Policies Effective May 17, 2002
M.A. Faculty Advisers
Ph.D. Faculty Advisers
Dissertator Status
Entrance into the Ph.D. Program
Ph.D. Preliminary Examination
Leave of Absence
Satisfactory Progress
Transfer of Credit from another University
Directed Study and Independent Study Credits
Courses taken in another department to count toward Eligible Credits

1. Dissertation projects, MA abstracts, and Ph.D. abstracts will be posted on the website.
2. Dissertation proposals and prelim exam questions will be kept on file in the department.
3. MA and Ph.D. abstracts will be sent to LCA faculty prior to a defense.
4. MA and Ph.D. defenses will be open to the public for observation.
5. Accepted Ph.D. proposals will be presented to the faculty.
6. The Ph.D. examining committee chair will report on the consensus of the examining committee to the faculty.

The Chair of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia serves as adviser for administrative matters for all student entering the M.A. program until students identify their adviser. As early as possible, graduate students are encouraged to:

a) Identify a Department faculty member who is willing to be their adviser.

b) File an Adviser/Additional Language Form with the Graduate Coordinator.

c) File a new Adviser/Additional Language Form if any changes occur in who the adviser is or a new program is started.

A dissertator is a student who has completed all requirements for a Ph.D. degree except for the dissertation. All requirements must be met before the first day of classes to be a dissertator for any given semester. Dissertator fee status will be discontinued if an individual is pursuing another graduate degree and regular fees will be assessed.

Once students achieve dissertator status they are expected to maintain continuous registration until the completion of the doctoral degree. A dissertator should register each Fall and Spring semester for three graduate-level credits (300-level or above) to maintain continuous registration. This is usually accomplished by receiving authorization to register for 3 credits in LCA 990 Research and Thesis. Courses may not be taken pass-fail. If continuous registration is not maintained, as a dissertator, a degree completion fee will be assessed.

The Ph.D. dissertation must be the student's original work. Publication of the doctoral dissertation is required. The university uses University Microfilms, Inc. (UMI), Ann Arbor, Michigan, to publish the dissertation on microfilm and to publish an abstract of the dissertation in Dissertation Abstracts, a monthly publication. The student must pay the cost of microfilming the dissertation and publishing the abstract. Candidates must submit the defense copy no less than 30 days prior to the date of the defense.

All Ph.D. dissertations are reviewed in the Graduate School Ph.D. Degree Office before being deposited in the Memorial Library. Doctoral students have five years from the date of passing the preliminary examination to take the final oral examination and deposit the dissertation. Please refer to the following web publications for more information:

http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/academicservices/ddd.html
(The 3-D's: Deadlines, Defending, Depositing Your Doctoral Dissertation)

http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/academicservices/pguide.html
(A Guide to Preparing Your Doctoral Dissertation).

Students seeking a college/university position should register with the Educational Placement & Career Services (EPCS).

Students may be granted a leave of absence for no more than one year. Students who do not register for more than one year will be considered inactive. Students should follow the following process when requesting a leave of absence.

a) Write a letter requesting a leave of absence that includes the reason and time for the leave.

b) Obtain a leave of absence form from the Graduate Coordinator.

c) Get endorsement from the adviser.

d) Give letter to the Graduate Coordinator of LCA. The Academic Programs Committee decides on all the requests.

e) Notify the Office of Graduate Admissions, room 217 Bascom Hall, of the semester of reentry.

f) Return leave of absence form to Graduate Coordinator.

Before a student takes any part of the Ph.D. preliminary examination, with the exception of the language examinations, in any of the three Ph.D. options in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia the following must be completed:

a) The major requirements, except the dissertation, must be fulfilled.

b) The additional language requirements, if any, must be fulfilled and the Adviser/Additional Language Form must be on file with the Graduate Coordinator.

c) The Ph.D. minor requirements must be completed and the Ph.D. Minor Agreement Form must be filed with the Graduate Coordinator.

d) A minimum of 32 graduate-level (300-level or above) credits, must be completed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

e) All incompletes and progress grades (other than research and thesis) must be cleared.

Once the above requirements have been fulfilled, The Graduate Coordinator can request that the Graduate School issue a preliminary examination warrant authorizing the Department to administer the preliminary examination.

The preliminary examination consists of three parts:

Part One - A competency-based examination in the candidate's major language (3 hours). The form of the examination will be determined by the faculty member administering the examination.

Part Two - A broad-based written comprehensive examination (a two-day take-home examination) designed by the student's Ph.D. adviser and two other faculty members (at least one of whom must be a member of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia) to evaluate the student's knowledge of the subject matter and relevant methodologies of the student's concentration.

Part Three - A 2-hour presentation and defense of the student's dissertation proposal to be evaluated by the student's Ph.D. adviser and two other faculty members (at least one of whom must be a member of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia). The dissertation proposal (no more than 20 pages long) must include a description of the topic to be studied, an identification of the anticipated original contribution to be made by the dissertation, a description of the methodology to be used, and a bibliography reflecting an awareness of research relevant to the topic being studied.

The student must maintain an over-all GPA of at least a 3.0 in graduate courses (300 level or higher) completed at the UW-Madison, for credit toward the graduate degree. If in any semester the student's GPA falls below 3.0, the student shall have the next term in which he or she is enrolled to raise the average to the minimum satisfactory level before progress will be considered unsatisfactory.

If a student is unable to complete course work within the normal time, an instructor may enter a temporary grade of I for incomplete. All incompletes must be resolved by the end of the next semester (excluding the summer session).

A student with a GPA of less than 3.0 for 2 consecutive semesters or a student with an incomplete not cleared before the end of the following semester will be placed on probation and a hold will be placed on their registration. Students on probation for two consecutive semesters may be dropped from the program. The Academic Programs Committee will inform the student in advance of its decision so that the student may submit any material in his/her favor.

A request may be made, to the Academic Programs Committee, to allow the transfer of courses taken during graduate study at another university that are equivalent to courses numbered 300 or higher in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia. Credits transferred will not appear on a UW-Madison transcript Applicants should submit their request early and include the following:

a) An official transcript.

b) A course syllabus or its equivalent.

c) A title and description of the UW-Madison equivalent.

The Graduate School requires that M.A. students must take 16 credits and Ph.D. students must take 32 credits at the UW-Madison at a 300 level or higher in order for the degree to be considered a UW-Madison degree.

"Directed Study" and "Independent Study" courses are not accepted toward the fulfillment of the 24 credits unless approved in writing in advance by the Academic Programs Committee. The request must be made in the previous semester before the intended study.

Only courses with 25% or more Languages and Cultures of Asia content can be requested. Advance approval by the APC is also required. See the graduate coordinator for information.

LCA Graduate Coordinator

608-262-3012
langasia@facstaff.wisc.edu