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III. Evaluation and Financial Assistance

Acceptance by the American Civilization Program and the Graduate School for advanced study at Brown implies that the student has credentials, merit, and potential to pursue graduate work. Given this assumption, it is the Department's obligation to provide guidance and criticism for the student and to help the student realize this potential. At the same time, by enrolling for graduate study in American Civilization, the student acknowledges the Faculty's right and competence to evaluate and if necessary to recommend termination of study.

A. Presentation of Information to Students

The Chair and Graduate Advisor continually will monitor a student's academic performance throughout the period of graduate study and may make appropriate recommendations to the Graduate Council at any time. There are, however, several points at which formal considerations and decisions are made and when information is presented to students.

  1. At the beginning of the first semester, the Chair, and the Graduate Advisor will meet individually with each incoming student to discuss requirements, to outline the student's academic program for the first year, and to answer any questions the student might have. At this meeting, special attention will be paid to course selection and to clarifying the timing and procedures for evaluations and financial aid decisions.
  2. After the end of the first semester, the Graduate Advisor, acting on behalf of the Faculty:
    1. will send a letter to each first year student outlining strengths, weaknesses, and general academic performance that the student has displayed during that semester. The bases for this letter will consist of the Graduate Advisor's assessment of evaluations.
      This letter will include:
      1. notification of whether or not the student is being recommended for financial assistance for the following year;
      2. a warning, if necessary, that the student is in serious academic difficulty and must improve markedly in the second semester in order to remain;
      3. a recommendation, if necessary, that the student arrange special consultative meetings with an instructor or instructors to discuss particular problems;
    2. will meet individually with each first year student should they so request to discuss the general evaluation expressed in the above letter. At this meeting, the student may respond to any criticisms. This meeting also could enable students to receive further guidance in the direction and progress of their program.
  3. At the end of the student's second semester, the Graduate Advisor again will collect faculty evaluations and assess each student's progress and performance. Students will be notified if:
    1. permission is given to continue preparation for the preliminary examination;
    2. permission is given to receive the M.A. degree only and termination of further work toward the Ph.D.;
    3. immediate termination of the student's study at Brown is required.
  4. At the end of the second year, the Graduate Advisor will inform the student in writing if, in the Faculty's opinion, he or she is not satisfactory progress toward the degree. At such a time, the student will be given remedial recommendations. Evidence of progress at this stage includes successful completion of six 200-level graduate seminars, successful completion of all othercourses (including reading courses), submission of four acceptable field proposals, and other appropriate evidence of continuingpreparation for the preliminary examination.
  5. Requirements for the preliminary examination and the Ph.D. thesis are outlined in Part II.

B. Procedures of Evaluation

Each student is evaluated by the Chairperson and the Graduate Advisor. They gather the following information:

  1. Faculty Evaluations. In making its assessments of student performances and its recommendations for financial aid and teaching positions, the procedure is as follows. Near the end of each semester, the graduate advisor will send evaluation forms for each first year student to the four faculty members with whom he or she is taking courses. The Graduate Advisor will also send evaluation forms at the end of the first semester for each second, third and fourth year student. For second year students, these faculty members should be those with whom they are taking courses. For third year students, they should be field advisors. For fourth year students, the evaluation form is sent to the dissertation chairperson.

    These forms will include the instructor's evaluation of the student's work (in course or field or dissertation preparation) during the recently concluded semester. This evaluation will become part of the student's permanent record and will be open to the student's inspection under the provisions of the Buckley Amendment.
  2. Performance in courses (especially, but not exclusively, in seminars).
  3. Performance in the preliminary examination, if appropriate.
  4. Teaching evaluations from any courses the student may have taught.
  5. Other evidence of satisfactory progress.

After the evaluations from faculty have been received, the Graduate Advisor and Chair rank the applicants according to their scholarship and potential teaching ability, and present this information to the Faculty. The approved ranking and assessments then form bases for determination of financial aid and for letters of evaluation sent to individual students.

C. Financial Aid

  1. Priorities in Awarding Aid:
    Although the Department would like to aid all Ph.D. students until the time when they complete their dissertations, financial conditions force the Faculty to make priorities for awarding financial aid. These priorities are as follows:
    1. Highest priorities will be given to students entering their third and fourth years and to those chosen from among the group entering their second year. Ideally, the Faculty would hope to be able to give all students in this group full aid (i.e. tuition and stipend for two semesters). In some, perhaps many circumstances, however, it will be impossible to meet such an ideal. Thus within this group, priorities for highest aid will be given to those students ranked highest according to procedures outlined in Section B and, in cases involving teaching fellowships and assistantships, to those students who most closely can fill curricula needs.
    2. Normally, the Department will be able to give aid only to those returning first year students whose first semester work shows strong potential for successful Ph.D. study. The Faculty recognizes, however, that some students do not exhibit full potential until their second semester. Thus, although financial aid decisions reflect an important initial assessment, decision on a first year student's academic status is reserved until the end of the second semester.
    3. Every effort will be made to provide fifth year students with some, if not full, aid. However, aid for fifth year students will become available only after distributions to second, third, and fourth year students have been made. Moreover, it should be noted that the Graduate School traditionally has not favored the awarding of financial aid to fifth year students.
    4. Ordinarily, M.A. candidates and part-time Ph.D. students will not receive aid from departmental or university sources.
  2. Forms of Financial Aid:
    Forms of financial aid available to first-year graduate students take the form of fellowships or scholarships. Aid for students in second year and beyond consists of teaching fellowships, assistantships, and proctorships. In rare instances, students may receive direct aid such as tuition scholarships, registration fee scholarships, or cash scholarships. Usually fellowships and assistantships include a stipend and tuition (or fee) remission. Proctorships, however, may include a stipend only. In all cases, financial aid awards are bound by the Department's annual budget and by Graduate School requirements and fund limitations. Students who wish financial assistance have the responsibility of filing the required financial need forms by the appropriate deadlines. In the case of proctorships, the Graduate School sets need qualifications following federal guidelines. Duties attached to various awards are as follows:
    1. Teaching Fellows have the responsibility for developing and teaching an AC 19 undergraduate seminar. Those students qualifying for fellowships are invited in December to submit course proposals, which consist of a short description of the subject and goals of the course and a reading list, to the Faculty Committee for consideration. Fellowships usually are reserved for students in their third and fourth year. A faculty committee will review the proposals and recommend those deemed acceptable. Awards will be made on the basis of quality of proposals, qualification of the applicant, and curricula needs of the Department.
    2. Teaching Assistants have responsibility for helping with, but not for principal teaching in, large undergraduate courses. Duties might include grading, leading discussions, conducting individual conferences, and/or occasional lecturing. Normally, only a very few of these positions will be awarded each year. The Chair and the Graduate Advisor will make recommendations for assistantships, but also the faculty member who will be supervising the assistant will have a large role in selecting the student who seems bet qualified for the particular assistantship.
    3. Proctors ordinarily will have work-study responsibilities and be assigned to individual faculty members. Exceptions would include proctors who carry out projects for the Department. Proctors must meet federal quidelines for need as discussed above.
  3. Teaching Experience:
    The Faculty recognizes that teaching experience at Brown provides graduate students with useful and often necessary credentials for later employment. Thus the Department will make every effort to ensure that all students in good standing receive at least some teaching experience by the time they complete their doctorate. The number and availability of teaching opportunities are limited, however, because of contingencies beyond the Faculty's control--such as course enrollments, the number of graduate students requiring aid, the Department's annual budget, and funds available from the Graduate School.

    The Program has an obligation to its undergraduates to ensure that the best graduate students are assigned as teachers. It also has an obligation to its graduate students to help them become good teachers. Thus several criteria and procedures must be applied. Obviously, to qualify for a teaching position a student must have made satisfactory progress in courses and/or in dissertation research and be competent in the area in which he or she will teach. The student also must already have demonstrated, or appear to possess, some capacity as a teacher. Once a student is assigned to a teaching position, the Department has the responsibility to assess and help improve the student's teaching skills. An advanced graduate student (usually the proctor to the faculty member serving as undergraduate advisor) will work with the faculty (especially the AC251 instructor) and the graduate consortium to develop workshops and programs on teaching.

    Beyond those teaching opportunities in the Department of American Civilization, other Departments occasionally offer teaching positions to advanced graduate students. The Graduate Advisor will coordinate efforts to support AmCiv graduate students applying to teach these courses. Students seeking assistantships in other departments and programs should notify the Graduate Advisor.
  4. Notification and Timing:
    Early in Semester II all students applying for financial aid will be informed by letter whether they will be recommended for aid for the coming year. Shortly thereafter, the Chair and Graduate Advisor will discuss the Department's recommendations with the Graduate School Dean(s). Here a further evaluation takes place and financial need, if relevant, is ascertained. After the Chair, Graduate Advisor. Deans agree upon the forms of aid, if any, to be awarded to each student, the Graduate School sends letters to students informing them of their awards. These letters usually are sent early in May, but sometimes delays occur.
  5. Conclusion:
    The American Civilization Department encourages (and in some ways depends upon) the efforts of advanced graduate students to apply for outside funding through various fellowships and scholarships. Every attempt will be made to publicize opportunities for such funding, and the faculty will stand ready to assist students in the applications. The responsibility for obtaining application forms and filing them rests with the student.

    The American Civilization Department will make every effort to spread teaching experience and financial aid evenly among its qualified students and to see that all students who qualify for aid are supported. It will also make every effort to maintain the principle of equal pay for equal work and to see that no student whom it believes is qualified for the doctorate is forced to withdraw from school for lack of financial assistance. It is willing to consult with and seek advice from graduate students in reviewing policies and in seeking ways to assist students who seek financial aid and teaching experience. The Faculty, however, does not control all financial matters pertaining to graduate aid, and ultimate responsibility must always rest with the Graduate School Administration.