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  5. Yearly Meeting Requirement

Yearly Meeting Requirement

All graduate students in the Psychology department are required to meet annually with at least three faculty members, who will be able to gauge and guide the student's research progress, and general career trajectory. At this meeting, graduate students should expect to describe their research program. Earlier meetings (for instance, Year 2) may be more focused on specific data and why the results are important in the context of the field. Subsequent meetings should address the scope of the student's research program.

Before each Data & Progress Update yearly meeting, students must provide the faculty panel with a brief written (2-page) summary of the research progress. The meeting itself should include a formal, well-prepared presentation (including, for example, the use of powerpoint, whiteboards, or handouts) which would last at least 30 minutes in the absence of interruption. In years after the fourth year, it would be reasonable for the presentation to be like a job talk. At the discretion of a grad student's advisor, the presentation may be held as a private meeting with the committee, or as part of a brown bag or other talk (for instance, GTS). Irrespective of format, the grad student should schedule at least 90 minutes for the Q and A. During this meeting, appropriate questions would include those pertaining to research, milestones, extramural funding, publication plan, and teaching and related experiences. Notes from the meeting will be incorporated in the student's annual spring evaluation, to provide a record of trajectory and progress throughout the graduate career.

First Year

In the first year, the student's first year meeting (with the advisor(s) and one additional faculty member) and subsequent presentation at Little APS satisfies the meeting requirement. The first year meeting will take place during winter quarter. The First Year Paper Proposal DocuSign form should be signed by both faculty members present. For more information on these first year requirements, see this page.

Second Year

In the second year, the student must meet with his or her advisor(s) and two other faculty members to discuss research progress. This meeting must involve a presentation of at least 30 minutes that includes the data that has been collected in the past year and a discussion of the general research trajectory, and a written summary of research that year of approximately two pages. The student should schedule at least 90 minutes for the presentation, which includes time for the faculty to ask questions and discuss ideas with the student alone. Thus, while some groups of faculty may allow a brown bag presentation or Graduate Talk Series presentation to suffice for the presentation component, the closed meeting section would still need to subsequently occur with only the student and the three (or more) faculty present. This should occur no later than March 31st. One of the three faculty present must be the student's advisor. Emeritus faculty, adjunct faculty, and out-of-department faculty are permitted to serve on a faculty panel. Faculty members must sign off on the Data & Progress Update DocuSign form.  This meeting is in addition to the qualifying proposal and exam or paper defense.

Third Year

In the third year a graduate student must conduct a data and progress update, for the purpose of assessing the student's research progress. As in the second year, this meeting must involve a presentation of at least 30 minutes that includes the data that has been collected in the past year and a discussion of the general research trajectory, and a written summary of research that year of approximately two pages. The student should schedule at least 90 minutes for the presentation, which includes time for the faculty to ask questions and discuss ideas with the student alone. Thus, while some groups of faculty may allow a brown bag presentation or Graduate Talk Series presentation to suffice for the presentation component, the closed meeting section would still need to subsequently occur with only the student and the three (or more) faculty present. This meeting must occur by May 1 of the third year. Faculty members must sign off on the Data & Progress Update DocuSign form. Emeritus faculty, adjunct faculty, and out-of-department faculty are permitted to serve on a faculty panel. If a student were to propose his or her dissertation in the third year, no additional yearly meeting would be required.

Fourth Year

In the fourth year, the dissertation proposal satisfies the yearly meeting requirement. Should the dissertation have been proposed in the third year, a yearly meeting would be required by May 1 of the fourth year.

After Fourth Year

In years after the fourth year, a yearly meeting is required with at least three faculty members from the student's dissertation committee by May 1 of the given year. Faculty members must sign off on the Data & Progress Update DocuSign form. 

*Dissertation Defense does NOT satisfy the yearly meeting requirement. Even if you are planning to defend in the same quarter as the yearly meeting deadline, you are still required to complete this requirement.