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Each year the Department of Economics offers assistantships to some of its graduate students. The number of assistantships available in a given year depends on the size of the GTA budget (which the department receives from the College of Arts and Sciences). Because the budget is, regrettably, not large enough to provide financial assistance to every graduate student, representatives of the department (namely, the Department Head and the Director of Graduate Studies) must decide which students are to be offered support. These decisions are based on various criteria.
Grades are important, especially in core courses (graduate micro, macro, and econometrics). An A in a core course is weighted more heavily than an A in an applied economics course (especially at the 600-level). In turn, an A in an applied economics course counts more than an A in a course from another department.
Progress toward completing the degree is also important. Graduate students seeking financial assistance are expected to stay on a schedule that allows them to complete their degree in a timely fashion. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, required courses should be taken as soon as possible, and students in the Ph.D. program should take the qualifying and preliminary exams immediately after they have completed the necessary course work. Appointment or reappointment to a GTA position depends upon suitable progress in terms of grades, courses taken, and comprehensive examinations.
Because the department relies on graduate students to teach some of its courses, graduate students with the academic ability, composure, and communication skills necessary for classroom instruction will be given a high priority for an assistantship. International students can be considered for classroom teaching positions only if they have received a score of 50 or higher on the SPEAK test, administered by the English Language Program.
Other things equal, students in the Ph.D. program will be favored over students in the M.A. program, but the type of program is less important than a student's academic record.
Students who have completed at least four years in our graduate program will generally be a lower priority for support than students in their first four years unless the department needs the skills of more senior students, e.g., to teach.The Ph.D. program in Economics will have two administrators: a Director of Graduate Studies (Economics) and a Director of Graduate Studies (Agricultural Economics). Student recruitment and student records are the responsibilities of the respective departments.
Each department will have its own graduate faculty, which will be responsible for its graduate faculty nominations and program requirements (other than in economics theory and research methods). Programmatic changes involving qualifying examinations or economic theory must be approved by a favorable majority vote of both graduate faculties voting separately before the change is effective. All courses in the program of study, except dissertation research and seminars that have been approved for credit/no-credit or pass/fail, must be taken for letter grades. Research for doctoral dissertations is graded credit/no-credit exclusively. Incompletes for research credit hours awarded while research is in progress are not subject to the incomplete policy for course work.A Joint Graduate Committee will have the responsibility for generating program policy recommendations, monitoring the functioning of the program, reviewing and recommending admissions, and approving Programs of Study. The committee will have four members, two of whom will be appointed by the Head of the Department of Economics and two of whom will be appointed by the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics. The Joint Graduate Committee chairperson will serve for a 12-month term beginning July 1. In years ending with an odd digit the Head of the Economics Department will select the chairperson. In years ending with an even digit the Head of the Agricultural Economics Department will select the chairperson. The Directors of Graduate Studies will serve on the Graduate Committee as non-voting members.
A student working for a doctorate must be enrolled at Kansas State University during the semester in which the preliminary examination is taken and in each subsequent semester until the degree requirements are met and the dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School, unless a leave of absence is approved by the major professor, department head, and Dean of the Graduate School. Failure to enroll will result in loss of candidacy. To regain candidacy, the student must successfully petition the Readmission Committee of the Graduate School. For more details and restrictions see the Graduate Handbook .
(1) A student dispute will be handled within the student’s own department (Economics or Agricultural Economics) unless that dispute involves components of the doctoral program common to both Economics and Agricultural Economics. For those disputes handled within a student’s own department, the student must first bring the matter directly before the faculty member or administrator involved. If the matter is not resolved at this level, a student may appeal to the responsible administrator of the graduate program. The responsible administrator is the Director of Graduate Studies in the student’s department unless the dispute involves the Director of Graduate Studies. In that event, the responsible administrator is the Department Head. If the dispute involves both the Director of Graduate Studies and the Department head, the dean of the academic college will handle the appeal. If the matter is not resolved in the student’s favor upon appeal, the student may petition the Dean of the Graduate School by filing a formal grievance within six months of the time the student knows of the matter prompting the grievance.
(2) Student disputes involving the joint doctoral program in economics must initially be brought to the faculty member(s) involved in the dispute. All unresolved issues including those involving qualifying exams should then be taken up with the Director of Graduate Studies in Economics (or, if the issue directly involves the Director of Graduate Studies, with the Head of the Department of Economics). The final channel of appeal within the joint program is with the Joint Graduate Committee. If the matter is not solved in the student’s favor upon appeal to the Joint Graduate Committee, the student may petition the Dean of the Graduate School by filing a formal grievance within six months of the time the student knows of the matter prompting the grievance.
(3) For grievances involving course grades (but not academic dishonesty), the student must appeal the grade to the instructor within four months following the issuance of the grade in question. If a grade grievance is not resolved by the student and the instructor, the student may appeal in writing to the instructor’s department head, who will meet with the instructor and the student to attempt to resolve the dispute. The student is responsible for initiating this appeal within two weeks of the date of initiating contact with the instructor to dispute the grade.
If the grievance has not been settled to the student’s satisfaction at the department level, written appeal may be made to the dean of the instructional college. The student is responsible for initiating this appeal within two weeks of the date of the decision by the department head. If the student is not satisfied with any resolution reached after involvement by the dean, the student may appeal in writing to the Graduate Student Grade Appeal Board.
For additional information, see the Graduate Handbook.
A request for an exception from the policies in this document should be made in writing by the major professor to the appropriate administrative body, with copies sent to the Director of Graduate Studies and the Head of the Department of Economics. For policies originating from the Graduate School, the request should be directed to the Dean of the Graduate School. For policies originating from the joint Ph.D. program, the request should be directed to the Joint Graduate Committee. For policies originating from the Department of Economics, the request should be directed to the Economics Graduate Committee. Contact the Director of Graduate Studies for information concerning the appropriate direction for the request.
