2025/26
Requirements and Policies 2025-2026
Director of Graduate Studies
Brian C. Thiede
Associate Professor of Rural Sociology, Sociology, and Demography
112E Armsby Building
Email: bct11@psu.edu
Phone: 814-865-2561
Penn State Policies on Graduate Education
Requirements of the Graduate School, as given in the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin, apply to all graduate degrees and procedures of the Department. The complete listing of Graduate School policies and resources for students can be found online. In case of conflicts between the program handbook and Graduate School policies, the latter take precedence. Students should also be familiar with the Penn State academic calendar and with deadlines periodically announced by the Graduate School.
Academic Integrity
According to University Faculty Senate Policy 49-20, "Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University's Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students' dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts. Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others."
Students should bear in mind the importance of academic integrity in their course work, assistantship and wage payroll work, and work on theses and dissertations. If a student has questions about whether a particular action would be a violation of academic integrity, the student's academic advisor and the appropriate departmental Graduate Committee can provide guidance. The College of Agricultural Sciences' guidelines for implementing Policy 49-20 are available online.
Graduate Programs in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education
The department has multiple graduate programs administered by the graduate faculty of the relevant disciplinary cluster. Each faculty cluster determines the operation of their respective graduate programs within the regulatory boundaries of Penn State and the Graduate School. The person responsible for leading each graduate degree program at AESE is the program's Director of Graduate Studies, who is a tenured faculty member of the department and a member of the program's graduate faculty.
Conflict resolution not regulated at the university level starts in the graduate program, and it is facilitated by the Director of Graduate Studies. If the issue cannot be resolved within the program, the case is moved to the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education to resolve disagreements. If resolution cannot be achieved within the academic unit, further steps are determined by the relevant procedures in Appendices II, III, and IV of the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin.
Department Facilities
AESE programs and activities are housed in the Armsby and Ferguson Buildings. These facilities contain administrative and faculty offices, instructional facilities, conference rooms, and computer labs. Rural Sociology graduate student offices are located primarily on the third floor of the Armsby Building. Students on assistantships or fellowships have priority for graduate student office space. Graduate students not receiving departmental or University financial support are provided office space as available. All graduate students are assigned a mailbox in the Armsby computer lab (room 13). Students may have access to computers through their assistantship or academic advisors. Other students should use the Armsby computer lab or other computer labs available on campus.
Core Penn State Values in Graduate Education
The Rural Sociology Graduate Program adheres to the Penn State Graduate School's core values of creating a positive climate, promoting academic success, and facilitating students’ career development. We support these values by implementing practices that:
- contribute to a respectful, stimulating, and supportive climate
- promote students' academic success
- promote the career development of students
A complete set of expectations for faculty, staff, and student behavior to implement these values and practices are included in the Appendix to this handbook. The Graduate School's statement can be found online.
Rural Sociology Graduate Program Policies and Procedures
Students must understand and comply with all requirements and provisions of the Rural Sociology Graduate Handbook that is in effect at the time of their matriculation into the program. Students who complete their MS degree in the Rural Sociology program at Penn State and then are admitted to the PhD program must comply with the handbook that is in effect in the semester in which they begin their PhD program.
