Dept. of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University

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• Funding
• Research and Academics
• Teaching
• Evaluations and Progress
• Grievance Policy

The graduate programs in Northwestern’s Department of Psychology aim to train scholars and researchers who will become future leaders of scientific psychology. We offer PhD programs in Brain, Behavior, & Cognition (BBC); Clinical; Cognitive; Personality; and Social Psychology. Requirements differ across programs, but all students take both general courses and courses more focused on their specific areas of interest. All engage in a series of research projects, and all assist with undergraduate teaching.

This document focuses on policies and procedures that apply to five important issues in graduate school:  (1) Funding, (2) Research and Academics, (3) Teaching, (4) Evaluations and Progress, and (5) the Department’s Grievance Policy for students.

Funding

Beginning for the academic year of 2005-06, Northwestern University guarantees full funding (tuition + stipend) to all Ph.D. students in good academic standing through their first five academic years (9 months) and first four summers (3 months) in the program. During the first five years, funding can come from many different sources – e.g., University Fellowships (UFs), Graduate Assistantships (GAs, formerly known as “teaching assistantships”), faculty grants, and other outside sources (e.g., NSF awards).  By guaranteeing five academic years of support (and full support for four summers), the Department does not specify what the source of that support will be.  For example, while some students may be funded primarily on GAships, others may work as research assistants on faculty grants or may be primarily funded through their own NSF awards.

Students are required to apply for funding from university-sponsored awards or other sources (e.g., NSF).  To support that activity, the Department and the graduate programs will provide resources, guidance, and advice regarding when and how to apply for external funding.  Students are also strongly urged to consult the Graduate School’s Office of Fellowships for further assistance.  Students who receive outside funding from either university-sponsored or other sources and students who receive funding via faculty grants as Research Assistants are not required to perform any teaching assistant duties during the period of the award.  Receiving outside funding is considered a strong honor and represents an important achievement in graduate school.  There are also some university-sponsored awards that are relevant for students in their sixth year, including the prestigious Presidential Fellowship (PF) and the Weinberg Dean's Dissertation Fellowships.  Information on these awards can be obtained from Northwestern University Graduate School website and/or from the Director of Graduate Studies.   

Research and Academics

Students are expected to make timely and satisfactory progress regarding the research requirements set forth by their respective programs.  Reciprocally, faculty are expected to provide students with prompt and reasonable feedback on their research and academic progress, including responding in a timely and constructive fashion to student papers and projects and making time to meet regularly with their advisees.  The five programs or areas in the Psychology Department – BBC, Clinical, Cognitive, Personality, and Social – have their own specific rules and regulations regarding first-year projects, qualifying procedures, and so on.  Students are also expected to maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in their classes.  The minimum course requirement for Ph.D. set by the Graduate School is 9 quarters of full-time registration, with a minimum of 3 courses per quarter.  After the third year, then, students are not required to take regular courses.  However, in keeping with a new Graduate School policy established in 2006, students beyond the third year may now register for up to four courses a year with appropriate program approval.  They may also wish merely to sit in on a course (receiving no course credit) with the permission of the instructor. 

Teaching

Students funded on either University Fellowships (UFs) or Graduate Assistantships (GAs) are required to assist in the teaching of undergraduate courses in the Department.  But students who are funded on faculty grants, NSFs, or certain other outside awards may not be required to serve as a teaching assistant during the period of that support.  Nonetheless, all students must do a minimum amount of teaching during their graduate-school career, as described below. 

Teaching assistant responsibilities may include attending classes, holding office hours, constructing and administering exams, grading exams and papers, providing guest lectures, and leading discussion sections. For any given quarter, the amount of teaching should average between 12 and 15 hours of work per week, with a maximum of 20 hours for any given week.  These figures include time spent attending the class. 

Students typically serve as teaching assistants 2 quarters in years 1-4 and 1 quarter in year 5.  [The first two years are different for Clinical students: they typically TA 3 quarters in their first year and 1 in their second year.)  However, these guidelines represent typical loads, and the Department reserves the right to adjust these values to meet the teaching demands it faces at any given time.

Faculty are expected to provide teaching assistants with specific information regarding their duties and responsibilities at the beginning of the course.  Faculty are expected to make reasonable demands for teaching assistants and to treat teaching assistants in a collegial and professional manner.

Regardless of a student’s funding sources, the Department requires that all students get a minimum amount of teaching experience during their graduate-school career.  To that effect, each student is required (1) to serve as a teaching assistant for at least two courses, (2) to lead a class for 30 minutes or more at least twice, and (3) to receive at least two evaluations of teaching by either the Faculty member who is leading the course or through the Searle Center at Northwestern during his or her graduate-school career.

Faculty are also required to evaluate the performance of the teaching assistants assigned to them every quarter by completing the Department's Teaching Assistant Evaluation Form.  These completed forms should be returned ot the Department main office, where they will be placed in the student's file.

 

Evaluations and Progress

All students should receive written evaluations from their respective programs on an annual basis.  Ideally, these evaluations should be completed at the end of the spring quarter.  To prepare the evaluations, faculty in a given area should meet to discuss each student’s progress in classes, research, teaching, and other professional responsibilities.  If any special remediation efforts are prescribed for the student, this information should appear in the evaluation letter.   These written evaluations become part of the student’s file. Students should meet with their advisers and/or area heads to discuss these reviews.

If a student does not make satisfactory progress toward the completion of program requirements, he or she may be terminated from the program.  Each of the five programs in the Psychology Department has somewhat different requirements, so progress is partly a function of factors unique to each program. But, the Graduate School has set two relatively firm deadlines. First, students must be admitted to candidacy prior to the beginning of their 4th year.  Admission to candidacy is reached by passing a comprehensive qualifying examination as administered by your particular program. Second, students must have a prospectus (dissertation proposal) approved by their committee no later than the beginning of the fifth year.  In addition to these deadlines, students are expected to do high-quality work in the classroom, to perform their teaching-assistant responsibilities in an acceptable manner, and to involve themselves productively in a research program that results in the completion of high-quality, program-determined research papers and the dissertation.  If a program determines that a student is not making satisfactory progress in any of these areas, it is incumbent upon the Program Head and/or the student’s advisor to communicate this concern to the student in writing.  The letter from the program should spell out exactly what the problems are, should suggest ways to solve the problems, and should provide a clear and reasonable timetable with deadlines.  After the student has received the letter outlining the problems and timetable, the Program Head and/or advisor should monitor carefully the student’s subsequent work and provide feedback and assistance to help the student get back on track and achieve the goal of satisfactory progress.  If the student, however, is still unable to address adequately the problems identified in the program letter within the time frame specified in the letter, he/she will no longer be eligible for fellowship funding and, the Program Head and the Director of Graduate Studies may take action to terminate the student from the program.  Furthermore, all degree requirements must be met within 9 years of initial registration in the doctoral program.

 

Grievance Policy

Graduate students sometimes experience important disagreements and problems regarding program policies and/or their professional relationships with faculty in the Psychology Department.  Should the student wish to seek assistance and/or state a grievance regarding such a problem, the student should consult first with his or her academic advisor.  If the issue involves the advisor him- or herself, however, the student should seek assistance at the next level up – the Program (Division) Head.  Following that, the student may wish to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in the Department.  Next, the student may wish to consult the Departmental Chair.  Finally, the student may wish to talk with a higher administrator in the Graduate School.  At the present time, the Associate Dean of Student Services in the Graduate School fills this role. 

The grievance policy, therefore, sets up a hierarchy of appeals – from advisor, to Division Head, to DGS, to Department Chairperson, to Graduate School Associate Dean.  The student is encouraged to take the grievance first to the lowest level of the hierarchy and then, if necessary, move up from one level to the next.  At the same time, students should know that one of the main responsibilities of the DGS is to monitor the progress and work to assure the well-being of all graduate students in the Department, across all Programs/Divisions.  Therefore, students may, in some cases, wish to skip over the first two levels and appeal immediately to the DGS if they feel that discussing the problem with faculty in their Division (e.g., advisor, Program Head) is too awkward or threatening.

Finally, it is the policy of Northwestern University that no male or female member of the Northwestern community may sexually harass any other member of the community.  Graduate students who wish to learn more about the university’s policy or who feel that they may have been sexually harassed should contact the University Sexual Harassment Prevention Office (http://www.northwestern.edu/sexual-harassment/help/index.html).  Please note, further, that if a student discusses an incident of possible sexual harassment with a faculty member, the faculty member is obligated to report the matter to the University Sexual Harassment Prevention Office.