The Dean’s Completion Fellowship/Postgraduate Research Associates (DCF/PGRA) Program provides additional, generous financial support to promising sixth-year Ph.D. students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Not only does this encourage degree completion, the program emphasizes activities that strengthen participants’ candidacy on the job market. Program Overview The DCF/PGRA Program consists of two parts, as described in detail below: A Dean's Completion Fellowship (DCF) for one term and a Postgraduate Research Associate (PGRA) appointment, if the FPO is completed before the end of the DCF semester. Eligibility for this program is by departmental nomination. Dean’s Completion Fellowships These fellowships pay the Dissertation Completion Enrollment (DCE) tuition fee and provide fellowship funding at the full standard stipend rate to selected sixth-year students. These fellowships may be held in the fall or spring. Postgraduate Research Associate Program Students who finish dissertation work and successfully complete the Final Public Oral (FPO) before the end of the fellowship semester may be appointed as Postgraduate Research Associates (PGRAs) through the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. PGRA appointments offer: Employment and increased pay: PGRAs enjoy secure employment affiliation with the University, with an increase in pay. Career-oriented activities: PGRAs focus on DOF-approved activities that strengthen their candidacy on the job market, including: research and publication work, advising undergraduate students, administrative duties (within the department or in conjunction with other University offices), and/or teaching a course. Under certain circumstances, teaching could also be done at an institution other than Princeton. DCF Recipients Who Do Not Complete the FPO by January 31/May 31 DCF/PGRA recipients who do not complete the FPO by January 31 (for fall DCFs) or by May 31 (for spring DCFs), and are ineligible to convert to PGRA status, may continue enrollment in DCE status. Such students will have no guaranteed funding from the Graduate School, except in cases of previously obtained University funding, and no further opportunity for a PGRA appointment. These students may apply to and receive funding opportunities available to DCE students including Assistantship in Instruction appointments, departmental funds, and external awards. DCF/PGRA and Other Funding Programs Prior University Funding While the DCF replaces any funding that may have otherwise been guaranteed by the Graduate School in the fall semester, students will be able to recoup any promised spring semester funding should they remain enrolled. Students awarded the DCF who do not convert to PGRA status will be supported by any previously obtained University funding including a banked year of guaranteed fellowship due to a prior external award, or participation in the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities (IHUM), etc. Students may draw on that funding in the remaining months of their sixth year of study. Honorific Fellowship Recipients Honorific Fellowship recipients in the Humanities and Social Sciences departments are given an opportunity to convert to Postgraduate Research Associate (PGRA) status. Specifically, Honorific Fellowship recipients who complete the Final Public Oral (FPO) by January 31 have the option of converting to a PGRA appointment through the Dean of the Faculty. Those who do not complete the FPO by January 31, and are therefore not eligible to convert to PGRA status, continue on in the spring term with full funding through their Honorific Fellowships. Assistantships in Instruction In general, it is expected that recipients of the Dean’s Completion Fellowship will not serve as AIs in the semester they are holding the fellowship. The Dean’s Completion Fellowship provides students with fellowship funding in order to allow them to focus on completing their dissertations. Departments seeking an exception should confer with Lisa Schreyer. If approved to teach, a Dean’s Completion Fellowship recipient will have their fellowship replaced proportionately by the AI appointment. Childhood and Adoption Accommodation (CAA) Students selected for the Dean’s Completion Fellowship/Postgraduate Research Associate (DCF/PGRA) Program who are also eligible for one additional term of full financial support through Childbirth and Adoption Accommodation (CAA), may choose to utilize the CAA funding first and defer the financial support provided by the Dean’s Completion Fellowship (DCF) funding to the following term. In this example, students would maintain Dissertation Completion Enrollment (DCE) status during the fall term of the sixth year while supported on CAA funding. Students would then utilize DCF support in the spring term of the sixth year and, if the Final Public Oral is completed before the end of May, be appointed as Post-Graduate Research Associates (PGRA) through the end of the fall term, inclusive of the preceding summer. Please contact the Graduate School prior to the start of the fall term to request the CAA financial support.