Ph.D. Resources

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

TA information, including the Faculty TA Request Form and  Mandatory Student Support Form, can be found here.

GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS

GSR information, including GSR request forms, can be found here.

MEDICAL AND ACADEMIC LEAVES

In rare instances, graduate students may need to take a leave of absence (LOA) for personal and/or health reasons. If this occurs, please review the LOA guidelines and contact the appropriate department graduate student services staff member for further details.

IRB APPROVAL

The vast majority of research projects conducted in the School of Social Ecology requires IRB approval. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigaor (lead researcher) to obtain such approval.

ADVANCEMENT

Review campus-wide filing deadlines and check with your department for internal deadlines, as several signatures are needed prior to filing paperwork.

  • Advancement to Candidacy
    • Doctoral students must advance to candidacy within normative time.  For Social Ecology doctoral students, advancement typically occurs no later than the fourth year of study. 
    • The doctoral advancement committee is comprised of five voting members of the University Academic Senate. A majority of the committee, but not necessarily all, shall be affiliated with the program. 
      • The Outside Member serves as the fifth committee member, and must have no affiliation with the candidate's program.  However, the Outside Member must be a voting member of the University Academic Senate. 
        • Faculty members from outside of the University of California, Irvine, require an exception memo (including a copy of the faculty member's CV).  Contact your department graduate affairs staff person for additional information. 
    • Advancement to candidacy for our doctoral programs require the following steps:
      1. At least three weeks prior to the advancement meeting, complete the Social Ecology Doctoral Advancement Committee Form, and submit it to the Director of Graduate Student Services for approval.
      2. Schedule advancement meeting and defend prospectus.
      3. Following the advancement meeting, initiate the PhD Form I, via DocuSign.  Questions regarding the DocuSigbn process should be directed to the program Graduate Coordinator. 
      4. Once the PhD Form I is completed and submitted online, DocuSign will eletronically send advancement documents to committee members, and the Associate Dean, for approval.
        • Three of the five advancement committee members will continue to work with the student by serving on the doctoral dissertation committee.
          • Students need to identify such individuals by placing an asterisk next to the committee member's name. 
      5. After meeting, pay the $90 Advancement to Candidacy Fee online.
      6. If approved by UCI's Graduate Dean, a copy of the approved advancement forms will be sent to all signers.

FINAL DEGREE INSTRUCTIONS

Review campus-wide filing deadlines and check with your department for internal deadlines, as several signatures are needed prior to filing paperwork.

  • Final Degree (Doctoral Dissertation)
    • Doctoral students must complete their degree within normative time.  Social Ecology doctoral students typically file their doctoral dissertations by the end of the sixth year of study. 
    • The doctoral dissertation committee is comprised of three voting members of the University Academic Senate.  A majority of the committee, but not necessarily all, shall be affiliated with the program. 
    • Doctoral dissertation filing requires the following steps:
      1. Following the final defense, initiate the PhD Form II - Signature Page/Report on Final Examination for the Ph.D. Degree form, via DocuSign.
        • The PhD Form II available with DocuSign includes the PhD Dissertation Submission Checklist - which outlines all other required materials such as the Survey of Earned Doctorates, UCI's PhD Exit Survey, and confirmation of the dissertation text being succesfully submitted to UCI Libraries.
      2. Once the PhD Form II is completed and submitted online, DocuSign will eletronically send advancement documents to committee members, and the Associate Dean, for approval.