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grad@illinois.edu

Graduate School Lingo and Advice

Lingo

ABD: "All but dissertation," a common term for doctoral students who have completed their coursework but have not yet finished their dissertation. Although this term is widely known in academic circles, it is unfamiliar to most people outside academe.

Adviser: Your thesis/dissertation adviser is critical to your academic and career success. Ideally, an adviser should guide you in your choice of a thesis topic, help you choose a committee, provide research guidance, read drafts, provide moral support, help you get published, be a supportive resource in career planning and the job search process, and help you network.

Attrition: This term is used primarily in doctoral education, to indicate the numbers of students who do not complete PhD programs. Nationwide, only about 50% of students who begin doctoral study will complete the degree.

Candidacy: This term is not completely standardized in its usage in higher education, but is usually used to describe doctoral students who have passed their qualifying exams and/or prelims. It is generally analogous to ABD.

Chronicle of Higher Education: The Chronicle is a national, weekly publication that features articles, news, and job postings pertaining to academe. It is available through paper or electronic subscription, but much of the Chronicle is available to non-subscribers. In particular, the Chronicle Careers section is available to all, and is a useful career planning resource for graduate students. See chronicle.com/jobs/.

Collective bargaining: The Graduate Employee's Organization (GEO) is now officially recognized as the exclusive bargaining unit for all graduate assistants (GAs) and most teaching assistants (TAs). The GEO collectively bargains and negotiates, on behalf of all the GAs and TAs within their bargaining unit, with University administration whenever a new contract is required. For more information about the GEO and/or the current agreement, see www.shout.net/~geo.

Committee: In the context of graduate education, this term usually refers to a graduate student's dissertation committee, or the group of faculty who advise a student on his or her dissertation. However, individual departments may also have preliminary examination committees, and final examination committees, whose members may or may not differ from a dissertation committee. For a full description of committees and the policies that govern them, see www.grad.illinois.edu/gradhandbook/chapterIV/section04.asp.

CV: Also called a curriculum vitae, or just "vita," the CV is used to apply for college and university teaching positions as well as for fellowships and industrial research jobs. Individuals applying for administrative positions in academe may be asked for either a résumé or a CV. Further information about constructing a CV is available on the Graduate College Web site.

Deposit: The thesis or dissertation is a graduation requirement for all doctoral degrees and many master's programs. It is not complete until it is "deposited" in the Graduate College Thesis Office and meets university guidelines. Copies are then forwarded to the university library for archival.

Fellowship: This is a type of financial support provided with no expectation of service (work). Fellowships are considered financial aid and they provide a monthly, living stipend for students, and most fellows at Illinois receive their stipend through the campus payroll system. Students may receive fellowships from their graduate programs, the campus or through direct application. See the Graduate College listing, Fellowship Opportunities at https://www.grad.uiuc.edu/fellowship/.

Prelims: The preliminary examination is required by the Graduate College, and may be oral or written or both, depending on the unit's policy. Preliminary examinations generally evaluate the student's overall and specific knowledge in the field. Preliminary examinations usually also include an oral presentation to review the feasibility and appropriateness of a student's dissertation research proposal. Practices vary by department.

Quals: This is usually the shorthand for "qualifying exams." These are not a campus requirement at Illinois, but many departments do require them. The purpose is to determine if a student is capable of graduate study and research at the PhD level. They may be written, oral, or a combination of both.

SPEAK Test: Oral English skills for international teaching assistants are assessed through the SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) Test, SPEAK Appeals, or TSE (Test of Spoken English). International students are encouraged to take the TSE, which is administered by ETS (Educational Testing Service) prior to arriving to campus. Illinois offers the SPEAK test for those unable to take the TSE. In those cases where a department and the student believe a specific SPEAK score is not representative of the student's true speaking ability, then a SPEAK Appeals test may be requested by the student's department during the same semester the SPEAK Test is offered. For more information, see www.cte.uiuc.edu/Did/ITAs/index.htm.

TA/GA/RA: These common abbreviations stand for Teaching Assistant, Graduate Assistant, and Research Assistant, respectively, and each refers to one of the most common forms of graduate financial support. Each of these assistantships, which usually range from 17% to 67% of full-time employment, offers a stipend and often a tuition waiver in exchange for work that ranges from assisting a professor with a large lecture course, teaching courses, providing administrative support, and performing and assisting with research. See the Assistantship Clearinghouse for available opportunities, or contact your department.

Thesis/Dissertation: At Illinois, thesis usually refers to a research project for master's study. A dissertation is the culmination of doctoral research.

Time to Degree: The number of years it takes to complete a (doctoral) degree. The time to degree varies by area of study, but is generally longer in the humanities than in the sciences. Median time to degree since receipt of the bachelor's degree was 10.0 years in 2004, and has shown little change over the past 25 years.

Resources and Things to Think About

  • There are a lot of unwritten rules about graduate school and about your specific discipline. A great resource to introduce you to the landscape is
    • Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an MA or a PhD by Robert Peters. (available in libraries & bookstores)
  • Graduate students are surrounded by some of the most intelligent and self-motivated people in the world, and this can often negatively impact their self-esteem. See
  • Many students get bogged down by perfectionism when writing the thesis or dissertation. Remember that it needs to be "good enough." See
  • Graduate school can be very stressful. The UC-Berkeley Mental Health Task Force reports that graduate students suffer stress at crisis levels. See
  • Only about 50% of students who begin a doctoral program will complete the degree. It is a myth that students who don't complete are less qualified than those who do; it's more about personal choices. See
  • Many students will complete the PhD but decide against a faculty career. See
  • The best guide to help you with the search for a faculty job is
    • Mary Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick, The Academic Job Search Handbook (available in libraries and bookstores).
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