September 23, 2005

Department Chairs and Directors of Graduate Studies PhD Programs in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Dear Colleagues:

We in the Graduate School are delighted to be welcoming the incoming class of PhD students arriving in Cambridge this month. Because of the hard work of many colleagues, the 2005 entering cohort will enjoy five years of funding for doctoral studies. In addition to grants and fellowships covering the first four years, Harvard now promises a dissertation completion grant to qualified PhD candidates in social sciences and humanities programs in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.  As a result of this new commitment, our graduate programs have become much more competitive with other leading universities.  

Enclosed are guidelines that will govern the awarding of dissertation completion fellowships to students entering in 2005 and beyond.  In their admissions packets last spring, newly admitted PhD students received notices of support indicating that dissertation support would “normally” be available in the fifth or sixth year of study.  A number of colleagues contacted me to express concern.  Some wanted to be sure that students could complete dissertations as early as year G-4, and others pointed out that some students might appropriately take a little longer to finish dissertations.  Because a “one-size-fits-all” approach is clearly not tenable, we at GSAS have made adjustments in the course of spelling out the detailed rules that will govern the newly guaranteed dissertation grants.

For this fall’s entering cohort and beyond, dissertation completion fellowships will be available as early as year G-4 and as late as year G-7.  Normal timing will vary, depending on program requirements and the demands of individual dissertation projects.  As they are now, certain students, especially in the social sciences, will be ready to finish their dissertations as early as year G-4, while students who learn multiple languages or do extensive fieldwork will often complete their writing in years G-6 or G-7.  Yet in each of our programs, we can commit ourselves to setting realistic expectations and providing the mentoring necessary to ensure that our students can complete doctoral work within seven years.     

In the future as in the past, years of graduate study will be counted in ways that do not include years spent on parental or maternity leave or time lost due to officially documented health problems. What is more, in well-documented, truly extraordinary circumstances, dissertation completion grants may be available in year G-8 to small numbers of students in the 2005 entering cohort and beyond. Nevertheless, it is important that all faculty and graduate students in the humanities and social sciences plan for students entering from now on to have dissertations completed, or very nearly completed, within seven years.  Occasionally, a student may use a completion grant to finish the bulk of his or her dissertation in one year, and then formally file for the PhD while entering the job market the following year.  This will be possible in the future as it is now.

Even today – in a period when five-year funding has not been guaranteed to advanced graduate students – virtually all FAS humanities and social sciences programs aim for their students to finish within seven years, and the median time to the formal awarding of the PhD is within this time frame for most programs.  In the future, with a clear horizon of support in place, all students and advisors should be able to start dissertation projects in time to allow writers to qualify for completion grants in year G-7 or earlier.   

Raising the resources necessary to deliver universal completion grants in the future is one of my top priorities – and I am pleased to report that the GSAS is working with donors and Harvard centers to provide completion grants for our current advanced students as well.  As all of us involved in doctoral training at Harvard seek to raise much-needed resources, our case becomes much stronger if we can clearly show that enhanced support facilitates timely completion. This is a critical moment to dedicate ourselves to ensuring that all graduate students entering this year and after move smoothly through their studies.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions.  As this year’s entering cohort moves forward, we will have a number of years to fine-tune the policies outlined here.  Faculty committees will have opportunities to discuss issues of concern. The Graduate School also stands ready to work with you and your colleagues to make sure that expectations and support in the early years of graduate study enable all of our students to launch their dissertations in a timely way.  

Sincerely yours,

Theda Skocpol  

Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology   
Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

cc: Department Administrators          
Coordinators of Graduate Studies