Requirements

Below are the necessary requirements and forms that All Department of Economics Graduate Ph.D. students must complete; as noted on the rules and policy section of our web site. As each benchmark has been achieved the appropriate form below must be filled out, and signed when signature is required. The forms are fillable, but you must download the forms before completing them or your information will not be saved. All forms must be handed in to the Graduate Coordinator, Gina Conway by the deadlines indicated in our rules and policies.

Serving as a TA or RA is one of your ACADEMIC requirements for the program. As part of academic training, students serve as teaching or research assistants in years two through five.  Students with select types of external fellowships may be exempt from some of these requirements with permission of the Graduate Chair.  The Economics Graduate Group considers teaching—and the ability communicate ideas about economics effectively—to be an essential component in preparing students for the demands of the profession.

First Year

• Completed Core Courses
• Graduate Progress Report
• First-Year Summer Requirement More information is listed in rules and policies

Second Year

• Complete Empirical Economics and upper level course requirements.
• Empirical Course Requirement Form: This form must be completed and returned by May 31st of your second year. Courses that count towards the requirement are located here.
• Upper Level Course Requirement Form:  This form must be returned each semester, from second year on, until the requirement has been completed.​​​​
• Attend seminars, including job market seminars.
• Stay after formal presentation to interact with presenter and faculty.
• Talk economics!
• Anyone who has matriculated in a graduate program prior to entering our PhD Program is eligible to request a transfer of up to 8 credits. Submit your official transcripts to Gina (no copies or scanned document)
• Transfer of Credit Form:  This form is used to transfer credit from a previous graduate program.
• The Economics department requires that students complete 16 course units for the Ph.D., of which a maximum of eight may be transferred from other institutions. In order to satisfy the requirement, students may sign up for independent studies and workshops (there is no limit on the number of workshops that a student can register for) after their second year.
• Third Year Paper Proposal: During the summer, each rising third year student should prepare a research proposal for the third year to be emailed to Grad Chair and Grad Coordinator by August 31. This proposal should be one page and should state a general area of interest (no need to be too concrete) and the confirmation that you have ALREADY talked with two faculty members (by August 31) and started a conversation with them about your third-year paper.
• Second-Year Summer Requirement More information is listed in rules and policies

Third Year 

• Third Year Paper Supervisor Form:  This form must be completed and returned by January 31st, of your third year.
• Complete first research paper.
  Third Year Paper Completion Form:  This form must be signed and returned after it has been approved and graded. Your paper must be submitted to your Third Year Paper Supervisor no later than May 31st of your third year. This will often form the first chapter of your dissertation.
• Third Year Seminar: Third year PhD seminar course (mandatory for all 3rd year students). 
  Econ 7500A – Third Year PhD Seminar (Fall) & Econ 7500B – Third year PhD Seminar (Spring)
• Workshop Requirement: All students are required to complete two course units of an afternoon workshop (not lunch workshop) with a letter grade usually in their 3rd or 4th year in the program. You can begin registering for workshops starting in your third year. More information is listed in rules and policies.
• Attend seminars, including job market seminars.

Fourth Year

• Advisor Form:  Advisors must be chosen by December 20th of fourth year.
• Change Advisor Form:  This form must be completed if you plan to change your advisor.
• Pass proposal defense.
• 4th Year Proposal Defense Form:  The Dissertation Proposal Defense must be completed by May 31st of your fourth year.
• Workshop Requirement: If you have not completed this requirement during your 3rd year, be sure to register for a workshop. All students are required to complete two course units of an afternoon workshop (not lunch workshop) with a letter grade usually in their 3rd or 4th year in the program. More information is listed in rules and policies

Fifth Year

• All students must also present in one afternoon workshop – not a Lunch workshop – prior to his/her Dissertation Defense
• Workshop Completion Form:  This form must be signed and returned once the workshop requirement has been satisfied.
• Job Market

Other Graduate Forms

• Certification of Paper Acceptable for a Master's Degree Form:  This form must be completed before receiving a Master's degree. More information in Rules and Polices under Course Unit Requirements.
• Haney Prize Nomination Form:  This form is for faculty who wish to submit a nomination for the Haney Prize (for the best third year research paper).
• PhD Student Leave of Absence Form: Before submitting your request, please discuss with the Grad Chair and/or Grad Coordinator.  Leaves of absence from PhD studies are typically granted for one or two semesters. Leaves requested for a longer period are approved only in exceptional circumstances (for example, mandatory military service). Students may request an extension of leave, to be approved by the Graduate Chair in consultation with the Graduate Dean. Extension requests should be made by the student at least 30 days before the expiration of the original leave of absence.

Teaching and Research Assistantships

Only students who have been certified as being fluent in English in the classroom by English Language Programs can be appointed to Teaching Assistantships (TA).

Being a Research Assistant (RA) does not preclude a student from being a TA later. An important consideration for a student to be a RA is whether the work is related to the student's research, and whether such will be a help or hindrance in his or her studies.