Admissions and Registration

1. Prerequisites for Graduate Standing
2. Admission
3. Registration
4. Course Load
5. Withdrawal from a Course
6. Continuous Enrollment for Dissertation Students
7. Course Load for Dissertation Students
8. Readmission
9. Graduate Student Petitions

1.1 Prerequisites for Graduate Standing

Students seeking either the Master's or Doctor's degree, if they are to be admitted without deficiencies, must have taken the following (or their equivalent): a course in symbolic logic, a course in ethics, a course in the history of modern philosophy, a course in the history of ancient philosophy, a course in 20th century analytic philosophy (judged to be equivalent to Phil 388: Analytic Philosophy: Frege to Quine), a course in 19th/20th century philosophy other than analytic philosophy as previously defined, and a course in either metaphysics, theory of knowledge, philosophy of mind, or philosophy of language. Deficiencies should be made up early in the candidate's graduate work.

1.2 Admission

1. It is departmental policy that all students admitted to the graduate program on probation, and all marginal students, be sent a letter at the time they are notified of admission to the graduate program informing them that they have a poor chance statistically of completing the program.
   
   
2. The Department has also adopted a policy permitting the Committee on Recruitment, Admission, and Awards to decide, when appropriate, that a student who applies for admission to the Ph.D. program be admitted, not to the Ph.D. program, but to the M.A. program. Further, students in the M.A. program may enter the Ph.D. program only upon successful formal application to the Department.
   
   
3. In addition to other application materials (application form, application fee, letters of recommendation, course transcripts, etc.), all applicants for admission to the graduate program must provide the following:
   1. Graduate Record Examination Scores (verbal, quantitative, analytical)
   2. A writing sample--preferably a sample of philosophical prose of approximately 10-15 pages
   3. A brief statement of academic goals

4. Applicants who are not admitted to the philosophy graduate program may, if otherwise qualified and with the Department's endorsement, enroll in the Graduate School as a 'non-degree seeking student' who may take philosophy courses if they satisfy the prerequisites, etc. It is possible that such a student, if he or she does well in philosophy enrollments and acquires supporting letters from KU faculty (and meets all other requirements for admission), may reapply to the graduate program at a later date. However, as a general rule, rejected applicants are not encouraged to do this unless they are excellent candidates who merely lack the background courses required for regular admission and have been recommended to enroll as a 'non-degree seeking' student by the Director of Graduate Studies. Moreover, it should be clearly understood that the Department in no way is obligated to admit such students when and if they reapply to the graduate program.

1.3 Registration

At the beginning of each semester each student must register for the courses he or she will be taking or the academic work he will be doing. He must consult with the Director of Graduate Studies on his course of study and have his schedule approved by the Director of Graduate Studies prior to enrollment. All students entering the graduate program must enroll in Phil. 800, Graduate Tutorial, in the first or second semester of their enrollment. It is imperative that graduate students have satisfied the prerequisites (or their equivalents) for the course in which they enroll.

1.4 Course Load

1. All students in philosophy degree programs must be 'full time' students in philosophy until such time as they pass their Comprehensive Exam (if a Ph.D. student) or M.A. Exam (if an M.A. student). For purposes of calculating 'full-time' status the rule shall be: 9 hours per semester (not including the summer term). For a GTA with a half-time (.5) appointment, the number of course hours is reduced to 6 to be considered full-time.

   Note: For purposes of calculating course hours in philosophy the guiding idea should be: courses contributing directly to completion of philosophy program. Courses taken to meet FLORS requirements meet this condition.

2. With respect to post-comprehensive students:
   1. if the student is a GTA the student must be a full-time student and the requisite course hours must be in philosophy courses;
   2. if the student is not a GTA the student is subject to Graduate School requirements regarding enrollment.

3. Departures from the above norms shall be allowed only upon petition to the Department via the Director of Graduate Studies. The Director of Graduate Studies shall have discretionary power to either (a) forward the petition to the Department (with or without recommendation), or (b) act on the petition directly and simply report his/her action to the Department.

1.5 Withdrawal from a Course

Please note that the graduate "drop rules" are different from those for undergraduates. The Graduate School is very stringent in enforcing this. The relevant dates are given in the Graduate calendar for the present year. Exact details as to rules and procedures can be obtained from the Graduate School Office (300 Strong Hall) or from the Department Secretary.

1.6 Continuous Enrollment for Dissertation Students

Dissertation students must be continuously enrolled for the proper number of hours each semester (including summers) until they complete the dissertation requirement. Read the Graduate School Catalog carefully for details on the proper enrollment. Students who do not follow the regulation may have difficulty receiving their degrees and will probably be assessed charges equal to what they should have paid if properly enrolled, plus a penalty, before being granted their Ph.D.

1.7 Course Load for Dissertation Students

The normal full-time load for a dissertation student is 9 hours. This may be reduced somewhat for teaching at KU, but the exact amount of reduction is presently undecided and such students should be sure to check the latest developments before enrolling. The number of hours enrolled should be commensurate with demands on faculty time, University facilities, etc., in a given semester. See section 1.4 above for the departmental policy governing full-time enrollment for graduate students.

1.8 Readmission

A short break in one's graduate studies usually requires no readmission procedure. If otherwise eligible, one simply enrolls as if there had been no break in his studies. Where the break amounts to an absence of a number of years the student may have to go through a new admission procedure. If in doubt the student should check with the Graduate School or with the Director of Graduate Studies of the Philosophy Department.

The new Graduate School rule is stated as follows in the new Graduate School Catalog:

"After an absence of five years . . . a doctoral aspirant or candidate loses status as such and, in order to continue, must apply for readmission to the program and to the Graduate School."

Although the rule as such applies only to doctoral candidates and aspirants, it has seemed advisable to the Graduate School to apply it also to masters students who have not been enrolled for five years. The department may wish to review the student's records in these cases as well.

1.9 Graduate Student Petitions

Graduate students can present written petitions to the Department. The petition is given to the Director of Graduate Studies who then presents it to the Department. Student representatives should not vote on their own petitions, and they should not be present if the petitions require discussion of confidential information (March 22, 1989).