The M.A. program in Social Ecology requires a thesis and satisfactory completion of seven approved courses (28 units).

Course Requirements

Students are strongly encouraged to become involved in research very early in their graduate careers by participating in the research projects of the faculty. Students complete a supervised research project before they begin work on their doctoral dissertation. Research is broadly construed to include experimental methods, questionnaire and interview studies, systematic field observation, secondary analyses, legal analyses, etc. Students should begin work on this second year research project during their first year and should complete the project during the second year in residence (preferably by the end of the winter quarter of the second year). The research project must be evaluated and approved by a committee of three faculty, the majority of whom are in the School of Social Ecology. Normally, one faculty member will serve as the chair of the committee and the major advisor for the research, but students should consult with all three members of the committee about their research plans. [Note: Students who wish to submit the written report of their research as a thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.A. must have the membership of their thesis committee approved by the Associate Dean of the School acting on behalf of the Dean of the School and must be advanced to M.A. candidacy the previous quarter. Please see information on M.A. in Social Ecology]. Please contact the Social Ecology Graduate Affairs Coordinator if you have any questions.

A written report of the research must be prepared for evaluation by the members of the committee. The report typically will be comparable in scope and format to articles that appear in leading journals in the social and behavioral sciences. Approval of the student's research project must be certified by obtaining the signature of each committee member on a form that is available by contacting the Social Ecology Graduate Affairs Coordinator.

Breadth Requirement

The final years of doctoral study are devoted to developing and defending a dissertation proposal and conducting dissertation research. The student must compose a doctoral dissertation committee that is comprised of three voting members of the University Academic Senate. A majority of the committee, but not necessarily all, shall be affiliated with the program. In order to successfully defend their dissertation, the student must schedule and complete an oral defense that is open to the academic community in addition to the doctoral committee.

Students should strive to complete all requirements for the Ph.D. in Social Ecology by their fifth year of study, but those requirements must be completed no later than their seventh year of study, adjusted for any approved leaves of absence that the student may have taken. Failure to complete all degree requirements by the end of the seventh year may result in initiation of steps to terminate the student’s status as a doctoral student.