Geochemistry

Students must complete 48 units for the degree: 40 units of coursework—28 units of core courses required of all students, and an additional 12 units of coursework based on the student’s field of specialization—plus 8 units of mentored research experience. Full time graduate students must register for a minimum of 12 units per quarter. Students’ courses, as well as any changes of coursework throughout the quarter, must be approved both by the student’s faculty adviser and graduate adviser prior to registering for courses each quarter. To be considered to be in good academic standing, students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.0.

Five Required Core Courses (20 units)

Minimum of 4 Units of Additional CAEM Core Courses from the Following:

ARCHAEOL M 201C Research Design (4 units)

One Conservation Research Internship (8 units)

Minimum of 12 Units of Courses from the Following, Based on Field of Specialization:

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Students complete the field experience requirement by enrolling in CAEM 290 (8 units). This required research-based conservation internship aims to complement the cluster area courses and introduces students to the conservation challenges while helping students gain research experience and skills in the field. This requirement may be satisfied by participation in a research project at a museum, conservation or science laboratory/national facility, archaeological project, NGO and industry.

Capstone Plan

To receive the M.S. in CMC, students must pass the oral preliminary and written qualifying examinations required for advancement to candidacy in the Ph.D. program, which serve as the master’s comprehensive exam.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

MAXIMUM TTD

Advising

The chair of the Conservation of Material Culture IDP serves as the graduate adviser. Two faculty advisers, serving as co-chairs of the dissertation committee from different UCLA academic units, will be assigned to all entering students reflecting the cross-disciplinary and synergistic nature of the program. The Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Conservation IDP reviews each student's progress quarterly.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Conservation & Material Culture Science; Preventive Conservation & Care of Collections; Cultural Property Forensics; Advanced Multidimensional Documentation; Biocultural Heritage Conservation; Emergency Planning and Managing Disaster Risks of World Cultural Heritage; Conservation Philosophy & Ethics.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students must complete 48 units for the degree: 40 units of coursework—28 units of 200-level core courses required of all students, and an additional 12 units of 200-level coursework based on the student’s field of specialization, all taken for a letter grade—plus 8 units of mentored research experience that may be S/U. Full time graduate students must register for a minimum of 12 units per quarter. These 12 units can be made up of a combination of required core coursework (28 units), 500 level courses (8 units). Students’ courses, as well as any changes of coursework throughout the quarter, must be approved by both the student’s dissertation adviser and graduate adviser prior to registering for courses each quarter. To be considered to be in good academic standing, students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.5.

Students entering the PhD program with master’s degrees from UCLA or another recognized institution can petition to have up to 12 quarter units (three graduate level courses) from their master’s degree substituted towards the Ph.D. degree requirement. Entering students who have already completed the five required core courses at UCLA may petition to replace these five required core courses with other courses relevant to their field of specialization.

Five Required Core Courses (20 units)

Minimum of 4 Units of Additional CAEM Core Courses from the Following:

ARCHAEOL M 201C Research Design (4 units)

One Conservation Research Internship (8 units)

Minimum of 12 Units of Courses from the Following, Based on Field of Specialization:

Teaching Experience

At least one quarter of Teaching Experience, either as a Teaching Assistant or from other teaching experience approved by the student’s dissertation co-chairs and the chair of the IDP.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

After mastering the body of knowledge defined in the main research subject (Conservation of Material Culture), the student takes a pre-candidacy oral preliminary examination covering this knowledge. This pass/fail examination must be taken during the first academic year of admission to the Ph.D. program. If failed, it can be retaken in the next quarter (excluding summer). If failed a second time, the student will subject to academic disqualification.

Upon completion of required coursework, students must pass a three-hour pass/fail pre-candidacy written qualifying examination testing their knowledge in the subset field courses. If failed, it can be retaken in the next quarter (excluding summer). If failed a second time, the student will subject to academic disqualification.

After passing the pre-candidacy written qualifying examination, the student takes the University Oral Qualifying Examination, which is focused on the student’s dissertation proposal. The University Oral Qualifying Exam must be taken by the end of the sixth quarter from the time of admission to the Ph.D. program. The student must be registered during the quarter in which an examination is given and be in good academic standing (minimum grade-point average of 3.5). If failed, it can be retaken in the next quarter (excluding summer). If failed a second time, the student will subject to academic disqualification.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy (ATC) upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations. Normative time for advancement to candidacy is six quarters.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)

Required for all students. Final oral examination/viva voce may take place only after all other degree requirements have been met. In this exam, the student demonstrates to their dissertation committee satisfactory command of all aspects of the work presented and other related subjects, if applicable. A student is not considered to have passed the final oral examination with more than one “not passed” vote, regardless of the size of the committee. If failed, it can be retaken in the next quarter (excluding summer). If failed a second time, the student will subject to academic disqualification.

Time-to-Degree

The normative time-to-degree (TTD) for the Ph.D. degree from the time of admission to the program is 15 quarters. The maximum time-to-degree is 18 quarters.

MAXIMUM TTD

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.