A policy implemented this year has been the first step in amending the graduate school problem of 'post-enrollment,' whereby students who have gone past the departmental time limit for completing their dissertation work are demoted to what has been described as a second-class citizenship, losing many of the privileges enjoyed by other grad students.
An average grad student at the University takes about six to seven years to finish his dissertation, but funding and other benefits from most departments expire after only five years — the recommended time from most departments for completion of the dissertation.
Now, grad students who do not finish their dissertation in the recommended amount of time can claim a status of Degree Candidacy Continued and have select benefits continued for another year.
The new benefits offered to these students — most of whom are in their sixth year — include a University ID card, health care coverage, access to athletic facilities at staff rates, parking rights and continued access to the University's email service and group discussion boards.
Prior to the change, the great majority of grad students who had not finished dissertations in the allotted time period were given the classification "Enrollment Terminated/Degree Candidacy Continued." These students were cut off from the University in nearly every respect except for library privileges.
"It is appropriate to understand that the new statute is a good step forward, but it is not the last step," said Graduate School Dean William Russel. "This resulted from grad students alerting the administration to a problem and then quick decisive measures taken by the president and provost's office."
Long a point of contention, the ETDCC status was addressed firmly by the Graduate Student Government in a report issued in March. President Tilghman and the Provost's office responded to the heightened concerns by May.
Tilghman appointed a committee headed by Provost Amy Gutmann to address the concerns raised by the GSG. They agreed to try to improve the system while respecting departments' existing dissertation time limits.
Grad students recognize the improvements in the benefits packages but still want more progressive measures.
"DCC status is not a huge change from the status quo," Russel said. "However, it now makes it easier for grad students to acquire benefits. It's also now easier for departments to keep them in their records and monitor their progress."
Some grad students feel that the administration's position — that departmental time limits cannot be compromised — is a poor policy.
They also do not follow the logic that extending the benefits will lengthen the average dissertation completion time. The main incentive to finish independent work is to "just get on with their lives," not to leech off the University's benefit system, one graduate student said.
Along with the new DCC status, the administration — at the request of Tilghman's commission — is looking into ways of making "progress towards a degree as expeditious as possible," Russel said.
Also, the administration is considering requiring all departments to offer advising before and after selection of a dissertation topic.
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