This handbook is designed to furnish graduate students with the key information needed to understand their opportunities and obligations whilst at McGill. The Department is governed in vital bureaucratic matters (such as residency, additional session, level of performance, leave of absence, withdrawal, reinstatement, plagiarism and cheating) by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS), and it can be useful to consult the course calendar at http://coursecalendar.mcgill.ca/gradgi200910/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm when you need information on anything not contained here. Help and advice is also available from the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC), especially on bureaucratic matters, and from the Graduate Program Director (GPD), especially on academic matters. Their contact information can be found at http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/contactus/.
A) Programs
There are two programs of graduate study in the department, one at the master’s level, the other for doctoral work. Both involve serious training in theory, research design and in quantitative and qualitative methods. The basic requirements for each program are as follows:
1. Master's Programs
All master’s students must take at least four (4) required courses: Soci 652, 540, 580 and 504 in addition to elective courses. Further bibliographic methods courses and thesis courses or research paper courses are also required for the full complement of the degree (see http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/ma/). Students may gain the degree by a non-thesis or a thesis route. The former route generally requires seven (7) courses, including both elective and required courses, and a research paper; it can normally be completed within a single calendar year. The latter route generally requires five (5) courses, including both elective and required courses, and a thesis. This does not make the acquisition of a degree any easier. To the contrary, thesis work often extends study at the master’s level to a full two (2) years. Finally, it is important to know that there is a wide variety of options at the M.A. level, sometimes with slightly different requirements. These can be consulted at http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/ma/.
2. Doctoral Programs
The doctoral program is designed for students who have completed a Master’s degree in Sociology. Such students enter the program at the PhD2 level. They are required to take six (6) courses: Soci 505 (Quantitative Methods 2) and five (5) electives. Further bibliographic methods courses are also required for the full complement of the degree as well as the language requirement, two (2) area exams, and thesis proposal (see http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/phd/). Students who have taken the equivalent of Soci 505 already will be required to take another elective course in its stead. Students who have not taken one (1) or more of the courses required during the MA at McGill (Soci 652, 540, 580 and 504 or their equivalents) will be required to take those courses in addition to the regular six (6) PhD-level courses. In some exceptional cases, students with a BA may only be considered for admission directly into the PhD program as a way of ‘fast-tracking’ them. In such cases they are admitted to the PhD1 level, which means that they take one (1) additional year of courses in which they are expected to take the required MA level courses (Soci 652, 540, 580 and 504) and two (2) electives for a total of six (6) courses. Students with a Master’s degree in a field other than sociology may also be considered for admission at the PhD1 level.
The PhD program offers one specialization option in gender. For details please consult http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/phd/. This concentration is an interdisciplinary program for students who meet the requirements in Sociology and who wish to earn six (6) credits of approved coursework focusing on gender and women’s studies, and in issues in feminist research and methods. The Thesis or set of articles must relate to issues of gender and/or women’s studies.
B) Funding
At McGill University, we are committed to helping you finance your education. The Sociology Department strives to offer all graduate students competitive funding to the extent that our resources permit. Our funding, coupled with Montreal’s low cost of living, makes graduate studies at McGill a wise educational investment.
To the extent possible, PhD students will be offered four (4) or five (5) (for PhD1 entrants) years of funding consisting of a combination of fellowships, teaching assistantships and research assistantships. MA students are offered one (1) year of funding at a slightly lower level. All graduate students are required to apply for all external funding for which they are eligible and the Department actively helps students to find such funding opportunities, but it remains the student’s prerogative to apply for this funding. In the interest of the most equitable distribution of our limited resources, those who receive external funding may only be allowed to keep a part of their internal departmental funding.
1. Tuition Fees
If students are unable to pay their tuition fees in one (1) lump sum, they can pay it in instalments by filling out the tuition deduction form at http://www.mcgill.ca/files/gps-old/f-tuition-payroll-deduction.pdf and returning it to the GPC.
2. Regular Financial Payments
The Department starts to pay out Teaching Assistantship monies by the middle of September. Once your appointment has been processed, we will provide you with a printout of how much you can expect to receive and on what dates. In order to be paid on time, be sure to complete and return all of the documents mentioned in the letter of offer and ensure that your banking information is on MINERVA. It should be inserted in the “Bank account used for student-initiated payments” section under Direct Deposit Bank Account menu on Minerva in order to receive payments as a direct deposit. If bank information for payroll-initiated payments is the same as for student-initiated payments then simply press “Copy to student bank information” button and submit change. If your banking information has not been added, you will not receive payment of any kind from the university including Teaching and Research Assistantships as well as various awards allocated to you as part of your funding package.
3. Research Assistantships
Payments cannot be made until the time at which the work is undertaken. Some students will do the work early on, others at a later date. The Research Assistantship is not under the Department’s control, but is given out by individual professors, albeit with departmental knowledge. A student can hold a Research Assistantship with any professor who has work available. Students must take the initiative to contact professors to find available funded research projects.
4. Financial Offer
Financial guarantees made by the Department are always honoured, but they are baseline guarantees. If a student’s earnings are greater than or equal to the funding guaranteed in a given year, then the Department’s financial obligations will be considered as having been met.
5. Award Listing
Visit http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/fellowships/ for a listing of all awards for Canadian and international students. Applications for some fellowships, such as the “Programme de bourses d’excellence pour étudiants étrangers” must be made before arrival at McGill.
6. Quebec Health Card
Incoming out of province students are encouraged to change their health card to a Quebec health care card by the end of September in their first year, so as to make them eligible for FQRSC awards (given out by the Quebec government) in their second year at McGill. Information about these awards can be found at http://www.fqrsc.gouv.qc.ca/fr/accueil.php.
C. REGULATIONS
1. Reading and Research
Students are permitted to take one (1) reading and research course in the Department which would count as one of the elective courses required for the PhD Program. Reading courses provide a chance for individuals to study a topic of particular interest in greater detail in an independent way. These courses are organized between the student and a professor on an individual basis. Students must complete the Reading and Research form available at http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/forms/ detailing the nature of the work involved and the method of evaluation. The form is to be signed by the professor and returned to the GPC.
2. Courses Outside the Department
Students are also permitted to take one (1) elective course in a related discipline outside the Sociology Department. A copy of the course outline must be submitted to the Chair of the Graduate Committee to confirm that the course is equivalent to a graduate level course in our Department. If students would like to take more than one (1) elective course outside the Department, additional approval is required from the GPD.
3. Area Exams
i) Scheduling/Registration for Area Exams
Students are required to be examined in two (2) substantive areas. The comprehensive exams in Sociology provide an opportunity for students to read comprehensively in areas of sociological interest, after which they are required to write an exam that proves that they know enough about the area to teach it in the future. Preparation necessary to pass these exams is intensive, and it usually takes students between two (2) and three (3) months to read and prepare for each exam. Students register for the following two (2) area exam courses: SOCI 700 Ph.D. Area Examination 1 and SOCI 701 Ph.D. Area Examination 2 in the term that they expect to write the exam. Should students need (with permission) to delay a scheduled exam, the grade for the course will show as an 'HH' (to be continued) and the exam must be taken at the next earliest convenience. Both exams should be completed by September 30th of the PhD4 year.
ii) Examination Areas
For each area in which the Department offers an exam, there is a committee of at least three (3) Faculty members responsible for administering the exam (see http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/phd/). One responsibility of the chair of each committee is that of ensuring that the core reading list, comprised of twenty (20) books and twenty (20) articles (or some equivalent to this), is up-to-date. A second responsibility is to work closely with the student so as to create a more specialized reading list, comprised of a further twenty (20) books and twenty (20) articles (or some equivalent to this), so as to ensure coherence and coverage. The total reading list for each comprehensive exam is thus forty (40) books and forty (40) articles (or their equivalents). Finally, the chair of the committee will set up the questions and format of the exam, and will organize with the other two (2) comprehensive exam readers. Graduate students are required to give written notice to the Faculty member responsible for the area thirty (30) days prior to the date of the examination. To obtain a copy of the reading list and/or previous exams, please e-mail the chair of the committee.
iii) Area Examination Format
The format of examinations will be three-day open book examinations. Students are sent the exam via e-mail at the agreed upon day/time and are to return the responses 72 hours later at the same time of day. Three (3) answers are required, at least one (1) of which must be from the core reading list. The exams may be written in either French or English. An additional day to answer the questions is given to students whose mother tongue is neither French nor English and to students whose first language is French, but who choose to write the exam in English. There will be no editing privileges for non-French or non-English students.
iv) Results of Area Examinations
A student can fail, pass, or pass with distinction. The results of the exams appear on the student's transcript following the area exam course(s). Passing an examination at the PhD level will require that a student display more than a capacity to repeat the readings listed for the area. The student is required to display an intelligent and critical perspective on an area. If the examining committee deems it necessary, the student may be required to take a supplemental oral examination in the same area. If an examination is failed, the student must retake the exam at a date convenient to the student and the examining committee.
4. Thesis Proposal
It is the responsibility of each student to find a Faculty member willing to serve as his or her advisor for the thesis. The first step is to seek out Faculty members and informally discuss possible topics for the thesis. The student, however, is not bound by the outcome of any exploratory meetings. Ultimately, this will lead to subsequent meetings with one Faculty member who will become the supervisor. Once a supervisor is chosen, the student presents the thesis supervisor with ideas and a first draft of a dissertation research proposal. While there is no absolutely uniform standard for the proposal, students are advised to state their problem clearly, to review the relevant literature so as to justify the significance of the proposed research, to generate specific hypotheses, to relate these to appropriate data and methods, and to give some indication of the likely structure of the thesis and of the time required to complete it.
Two other Faculty members must be found to form a “PhD Dissertation Committee”. The committee members are normally all within the Sociology Department at McGill, but approval for members from other departments and universities may be obtained from the Graduate Committee. The formation of a committee is always required, but the extent and type of involvement of each of the committee members will be determined on an individual basis. Generally, the dissertation committee is charged with reading and commenting on a student’s proposal (and later on subsequent thesis drafts and making sure the thesis is of sufficient quality to recommend submission for oral defense).
The proposal is defended orally to the PhD Dissertation Committee. The student must register for SOCI 702 Ph.D. Proposal Approval during the term that the proposal is defended. When approved, the PhD Dissertation Committee Form is completed (http://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/grad/forms/) and returned to the GPC and a grade of Pass is submitted. The PhD dissertation proposal should be approved no later than the beginning of the third year in the program (regardless of being admitted into PhD 1 or PhD 2).