Particular areas of study do require specific courses of their doctoral students, and students should consult relevant faculty and the guidelines of their respective areas of study concerning these matters. Students normally should maintain a substantial course load during the A.M. years and the first year of doctoral study, both to develop their own scholarly capacities and to provide appropriate opportunities for faculty members to assess their work. Students in a degree program normally complete the residence requirement through continuous registration in the Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters of successive academic years to fulfill it. All students doing research leading to a degree, preparing for qualifying examinations, or writing dissertations must be registered if they are making use of the facilities of the University. Administered by the University, the examinations test reading comprehension by requiring the translation into idiomatic English of short passages from current scholarly publications in French or German.
Students register to graduate upon completion of all degree requirements.
While students normally graduate in the quarter following completion of requirements, it is possible in some circumstances to complete final requirements and graduate in the same quarter. Students should consult with the Dean of Students if they have questions about appropriate arrangements for graduation. While the faculty that recommends the award of a degree establishes its academic requirements, the University establishes the residence requirements for those degrees. The unit of residence is the academic year, which normally consists of three consecutive quarters of enrollment. Graduate students at the University register according to a two-stage residence structure.