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Advanced study in any discipline is a rigorous undertaking that requires not only intellectual aptitude, strong commitment and personal stamina, but also an awareness of expectations and an understanding of the workings of the department. This document aims to ease the path of graduate students in the doctoral program by providing basic information about the resources, structures, policies and procedures that govern graduate degree work in religious studies. Students are advised to retain a copy of this document and to refer to it frequently.

I. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ADVICE

As you begin graduate study, you will find many resources--formal and informal--among the faculty, staff and other students of the Department. Your first step should be to consult the following:

1. The Record (catalog) of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences available in printed form and at: http://virginia.edu/registrar/records/gradrec/)
2. The Department's Website at: http://www.virginia.edu/religiousstudies/
3. Descriptions of program requirements for your specific field of study (available in the departmental office and on the website).

Your most important source of advice will be the faculty members in your specific field of study. A list of the sub-disciplinary areas and their faculty field committees is posted in the Graduate Lounge, and you are urged to consult with those in your field early and often.

As general questions arise the graduate secretary, Sarah Adams, will help you, or will direct you to those who can be of further assistance. Bulletin boards outside Halsey room 103, Professor Bouchard ’s office, as well as outside the Graduate School Office (438 Cabell Hall), also provide needed information. The Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Larry Bouchard (105 Halsey Hall, 924-6710, ldb4k@virginia.edu) will be happy to help in any way.

II. PLANNING AND EXECUTING YOUR PROGRAM

At all times and under all circumstances, it is the responsibility of the individual student to be aware of the requirements of the program and of the policies, procedures and schedules that govern it, and to seek from the appropriate sources any advice that may be needed in carrying it out.

The following is intended to provide a general overview of the stages and pace of a standard Ph.D. program, the requirements for each stage, and the guidelines and regulations for the fulfillment of those requirements. Specific details will differ according to fields of study, and you should consult the department website for any changes specific to your field; but these notes should allow you to see your program as a whole--its aims and requirements--and thus to plan ahead, using each of your semesters as fruitfully as possible. (M.A. students should also consult the website, though some of the information here applies to them too.)

A. Course Work

1 . The requirement for the Ph.D. is a cumulative total of 72 hours, 54 of which must be in standard class work, 18 of which ­may be in "Non-Topical Research" (on this see 2, b, below). A full-time graduate student must carry 12 hours per semester. Normally, this is accomplished by registering for three regular graduate courses (3 hours each, for a total of 9 hours) and three hours of Non-Topical Research each semester. While the department and the graduate school consider that three regular graduate courses are adequately challenging in any given semester, there is no regulation against a student taking four regular courses in a semester, and sometimes this may be advisable. If a student does take as many as four regular courses in a given semester, and thus registers for 12 hours, there is no need to register also for Non-Topical Research hours. A student may take a language course for the fourth course or the Department’s two-credit-hour, non-letter-graded “Pedagogy Seminar,” RELG 899 (along with 1 hour of Non-Topical Research to arrive at 12 hours). All TA’s are required to take the Pedagogy Seminar.

2 . Special Course Rubrics (RELS 895, 896, 897, 898, 997, 999)

• a). RELS 895 and 896 are "open rubrics" designed to accommodate reading courses and/or research projects pursued by the individual student under the supervision of a faculty member. Most students will use only 895 (896 being reserved for research on problems leading to a Master's thesis), These are graded courses which count as regular graduate courses toward the 54 hour required total (see A. 1 above). Any student wishing to pursue readings or research in a specialized topic not elsewhere represented in the curriculum should make the necessary arrangements with the advice and consent of a faculty supervisor. In registering for 895 or 896 it is necessary to enter the modifier number of the supervising faculty member. A list of modifier numbers is provided in the departmental office.
• b). RELS 897, 898, 997 and 999 are the "Non-Topical Research" numbers. These are chiefly “consultative” rubrics, that is, they do not have any specific course content, but account for student and faculty time spent in consultation about academic matters in general. These are non-graded courses (marked only "Satisfactory" or "Unsatisfactory"), and count toward the 72 hour required total, but not toward the 54 hour required total (see A. 1 above). These four non-topical research courses are distinguished as follows:
  
• RELS 897 Preparation for MASTER'S research, taken before a thesis director has been selected.
• RELS 898 For MASTER'S thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director
• RELS 997 Preparation for DOCTORAL research, taken before a dissertation director has been selected.
• RELS 999 For DOCTORAL dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director.

Faculty modifier numbers must also be entered for these courses. They can be found at the following site: http://etg05.itc.virginia.edu/instructors/list. After completing course work, a student may enroll in 12 hours of Non-Topical Research per semester to maintain full-time status at greatly reduced tuition and fees (about $2765 per semester).

B. Petition for Advanced Standing

Students who enter the program with a graduate or professional degree in hand (e.g., M.A., M.T.S., M.Div.) may petition at the end of their first year of residence for advanced standing. Such a petition requires that the student complete an advanced standing application form, provided by the graduate administrative assistant. Once complete, a statement of recommendation from the relevant field committee of this department should be included on the form as indicated. Applications are then submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies and acted on by the departmental Committee on Graduate Studies. If advanced standing is granted, 24 hours of the 54 graded hour requirement are waived, thus reducing the period of course work from three to two years. Advanced standing is not automatically granted to students with previous graduate study or degrees; the quality of the student's work (here and elsewhere) and his or her competence in respect of program standards are carefully considered.

C. Graduate Grading Scale

The graduate grading scale is understood as follows:

• A+ Excellent performance in every respect
• A Outstanding performance
• A- Very solid work
• B+ Solid work
• B Minimal graduate level performance, not at the level expected of Ph.D. students in this particular course
• B- Below minimal standards for graduate level work
• C, D, F Failure (i.e., no graduate credit)

See the Graduate Record for other information about grading and crediting. Other grades:

• S Satisfactory
• U Unsatisfactory (these are given only for non-graded courses, e.g. RELS 897)
• IN Incomplete (see further below)
• NG No Grade yet submitted

D. Incompletes (IN)

"Incompletes" are very strongly discouraged and require the express permission of the instructor. Whenever a grade of IN ("incomplete") is entered for a graduate course, the student must complete the work for that course not later than the first day of classes of the second semester after the incomplete was incurred . That is, an IN entered for a fall semester course must be remedied by the first day of classes of the next fall semester. Failure to do so will mean withdrawal of fellowship funding. No student may serve as a TA with outstanding incompletes on their transcript. Otherwise the “IN” will be converted to “F” (an “IN” can be converted to an “AU” if the professor submits a change of grade form), and no credit may be gained for the course

E. Advising

Advising prior to registration each semester is important so that your courses may be well selected to satisfy program requirements, meet your needs, form a coherent program of study and prepare you for comprehensive examinations. The initiative for getting the needed advice belongs to the student.

F. Language Requirements

Normally candidates for the Master of Arts degree must demonstrate by examination a reading competency in a modern language appropriate to their field of concentration, and will be expected to have knowledge of such other languages as may be necessary for the study of primary religious texts. Languages other than French and German must be approved by the departmental Committee on Graduate Studies and should be supported with a letter from your principal faculty advisor.

Normally candidates for the Ph.D. must demonstrate by examination a reading competency in two modern languages appropriate to the field of concentration. Languages other than French and German must be approved by the departmental Committee on Graduate Studies. In addition, knowledge of other languages necessary for the study of primary religious texts may be required. The first modern language requirement should be met before matriculation or by the end of the first year at the latest in order that progress can be made on the second language. The second requirement must be met during the second year and before comprehensive exams may be taken. The whole point of acquiring such language facility is to use it during your course work and research, so striving to meet these goals promptly is imperative.

Students who have elsewhere taken and passed the GRE language exams and can present evidence to this effect may be exempted from taking the exam again and considered to have satisfied the language requirement. The requirement can be met only by GRE language exams or by exams administered by the French and German departments here.

To schedule the examination in French, consult the Department of French Languages & Literatures in 302 Cabell Hall. To schedule the examination in German, consult the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures (924-3530). Candidates should register with the departments at least a week before they want to take the test. (Some reading-knowledge language courses are offered at UVA, often during the summer. Regular elementary courses may be audited during the academic year. Language study may also be undertaken independently of UVA.) Latin and Greek exams are given TWICE a year, usually in September and January. Contact The Director of Graduate Studies in the Classics Department for details (924-3008).

G. Time Limitation

According to the regulations of the Graduate School, all requirements for the Ph.D. (including coursework, languages, comprehensive exams and dissertation) must be completed within seven years from the date of matriculation into the PhD program (or, for the M.A., five years from the date of matriculation). This regulation will normally be enforced. In cases of highly extenuating circumstances, the student may petition the Graduate School for an extension of time.

H. On Leave Status

There are two types of leave status for graduate students.

1. Voluntary Leaves of Absence. Students who wish to take a voluntary leave of absence for a semester or for an academic year must apply for such leave to the office of the Dean of the Graduate School. If approved, a notation of “on academic leave” will be entered on the student’s permanent record following the semester during which they were last registered at the University.
2. Educational Leaves of Absence. Students who wish to take a leave of absence to pursue research or other educational interests at another institution in the U.S. must apply for a leave of absence to the office of the Dean of the Graduate School. Students who wish to study abroad in an accredited program or an accredited foreign university must apply for a leave of absence to the office of International Studies. While on an approved educational leave of absence a student must register at the University of Virginia as a non-resident student and pay a non-resident fee.

I. Satisfactory Progress

Satisfactory progress has two dimensions: the quality of the student’s work in courses, examinations and research, and the timeliness with which the student meets program requirements. Whether a student is making satisfactory progress is judged by the faculty, and above all by the field committees, which are in the best position to monitor and evaluate the student’s work. A student may be denied permission to proceed at any time that the faculty determines that progress is unsatisfactory. Fellowships and financial support are always subject to your remaining a student in good standing at the University (completion of the requirements of all courses on time and without incompletes), and to periodic faculty review of the quality of your work and good progress toward your degree. Failure to make satisfactory progress may result in cancellation of fellowship support.

III. KEY EVENTS IN THE CAREER OF A GRADUATE STUDENT

A. Annual Reviews

Students will meet with members of their field committee once a year for a review and evaluation of their progress in the program. Appointments will be arranged by the chair of the field committee, usually during the last two weeks of April. It is the prerogative of the field committee at that point to deny permission to a student to proceed in the program. The student should remind the chair to send a letter copy of the report to the Graduate Secretary, Sarah Adams, for filing.

B. Comprehensive Examinations

Early in your career you should familiarize yourself with the number and character of the comprehensive exams required in your field. They are administered during three periods of the academic session: the last two weeks of October, of January, and of April. You may take all your exams in one period, or divide them, but you must complete all exams in two consecutive exam periods. These exams must be administered within six (6) months of the completion of course requirements. It is up to the student to arrange for the exam with the suitable faculty members. The student should remind the committee chair to report the exam results in writing to the Graduate Secretary, Sarah Adams, for filing.

Doctoral students who successfully complete comprehensive examinations are considered to have met departmental and University requirements for the M.A. degree, and may apply to receive the M.A. “in course”. Applications for the M.A. degree are available from the Graduate School (438 Cabell Hall) and must be certified by the department. Due dates for degree applications are February 1 (for May degrees), July 1 (for August degrees) and October 1 (for January degrees).

C. Dissertation Proposal and Colloquium

Within six months of the completion of comprehensive exams, a student must submit and defend a dissertation proposal that has been worked out in consultation with his/her field committee and proposed advisor.

Students are strongly advised to begin thinking toward a dissertation topic at an early point in their studies, to discuss possibilities with their faculty advisors and instructors, and to exploit opportunities provided by seminar papers to make preliminary explorations of the topic or of closely related areas. Proceeding in this way will allow a student to move briskly from comprehensive examinations to the dissertation proposal and colloquium.

D. Thesis and Defense

Once the dissertation proposal has been approved in a formal colloquium, the student may proceed to research and the writing of a dissertation that demonstrates a high level of research skill, sophistication of method, originality of insight, and specialized knowledge. For details of this process go to the following site: http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/grad/degree/physical_standards.php. Dissertations must be defended in oral examination before the faculty before they may be submitted to the Graduate School. Students should normally expect to spend one to two years completing the dissertation. The requirement of the Graduate School that the entire degree program be completed within seven years of the date of matriculation will in itself impose a maximum on the amount of time allowable for completing the dissertation. The student should remind the chair to report the results of the defense in writing to the Graduate Secretary, Sarah Adams.

E. Formal Submission of Thesis or Dissertation

When this glorious day approaches, the student should consult the Graduate Administrative Assistant for the rules and regulations concerning submission.

F. Degree Applications and their Schedules

Students who anticipate completing all degree requirements for the Ph.D. (including the dissertation defense) by the final date for graduation in any given year must submit to the Graduate School three items.

1. The degree application (the “blue form”), which lists all courses applied toward the degree and certifies that the relevant examinations (comprehensives and languages) have been passed. For May degree candidates, this form must be submitted by February 1, for August degree candidates by July 1 and for January degree candidates by October 1.
2. The (unsigned) formal title page of the dissertation, which is to be submitted by April 1 for May graduation.
3. The certification that the dissertation has been successfully defended and that all degree requirements have been met (the “green form”). This form is due by May 1 for May graduation.

Both the blue and green forms must be signed by the relevant departmental officials and/or examiners before being submitted to the Graduate School. Packets containing degree application materials (for both the M.A. and Ph.D.) may be obtained from the Graduate School office (438 Cabell Hall).

IV. INFORMATION & GUIDELINES FOR FELLOWSHIPS AND TASHIPS

A. General Remarks

Financial support awards are announced to individual students by letter at or soon after the time when they are notified of admission. The department controls a limited amount of funding for graduate fellowships and TAships, allocated to it by the Graduate School. It is awarded for academic merit not financial need. Current departmental policy is to offer substantial financial support packages to applicants who are admitted to the doctoral program, and to guarantee that same level of support to those students for a specific number of years, provided that the student maintains satisfactory progress toward the degree. Students with financial need should apply to Student Financial Services.

The department makes no financial awards to students pursuing only the MA degree. Students admitted to a (continuous) M.A./Ph.D. program may be awarded a support package.

Departmental awards are not uniform across the board either in amount or in the elements that make them up. And, although the effective amount announced at admission will be maintained for the number of years specified, pending satisfactory progress, its elements may vary from one year to the next during the course of study. Moreover, just as awards are not uniform within the department, neither are they uniform across departments, since different departments in Arts and Sciences have varying financial resources and smaller or larger numbers of graduate students.

Forms of support are the following:

1. Fellowships

Fellowships are awarded only on the basis of academic merit.

2. Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are also offered to students, partly on the basis of academic merit and promise as a teacher, but considering also the curricular and instructional needs of the department. Teaching Assistants function as faculty and are viewed by the University as faculty. Hence they are urged to consult the online Faculty Handbook, and to familiarize themselves with policies governing faculty activity (particular attention should be paid to the sections pertaining to conflicts of interest and sexual/discriminatory harassment).

Funding for teaching assistantships is annually allocated to departments by the Arts and Sciences administration, and may vary from year to year. Stipends for teaching assistants are calculated on the basis of a formula provided annually by the University. In the department of religious studies, teaching assistantships are understood to carry responsibility for three (3) discussion sections per week and a total of 10 hours of work per week (including preparation, contact hours and grading). The Graduate School considers responsibility for three sections equivalent to quarter-time work and the salary is based on 10 hours per week.

Graduate teaching assistantships serve not only to provide financial support for graduate students but also to supplement instructional resources for the undergraduate curriculum, within which teaching assistants work with the faculty in certain large, sectioned courses. Graduate students who are awarded teaching assistantships are welcome to express their preferences about the courses in which they would like to assist, and should do so by contacting the faculty members who teach those courses not the DGS. The faculty members will contact the DGS about needs. Whenever possible, the department seeks to assign graduate teaching assistants to undergraduate courses that are within the graduate student’s own field of interest. But because of enrollment variables and other curricular exigencies this cannot always be done, and teaching assistants may be asked to do their teaching work in courses outside their graduate concentrations. While this may sometimes be more challenging, teaching assistants are reminded that this also helps to broaden their competencies and experiences and may well make them more attractive candidates when they seek positions of their own.

B. Work-Study Funds

Students seeking work-study assistance must apply first directly to the University’s Office of Financial Aid to Students (see G. 2. below). Qualification for work-study funding is determined by that office, and solely on the basis of financial need. Upon the approval of the Office of Financial Aid, which also sets the amounts of work-study awards for individual students, students should make their qualifications, interests and the amount of their award known to the Chair of the department. The department is not normally able to provide employment opportunity for all of its students who may receive work-study awards. Those whom it is able to employ may be asked to work in a variety of capacities, such as research assistants, graders, or office assistants. In cases where the work-study award is as large as a TA stipend, the student may be given an opportunity to work as a teaching assistant, but is paid for such work not from the budget for teaching assistants but from the department’s wage budget. Work-study employment is paid on an hourly wage rate.

C. Graderships

Limited funds are available annually for the employment of graduate students to assist faculty members in the marking of papers and examinations, usually in non-sectioned undergraduate courses with large enrollments. Compensation is at an hourly wage rate. Interested students should contact the Chair. Normally only a few students can be employed in this way.

D. Application for Financial Aid

Since departmental financial aid is awarded at admission on the basis of academic achievement and promise, there is no application process for departmental fellowships or teaching assistantships.

Applications for non-departmental financial aid (student loans, work-study, restricted or need-based scholarships) that is awarded on the basis of financial need must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid to Students (1001 Emmet Street, Carruthers Hall, 1st floor). Applications to that Office, which include the GAPSFAS form, are due by March 31 of any given year.

E. Non-Departmental Fellowships

There are various fellowships that are awarded neither by the department nor through the Office of Financial Aid to Students, but through others units of the University. These include the following:

• Huskey Travel Fellowships : All special requests for travel support, whether for research or for the presentation of a paper at a meeting, contact the Director of Graduate Studies for a model format. The Director of Graduate Studies will submit your request to the Graduate School. There is a limited amount of money available for these purposes, and not all requests can be met.
  
• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Year Fellowships : The department is allowed to nominate up to four candidates each year for these fellowships, which carry stipends of $12,000 plus research fees. Nominees must have had their dissertation proposals approved, and must have a reasonable prospect of completing the dissertation by the end of the award period. Awards are made by the Graduate School to candidates selected from among all those nominated by all departments in Arts and Sciences, and hence they are highly competitive. Departmental nominations are decided near the end of February.
  
• Center for Religion and Democracy Dissertation Fellowships: One such fellowship is annually guaranteed to the department. The department may nominate up to two students who are pursuing relevant dissertation topics, one of whom will be chosen by the Center. This fellowship carries a stipend of $15,000. Applications are to be submitted to the departmental Committee on Graduate Studies, which decides at the end of January which to send to the Center. Guidelines at: http://religionanddemocracy.lib.virginia.edu/programs/fellowships.html.
  
• Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS): These academic year fellowships carry a stipend of $14,000 and cover tuition for students studying a language relevant to South Asia (Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Tibetan, or Sanskrit/Pali). Summer fellowships are available to University of Virginia students for intensive instruction in Tibetan in the Summer Foreign Language Institute or for the study of other south Asian languages. Additional information may be found at: http://www.virginia.edu/soasia/flas/flas.html. In addition, the Center for Russian and East European Studies awards summer fellowships for the study of Russian and other Slavic or east European languages. Additional information at: http://Minerva.acc.virginia.edu/~crees/FLAS2003.html.
  
• Summer Foreign Language Institute Fellowships : The Graduate School allocates some fellowship funds for graduate students who wish to participate in the University of Virginia Summer Foreign Language Institute. Applications for these funds should be made to the Director of Graduate Studies prior to the deadline of March 7. See the Graduate Secretary, Sarah Adams, for the forms.
  
• Outside Fellowships: Fellowship opportunities for graduate students are provided by a variety of independent foundations and agencies (e.g,, the Charlotte W. Newcomb Foundation, Jacob K. Javits Foundation, Andrew Mellon fellowships, Woodrow Wilson fellowships, Rockefeller Doctoral fellowships, American Association of University Women, etc.). Students are urged to explore such opportunities and to candidate for such fellowship awards whenever they are eligible. The department is developing an electronically accessible database that will furnish information on outside fellowship opportunities. In the meantime, students are referred to the information at: http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/

F. Inquiries and Appeals

Students who have questions about their departmental financial aid awards, need clarification about the grounds, the amount or the elements of the award, or wish to appeal the award, may consult the Director of Graduate Studies. Students who have questions about a non-departmental award should contact the office through which the award is made.

G. Summer Session

The department itself makes no support awards specifically for summer work.

The department is usually able, however, to make available to a small number of advanced graduate students opportunities for teaching during the summer session. This is a valuable occasion for a graduate student to develop and teach his/her own course. Students who have completed their comprehensive examinations are invited to apply to the Chair of the department for summer session teaching opportunities, usually in November.

Graduate level course offerings are minimal in the summer sessions, and consist almost entirely of directed research work. Consequently, students who remain in Charlottesville usually find that they profit most by using the summer months for intensive language study or for research and writing. The Graduate School is occasionally able to provide modest summer stipends for students who can present a strong case for their need to acquire a specialized language competency during the summer. Students who, during the summer, seek course credit, require faculty supervision of their work, plan to take examinations or expect to receive a degree must register for the appropriate summer session and pay the required fees.

V. ACADEMIC ADVISING OF GRADUATE STUDENTS

Academic advising and supervision are provided to graduate students by several distinct but correlative agencies of this department, including the Director of Graduate Studies, the Committee on Graduate Studies, the field committees, and individual members of the graduate faculty. The advising and supervisory duties of these agencies are diverse:

A. The Director of Graduate Studies is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the graduate program, for the administration of policies either mandated by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or stipulated by the departmental Committee on Graduate Studies, and for the routine advising of graduate students, especially on issues relating to policies and requirements.

B. The Committee on Graduate Studies is responsible for stipulating the policies of the graduate program and, with the advice and consent of the field committees, for making decisions regarding admission, financial aid, special petitions from students, satisfactory progress toward the degree, etc. The Committee on Graduate Studies as such does not engage in the academic advising of individual students.

C. The Field Committees of the department are responsible for the design and implementation of the various programs of specialized study, and for the primary academic advising of students enrolled in those programs. Three field committees, one for each area of specialization, are composed of faculty members who offer instruction and supervise research in each area. Since the field committee members are normally also the course instructors of students in their area, they are well placed to monitor and appraise student progress and to offer well-informed advice.

D. Individual members of the faculty are constantly engaged in the advising of graduate students who take courses with them. This advising pertains especially to the courses taught by the faculty member, but in the case of graduate students the advising offered by an instructor is often related to the student's entire program of study. Graduate students who have reached the dissertation stage normally enter into a special advising relationship with the faculty member who supervises the dissertation research. The faculty mentor of the dissertation is especially responsible for assisting the student in the late stages of graduate work, and for advising the student in seeking a teaching position.

The occasions of academic advising are various and frequent. Some of these occasions are formal and regular:

1. Entering graduate students are required, prior to fall semester registration, to participate in two advising meetings. The first of these is with the Director of Graduate Studies, who reviews with entering students the program requirements, registration procedures and advising resources. The second and subsequent meeting is between the student and the appropriate field committee (or one of its members). The field committee advises the student of the requirements of the specialized program of study, helps the student define his or her curricular objectives, and assists the student in intelligent course choice.  
   
2. Every graduate student is required each spring to meet with the appropriate field committee for an annual review of the student's work to date. This review seeks to determine whether the student is meeting program requirements in a timely fashion and with an acceptable level of academic achievement. At this time the field committee also provides the student with suggestions about future work in the program.  
   
3. Every graduate student , at the time of registration for the upcoming semester, should meet with one or more faculty advisors in the area of his or her specialization in order to determine an appropriate selection of courses, and to make sure that the proposed schedule comports with requirements of the Graduate School and of the department.

Apart from these required and regular advising meetings, academic advising is largely informal and usually takes place at the initiative of the student and in accordance with his or her individual needs. All students are encouraged and expected to consult as necessary any member of the faculty on matters of academic concern, and faculty members are regularly accessible for this purpose during their scheduled office hours or by special appointments.

VI. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 Graduate students in the department normally aim to become teachers and research scholars in institutions of higher education, whether in liberal arts colleges, theological schools or research universities. Close training in the advanced study of religion, achieved through coursework, examinations and research, is fundamentally prerequisite to this, but there are other important elements of professional academic life in which graduate students need to be knowledgeable and adept. These include the development and documentation of pedagogical competence (course conception and design, teaching skills and techniques, methods of assessment and evaluation), familiarity with opportunities and means of participation in the activities of professional scholarly organizations, sophistication about how to candidate for academic positions and how to work towards tenure and promotion, awareness of the venues and procedures for the publication of their scholarly research, and a measure of institutional and academic street smarts.

It is not possible for the department to provide the formal means or all the occasions for the acquisition of this type of information. The faculty of the department is individually and collectively a rich source of knowledge on such matters, and is more than willing to make it available. Training in pedagogy is available to teaching assistants both in their actual teaching work and by participation in the department’s pedagogy seminar. From time to time the faculty also arranges special but voluntary sessions for graduate students on seeking academic positions, and occasionally also on other professional development topics. But the initiative for seeking out the relevant information and assistance must finally lie with the graduate students, individually or in groups.

Graduate students are also advised to take full advantage of the excellent information and support provided by the University’s Teaching Resource Center (Hotel D, East Range) and by University Career Services (Bryant Hall, Stadium Road). Useful information on career services may be found at: http://www.virginia.edu/career. For assistance students may contact Lori Nicolaysen, Assistant Director for Graduate Career Services, by e-mail ( lan2v@virginia.edu) or telephone (434-924-8909).

The department annually appoints a Placement Director to advise and assist students who are seeking academic positions.

VII. METHODS FOR RESOLVING STUDENT PROBLEMS & COMPLAINTS

Since the problems or complaints that might arise in graduate study on the part of any individual student are of different types and different degrees of importance, there is no single procedure of the department for dealing with such matters. In general, the following remarks are applicable:

A . In cases of problems or complaints arising in connection with a particular course over which one member of the faculty has supervisory and instructional authority, the student should first of all bring the issue to the attention of that faculty member. If the faculty member is unresponsive, or if an understanding cannot be reached between the student and the instructor, the student may call the matter to the attention of the Chair of the department, who may then serve as an arbiter or may submit the issue to the deliberation of a committee of faculty members. Problems of this sort, however, will normally be handled entirely within the department. It should be said that the Chair will become involved in a student-instructor dispute only with reluctance and only under compelling circumstances.

B. In cases of problems or complaints arising in connection with an established program of studies over which the field committee has supervisory authority, the student should first of all bring the issue to the attention of the field committee in a formal meeting. If the field committee is unresponsive, or if an understanding cannot be reached between the student and the field committee, the student may call the matter to the attention of the Committee on Graduate Studies, which supervises the graduate program as a whole. Appeals beyond the Committee on Graduate Studies may be made to the departmental faculty for consideration in a general session.

C . In cases of problems or complaints arising in connection with general policies, requirements and procedures of the department in respect of its graduate program, the student should first of all bring the issue to the attention of the Committee on Graduate Studies, either directly, or indirectly through the Director of Graduate Studies. Appeals beyond the Committee on Graduate Studies may be made to the departmental faculty for consideration in a general session.

D . In cases of problems or complaints arising in connection with general policies, requirements and procedures of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, or of the University of Virginia as a whole, the issue should be brought to the attention of the Graduate Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, usually through the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School.

E . In cases where the student has reason to believe that he or she has suffered discrimination on the basis of race, sex, creed or national origin, the matter should be brought to the attention of the Chair of the department. Appeals beyond the Chair may be made to the Equal Opportunity Office of the University of Virginia.

 

VIII. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE DEPARTMENT

The department of religious studies has the following administrative officers, all of whom serve in multi-year terms:

1. The Chair
2. Associate Chair
3. The Director of Graduate Studies
4. The Director of Undergraduate Studies
5. The Equal Opportunity Coordinator
6. Graduate Placement Coordinator

The department is also administered through the work of a series of faculty committees. These include:

1. Committee on Graduate Studies
2. Committee on Undergraduate Studies
3. Faculty Field Committees (3)
4. Executive and Long-Range Planning Committee
5. Committee on Special Events
6. Curriculum Committee
7. Teaching Committee
8. Library Committee
9. Computing and Information Technology Committee
10. Committee on Research, Development and Sponsored Grants

The memberships and chairpersons of most of these committees usually vary from one year to the next. Representatives from the graduate student body are invited to serve on many of these committees, whether as elected or appointed representatives

(Revised August 2006)