Requirements

V. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRAM COMPLETION: THE 2-4-6 PLAN

The graduate program encourages our students to complete their PhDs within six years. The 2-4-6 Plan provides guidance on the program’s expectations. It is an outline to follow with specific deadlines that we expect our students to meet.

Students should strive to work within the time frame established below and must be followed to remain in good standing in the graduate program. If a student is unable to meet these deadlines, they may be discontinued from the graduate program. In some cases, students can request a limited probationary extension (see below).

A. Deadlines for Ph.D. Program Completion

QP1: Masters Thesis

First Qualifying Paper sign on – by November 15th of Year 2
First Qualifying Paper sign off – by June 15th at the end of Year 2.
Meeting the QP 1 sign-off deadline is facilitated by students’ participation in the Second-Year Paper Seminar

QP2: 2nd Paper Project

Second Qualifying Paper sign on – by November 15th of Year 3
Second Qualifying Paper sign off – by November 15th of Year 4

Dissertation Project

Dissertation Proposal Defense – by November 15th of Year 5
Dissertation Defense – by August 15th of Year 6 

Program Probationary Extensions

In certain circumstances, students can request a probationary extension. Successful extension requests depend on i) the student’s advisor(s) and committee members confirm that the student is making reasonable progress on the specific writing project, and ii) reasonable factors (e.g., illness, family issues, a demanding project or methodology) preventing on-time completion of key milestones. A probationary extension may be granted of up to 2 months for QP1 and 3 months for QP2. and the dissertation proposal defense. These extensions must be approved by the GPD with the consent of the Graduate Program Committee. For the other writing projects, including the dissertation, probationary extensions are negotiated with the student, their advisor(s), committee members, and the GPD. Failing to meet a probationary extension will result in a formal academic warning and possible discontinuation from the program.

Circumstances related to the probationary extension request will be taken into consideration during the required second-year assessment (see below).

Program and Faculty Second-Year Assessment of Progress

To evaluate the student’s academic progress and suitability to continue in the graduate program, the department has established a formal assessment process.

1. In the fall semester of the 2nd year, the GPD will solicit updates from the advisor(s) of all the 2nd year students. The GPD will present any specific concerns to the members of the Graduate Program Committee during the fall meeting. Together, they will notify students who appear at risk of not making the sign-on the deadline of November 15. The full faculty will also be made aware of the situation with the goal of identifying a student’s need for support and attention in consultation with the student’s advisor(s) and committee members. The student would receive an official academic warning.

2. In the spring semester of year 2, the Graduate Program Committee, in consultation with the student’s advisor(s), committee members, and the full faculty will determine if the student should continue in the program. If academic concerns are revealed, such as insufficient engagement, poor performance, or related issues, the student will receive an “unsatisfactory evaluation and receive a formal academic warning. Any student with 2 academic warnings will be discontinued from the program if approved by the graduate program committee members and the GPD. All students who do not pass the QP1 or receive 2 formal academic warnings will be given the opportunity to complete a terminal MA, but typically without funding if it continues into year 3. Students are allowed to graduate with an October degree deadline without additional costs to them or the program. If a student receives a second academic warning after successfully completing QP1, may be discontinued from the program at the end of the semester in which the warning was issued.

3. In the 3rd year, during the IDP review, assessments will be made regarding reasonable progress on the second qualifying paper project, QP2, and the dissertation proposal. The student’s advisor(s) and committee members will provide detailed updates on the progress. Failure to meet QP2 or dissertation proposal deadlines may result in an official academic warning and possible discontinuation from the program.

4. Dissertations are demanding long-term projects with the length of completion time dependent on many factors. Students writing their dissertations and who need to continue in the program beyond year 6 will negotiate deadlines with their advisor(s), committee members and the GPD, with the approval of the Graduate Program Committee. Continued missed negotiated deadlines may result in a formal leave of absence from the program.

Summary of Deadlines and Probationary Extensions

Note: The GPD and the department chair become the final arbitrators if disagreements arise among the student’s advisors and/or among committee members, or the Graduate Program Committee.

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS), Rutgers University New Brunswick, strongly urges all Ph.D. students to complete their program in seven years as an established norm, and within a maximum of ten years. Students in their seven years and beyond must fill out yearly “Extension of Time” forms that the GPD must approve, along with the Dean of SGS. For more information, see also the SGS Graduate Student Handbook. Again, those students who have not completed their dissertations by the end of year 7 may be placed on a formal Leave of Absence

Grandfather Clause
The 2-4-6 plan and its deadlines and probationary extensions apply to all students who start the program in 2025 or later. They must follow the plan for completion set forth here. Students who started the program before fall 2025 may continue to follow the 3-6-9 plan but with stricter attention paid to the guidelines vs. deadlines as originally designed.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRAM COMPLETION: 2-4-6 PLAN

a. 6 required courses with a grade of B or above
• Soc. 501 - Sociological Research Methods
• Soc. 503/504 – Second Year Paper (Master’s Paper) Seminar
• Soc. 515 - Classical Sociological Theory
• Soc. 516 - Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Soc. 541 - Statistical Methods in Sociology
• Soc. 542 – Statistical Methods in Sociology II
• Note: 541 and 542 MUST be taken in sequence

b. Four elective courses: Regarding specific courses, 1 course may be an Independent Study, and up to 2 may be outside the department. Note: Information on the specific mix of courses that may be taken at the Master’s level and across the entirety of one’s program of study can be found in Section V, subsection D below, specifically under the headings “Independent Studies” and “Courses Outside of the Sociology Department.” To foreshadow those instructions, please note that no more than three courses from outside the department may be taken for credit over the course of the student’s entire career in the department, including methods or substantive courses in other departments at Rutgers—New Brunswick, courses at other Rutgers campuses (for example, at Newark), and courses offered at other universities through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium.

c. First-year student Proseminar (register with the Graduate Program Director for one research credit each semester)

d. Attendance at all or close to all departmental Colloquium events.

e. QP1 (also sometimes known as the Second Year Paper or Master’s Thesis)

B. Ph.D. Requirements (also see Appendix A for an M.A.–Ph.D. timeline)

a. All requirements for the M.A. degree

b. One additional required courses with a grade of B or above

One other methods/statistics course from the following list (or newly approved methods courses in Sociology as they arise). These currently include:
1. Soc. 520 – Comparative Historical Methods
2. Soc. 573 – Ethnographic Methods
3. Soc. 615 – Qualitative Research Methods
4. Soc. 616 – Social Network Analysis
5. Soc. 617 – Computational Sociology
6. Soc. 6xx – Multilevel and Longitudinal Data Analysis
7. Students may request to use an intermediate/advanced statistics courses at RU-Newark in the Criminal Justice program to fulfill this requirement
8. An approved methods course offered in one of the other Social Science departments at Rutgers—New Brunswick

c. Five additional elective courses; 1 may be an Independent Study, and up to 2 may be outside the department. As noted above, and discussed below in Section V. subsection D, no more than three courses from outside the department may be taken for credit over the course of the student’s entire career in the department.

d. One semester of a Writing Seminar (503/504 or 703) (see section V, subsection E below for more details on the Writing Seminar).

e. 24 research credits (these do not substitute for course or Independent Study credits. See section V. 4 below for more details.)

f. QP2 (also sometimes called the Second Qualifying Paper (see section VI on Qualifying Papers for details)

g. Dissertation proposal defense

C. Course Information: Independent Studies, and Courses Outside the Department

This section contains information on some of the various courses one can take, and restrictions concerning them.

a. Independent Study courses

Independent Studies are based on arrangements made between a professor and one or more graduate students to study a mutually-agreed-upon subject for one semester. In order to register for an Independent Study, the student (in consultation with the professor) must compile a syllabus that specifies the required reading and writing requirements as well as the meeting schedule. This syllabus must be submitted to the Graduate Program Director for approval. Independent studies are considered as equivalent to seminars in workload and hence they count as elective courses for degree requirements. They are not meant to give structure to or substitute for an ongoing collaborative project between faculty member and student. Students may take no more than two Independent Studies during their time in the graduate program, one counted toward the M.A. requirements and one toward the Ph.D. requirements. [Also please note that Independent Study courses do not count as part of the faculty member’s normal teaching load.]

b. Courses Outside of the Sociology Department

i. Number of outside courses - Students may take up to three courses in total outside of the Sociology Department (in other Rutgers departments, at other Rutgers campuses, or at Inter-University Consortium schools) that count toward their overall elective requirements. Specifically, they may take 1-2 for the M.A. degree requirements and 1-2 for the Ph.D. degree requirements but totaling no more than three overall. These “outside” courses include methods or substantive courses in other departments at Rutgers—New Brunswick, courses at other Rutgers campuses (for example, at Newark), and courses offered at other universities through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium. Some certificate programs at Rutgers may require students to take non-Sociology courses; please be attentive to those requirements as you consider your overall program of study, including how you will make use of the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium. Please consult the Graduate Program Director if you have questions. Our goal is to permit each student to pursue a program of study that serves their intellectual needs while also ensuring that a sufficient portion of each student’s curriculum is delivered by our own department.

ii. Inter-University Doctoral Consortium Courses - Graduate students at Rutgers may take graduate courses at several other universities in the region (e.g., Columbia University, CUNY-Graduate Center, the New School, New York University, Princeton University) at no extra cost. Many students find these courses to be significantly important in their intellectual development, and we encourage students to seek out stimulating opportunities. Enrollment in courses at other institutions through this program requires the permission of the student’s advisor, the Sociology Graduate Director, and the instructor of the course at the host institution. Students in their first year may not be eligible. The form required to register for courses in the consortium is available on the Graduate School webpage. As noted above, these classes count as courses taken outside the department.

c. Grades and Incompletes

i. Grades - You must receive grades of A, B+, or B in 14 of the 16 required and elective courses to receive a Ph.D. All required courses must have a B or higher. No more than 2 courses below a B will be accepted for credit from your electives. Note: Rutgers does not have A+ or any minus grades. Students should think of B+ as an A- grade.]

ii. Incomplete - We strongly discourage students from taking an Incomplete in a course. Having an Incomplete frequently impairs a student’s ability to complete subsequent work on time. If a student is unable to complete all the requirements for a course, the instructor may assign a grade of Incomplete if they think the circumstances are warranted. The Graduate School requires that a student make up the work for an Incomplete within twelve months of the end of semester in which the incomplete grade was assigned (e.g., an Incomplete in a course from the fall semester 2024 must be completed and the grade turned in by the end of the grading period for the fall semester 2025). NOTE: per SGS recommendation, all students finalize all incompletes BEFORE defending their dissertation proposal.

Excessive Incompletes: Any student with more than two Incompletes in any given semester will be given an official academic warning and may face discontinuation from the program. SGS requires that a student with 2 incompletes has only one semester to reduce the Incompletes to one. Any student who has not made up their final Incomplete within one year will receive a second official academic warning and will be discontinued from the program.

d. Transfer of Credits

Students may apply to transfer a maximum of 12 credits towards the MA degree requirements at Rutgers. Students may apply to transfer an additional 12 credits (maximum) towards the PhD degree requirements. The GPD, however, has the right to limit the total number of credit transfers to less than the maximum to ensure the student is sufficiently engaged with the curriculum offered by the department and with the student’s cohort.

Transfer credits may be used for required or elective courses in the degree program upon approval of the Graduate Director. Exceptions may be made for courses critical in cohort building and our Rutgers training, such as 501 and 542. Courses eligible for transfer must be regular numerically graded or letter-graded classes. Courses graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory, or pass/fail are not eligible. Courses with grades below B cannot be transferred for credit and individually arranged reading courses are also not accepted for transfer credit.

It is possible to receive credit for a seminar transfer but not necessarily for the same number of credits, especially if the seminar meets for fewer weeks or the assessments seem less robust.

Important: The transfer of credit can only be made after completion of 12 graduate credits at Rutgers. Students must arrange to speak with the Graduate Program Director well in advance of making plans for their request transfer of credits. It takes time to arrange appropriate evaluations of seminars to determine whether they meet our program standards and at the appropriate credit level. Please note that the School of Graduate Studies generally does not approve the transfer of credits for courses that were taken more than 6 years before the transfer request.

E. Second Year Paper (Master’s Paper) Seminar (503/504) and Writing Seminar (703)

Starting in fall semester 2020, second-year students are required to take the Second Year Paper (QP1) Seminar which fulfills the Writing Seminar requirement. Second-year students will register for the Second Year Paper Seminar for course credit (503 fall semester/504 spring semester – each for 1.5 credits). The Second Year Paper Seminar (503/504) is expressly designed to assist students in the process of researching and writing their QP1 (i.e., M.A. thesis). Students on fellowship will normally take three courses in addition to the Second Year Paper Seminar. Students on TAship in their second year may elect to take only two courses plus the Second Year Paper seminar. The Writing Seminar (703) supports the development of writing skills for completing and polishing a piece of sociological work (e.g., second qualifying paper, dissertation proposal, manuscript for submission for journal review). Because it is taken for research credit, this course is graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

The Writing Seminar. After the Second Year Paper Seminar, students are encouraged to enroll in the Writing Seminar (703), if interested, but will do so for research credit. The Writing Seminar (703) will be offered in the spring semester for all students, contingent on demand.

F. Research Credits

Students must complete 24 research credits to graduate with the PhD degree. In our department research credits signify that a student is working on independent research stretched over a significant chunk of time, monitored and guided by their faculty advisor(s). They account for a student’s independent scholarly work until the point of degree completion. The department advises that students complete approximately 20 research credits by the end of their 5th year in the program, although the exact number for each student depends on their pace to completion of the Ph.D. You MUST use at least 1 research credit each semester while completing your dissertation as an ADB. Hence, you need to determine when and for how long your dissertation will take to complete. Only 1 credit is required to be a full-time student as an ABD. However, after your funding package has ended you will be responsible for paying for the research credits used. Only on rare with the department or SAS pay for those research credits. Significant planning is required to allocate your research credit wisely throughout the program. You are NOT to exceed 24 credits. It is important to try not to exceed 24 total research credits through the completion of the Ph.D.

Below is the suggested timeline for an incoming student in the program who does not transfer any course credits and who plans to complete the Ph.D. at the end of the 6th year. Note that this timeline will vary based on a number of individual circumstances that students can discuss with the Graduate Program Director or Program Coordinator.

After year one when students register for research credits in conjunction with the Proseminar, students should register for research credits with one of their advisors—that is, with either their primary advisor or the lead reader for their final qualifying paper (except when taking the Writing Seminar for research credits). Students should inform your instructor that they are signing up for research credits with them and should agree upon the level of communication and work expect to earn an S grade. This generally involves making tangible progress on research and producing some pieces of writing (e.g., a draft of a final qualifying paper, dissertation proposal, dissertation chapter, or article for submission). The student and advisor should stay in regular contact about the student's progress over the course of the semester.

ABD students are required to register for a minimum of one research credit per semester, even if they are on a TA line, and should plan research credits accordingly. Once a student is no longer receiving a fellowship or TAship from the University, research credits must be paid for by the student (or external funders, if such arrangements are in place). Note: Under no circumstances will SAS provide financial support beyond 75 total credits.

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