Hello,
These are the notes from the COGS meeting we had in November. There are a number of things that we would really like your feedback on, so if you have a moment please read through and send us any comments, questions, or ideas.
Cheers,
–[COGS]
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Administrative/Logistical things to be aware of:
1) For the entire university:
a. At a “State of the University” address, Falcone discussed how fellowships will continue for students despite some university restructuring (so breathe easier, money will be still available for our awards).
b. “Excellence” fellowships will continue as well. These fellowships are given to students with outstanding credentials to convince them to come to NEU. This won’t really affect anyone who is already attending school here.
c. The university is embattled with trying to create new programs while maintaining funding for existing programs (including us). If this affects us in the future, we’ll let you know immediately.
d. There is talk of creating a university-wide “graduate school” that would unite all of us from every discipline in our misery. We will keep you posted as this debate unfolds.
2) In the department:
a. Graduate course start times have to be at either 4:30pm or 6:30pm; there is very little flexibility (maybe a half hour or so, but that is it). I know some of us wanted to have courses earlier in the day – doesn’t look like that is possible.
b. Steve Vallas and the faculty are continuing efforts to Re-vision the department. There is widespread support for solidifying the “Clusters” of subdisciplines (e.g. Urban, Gender, Inequality, and Globalization).
c. The application process Soc/Anth uses has been in the process of becoming fully “automated” (e.g. digital). Letters of recommendation will now be submitted online. This doesn’t affect anyone who is already in the program.
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COMPS!!!
1) The Comps Process and Reading Lists:
a. In the comps process, the department wants more oversight by COGS and less power vested solely in the committee. What this really means is that until a permanent system can be put into place, starting at the beginning of the year reading lists will be approved not by your committee but by COGS (via Matt Hunt). The purpose of this is to ensure that we get a solid grounding in contemporary sociology; the department is trying to cut back on the number of “niche comps” that are too narrowly focused.
b. A longer term solution is that comps approval will be vested in the Clusters. If you have a topic that is outside the scope of our 4 subdisciplines, then COGS (as representative of the total department) will retain approval authority.
c. There is also talk that within the Clusters, ‘foundational reading lists’ in the subdiscipline may be used in part to inform comps lists. There is a bit of debate going on about whether comps are meant to build a foundation for a dissertation or a foundation for knowledge. One idea was to have one comp on foundational knowledge and then have the second one be open. Another idea was to have two foundational knowledge comps that students can petition out of one of them to do more niche-focused work. If you have suggestions or opinions about this, please let us know. As this debate continues, we’ll keep you informed.
2) Comps Questions/Writing Prompts:
a. There is also a debate about whether the questions asked for our comps should either inform the reading list, or if there should be a reading list and then a pop question should be made from the list. If you have ideas or comments, please let us know.
3) Comps Library:
a. In an effort to make everything easier for everyone, we’re in the process of building a Comps Library – from both NEU students and from those in other universities – that will be available both as a bound hardcopy and as a digital archive. This will make constructing comps lists easier for the time being.
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Advising - we know finding and keeping an active adviser who is familiar with your research interests is somewhat difficult. We are going to push a few things that may help that:
1) COGS is discussing having an adviser sign-off sheet that would ensure that our advisers meet with us and ensure the we are progressing in a good direction one a semester.
2) COGS wants to formalize the adviser request process – at the end of the academic year, each student may be asked to submit some standardized form for “who is your adviser”, or alternatively “I want to switch and I’ve already received permission”.
3) In addressing ‘content’ mismatches between advisers and students, hopefully the new hires will address this to a certain degree. That is why your participation in the hiring process is incredibly important. Other than that, we have brought this problem to the attention of COGS, hopefully in the next meeting we can devote more time to this issue.
4) Incoming students will be assigned a temporary adviser to help them get acclimated to the department and the various Clusters. We need to push using this resource as an informal cultural practice so that students have an easier time finding someone who can direct their studies throughout the entirety of their program instead of just in the last few years.
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Completing dissertations:
1) It is taking many students far too long to finish their dissertations. Some students are taking too long to complete their comps, which should be done by the end of one year after coursework. This will be more strongly enforced, though how was not mentioned.
2) We discussed how we feel the expectations for our dissertations are ambiguous. Although there was some talk that this might be indicative of “an advising failure”, COGS was receptive and wanted to know more. At what stage area people stalling out at? How serious is this? What forms of guidance would be helpful once the comps process is completed?
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Courses:
1) Enrollment has become a problem in some of our graduate courses. There is a discussion about feeding Urban Studies students into our ranks in classes to increase the number of students (and therefore keep some courses from being canceled).
