Out of Department Classes

[SportPsych30]

So I am hoping to supplement my education with some classes outside of department. I am going to be a first year PhD student, for what its worth and have a fully funded package. 

I am wondering if I will have pay for these classes out of pocket, or will they also be covered in my funding? Any insight?

[jmu]

It depends on your program. It should say in your grad handbook and if not ask the program director.

[bsharpe269]

Taking extra class, just for the sake of taking them (if they wont replace a requirement) is frowned upon (at my school at least). This was exaplained to me by an older grad student my first semester when I wanted to take an extra class for fun/knowedge. Taking extra classes isnt really the "grad school" way of doing things, buying the text book and learning the material on your own is a more respected way to pick up extra knowedge. In gernal, extra classes means less time for research which comes off as not really knowing what grad school is about. This was advice given to me so I figured I'd pass it on.

 

If you are trying to replace some of your requiremenst with classes in other departments then that would be completely different and would depend on the department's policies.

[SportPsych30]

bsharpe,

Thanks for the heads up! I never would have thought it would be frowned upon.. I think the damage may unfortunately already be done, as my advisor and PI is aware that I am enrolling in this "extra class"

 

[fuzzylogician]

The funding question needs to be addressed to your program's admin person because this is probably something that depends on each program/school's policies. 

 

The "should I do it" question should have been addressed to your advisor prior to informing them that you're attending this class. I've taken extra classes outside my department and it was not frowned upon at all (and I didn't need to pay for them) but I did that after I had completed my required courses and was well advanced in my research. I know of peers who tried to do the same and whose advisors did not like it because it took away time that they thought should be spent on research. 

 

OP, if you presented this is a fact to your advisor, it may not be bad to try and walk it back a bit by asking them what they think about this move. If you get a negative response, I'd take it seriously and avoid taking the extra class.

[TakeruK]

I agree that this is something you should definitely discuss with your advisor and take their advice seriously. They might prefer for you to take the class at a certain semester/quarter that is less busy etc.

 

Whether or not you have to pay depends on the school/program/your funding situation! 

 

For what it's worth, at my school, like fuzzy, we are not at all discouraged from taking some extra classes for "fun". Obviously the first thing we are expected to consider before signing up for a class is "will this impact my research time?" but other than that, the school offers a ton of "fun" classes such as pottery, guitar, silkscreening, theatre, foreign languages as well as serious academic classes on non-research topics such as science journalism, philosophy of science, ethics, economics, etc. Note that my school is pretty  much a science only institute and these are graduate level classes so by definition, every grad student taking these classes is taking them as an "extra" class. So that they don't interfere with research, the majority of these classes are scheduled during lunch time or in the evenings/night. 

 

We are also encouraged by our advisors to register for any courses that are relevant to our research interests. There are 5 elective courses we have to take so usually people find that these are enough to cover all interesting courses outside of the department, but usually our advisor might recommend that we take a class on Pass/Fail standing instead of letter grade if we are taking an academic class that might take a lot of time.

[Vene]

Taking extra class, just for the sake of taking them (if they wont replace a requirement) is frowned upon (at my school at least). This was exaplained to me by an older grad student my first semester when I wanted to take an extra class for fun/knowedge. Taking extra classes isnt really the "grad school" way of doing things, buying the text book and learning the material on your own is a more respected way to pick up extra knowedge. In gernal, extra classes means less time for research which comes off as not really knowing what grad school is about. This was advice given to me so I figured I'd pass it on.

When I interviewed I heard it wasn't uncommon for professors ro request the students they advise to take an additional course in x or y. But, those were professors who had dual appointments in a different department where they could advise students on degrees in, say, neuroscience as well as molecular biology.

[SportPsych30]

All great info, thanks for the help!  I did send her an email basically apologizing for my misunderstanding and trying to ameliorate the situation. I think she will be understanding and give me an honest evaluation of what to do.

 

The situation is that I am in a Psychology PhD program, and wanted to take 3 Sport Psychology classes that are housed in the Kinesiology department, because of my research interests. These are not what I would call "fun" classes, but more of a supplementation of my education. The Sport Psych classes are only offered on a 2 year cycle, and because I am attempting to become AASP (Assoc. for Applied Sport Psych) certified by the time I am done, starting this early seemed like a good idea. Now I am hoping I didn't upset her.

[bsharpe269]

When I interviewed I heard it wasn't uncommon for professors ro request the students they advise to take an additional course in x or y. But, those were professors who had dual appointments in a different department where they could advise students on degrees in, say, neuroscience as well as molecular biology.

 

Yeah I completely agree that sometimes it would be suggested by advisor and if so, then you should definitely take it. I am more refering to the situations like:

1) someone hasnt had organic chem but needs the knowedge. At my school, instead of taking the class, my PI would just advise us to save some time and read a textbook.

2) Someone wants to take a class that isnt completely relevent to research but would be interesting. In this case, I guess it would depend on how busy of a semester it is (and it would be different if it was done on your own time as a hoby like TakeruK mentions) but I think in general, this wouldnt be recommended at my school until after the first year or two.

 

It seems like the way this is viewed might completely vary by department. If I needed electives and one in another department was a better fit then I would certainly take it as the elective but if I couldnt count it for one of my electives then I wouldnt take it just to learn. I think people would wonder why that extra free time wasnt going into research or reading journal articles, which would be condered a better source of knowedge than the class.

 

Edit: OP, I wouldnt panic about this and I'm sure you can work out with your advisor what is best. I had to have this advice given to me as well because in undergrad the midset is basically, more classes = more knowedge so more classes = better. She might not care at all and you might be able to count them as electives for your own degree.

Edited April 29, 2014 by bsharpe269

[fuzzylogician]

The situation is that I am in a Psychology PhD program, and wanted to take 3 Sport Psychology classes that are housed in the Kinesiology department, because of my research interests. These are not what I would call "fun" classes, but more of a supplementation of my education. The Sport Psych classes are only offered on a 2 year cycle, and because I am attempting to become AASP (Assoc. for Applied Sport Psych) certified by the time I am done, starting this early seemed like a good idea. Now I am hoping I didn't upset her.

 

In that case it sounds like you will probably end up taking that class, but for future reference even if everything you say is right and it's clearly better to do things the way you suggest, I'd approach this as a question/discussion and not as a foregone conclusion. I think it's unlikely that a reasonable advisor will forbid you from taking classes that are relevant to your interests, are required for a certification that you're trying to obtain, and are not frequently offered, but your advisor may have other considerations that you're not aware of. It's better to come to an agreement with your advisor than to seem to demand things. The end result will likely be the same but it'll come across much better. 

[Vene]

All great info, thanks for the help!  I did send her an email basically apologizing for my misunderstanding and trying to ameliorate the situation. I think she will be understanding and give me an honest evaluation of what to do.

 

The situation is that I am in a Psychology PhD program, and wanted to take 3 Sport Psychology classes that are housed in the Kinesiology department, because of my research interests. These are not what I would call "fun" classes, but more of a supplementation of my education. The Sport Psych classes are only offered on a 2 year cycle, and because I am attempting to become AASP (Assoc. for Applied Sport Psych) certified by the time I am done, starting this early seemed like a good idea. Now I am hoping I didn't upset her.

If you need it for a certification definitely take the class.

Yeah I completely agree that sometimes it would be suggested by advisor and if so, then you should definitely take it. I am more refering to the situations like:

1) someone hasnt had organic chem but needs the knowedge. At my school, instead of taking the class, my PI would just advise us to save some time and read a textbook.

For situations like you're talking about I definitely agree to just read the book. Self-directed study is hard, but that's one of the goals of a PhD.

[maelia8]

What if the course isn't directly for a certification, but is from another department closely connected to your own? For example, If you are a historian specializing in French history and your school also has a great French studies program, it might make sense for you to take some courses from that department's catalogue. When I visited my future Ph.D. institution a few months ago, they actually said that this is encouraged in this situation, and you can even do your graduate teaching requirements in that other department if necessary/interested. Additionally, in a lot of history programs, you are required to pick up a third language and improve your second one if it isn't up to snuff for research, so in that case, you'll have to take some courses outside of the department during your first few semesters before you can be tested on your language skills. 

[SportPsych30]

Thanks for all the help! Everything was settled this morning. Turns out that I am only being supported for 8 hours this first semester, which is why I didn't think it would be covered. This is because all first years in my program are only expected to take 8. She is absolutely fine with me taking it, and was willing to even have them add funding if needed. I am just pushing back my research methods course one semester and taking this Sport Psych elective right out of the gate. 

 

cheers!