 of these credits must be Dissertation Research (SOC 799); however, not more than 30 hours of SOC 799 may be counted toward the fulfillment of the minimum credit hour requirements.

9. Choose dissertation committee consisting of major advisor and three additional full-time graduate faculty, two of whom must come from within the department. The Graduate Faculty Representative