Language Petition 

*Not a DocuSign form* Once you have completed your language requirement, please complete this form, sign, and submit to Bria Russ.

Composition Specialization

A reading knowledge of one foreign language is required. Students must select from French, German, Italian, or Spanish.

Students may fulfill the language requirement by:

1. Completing the third level of the regular undergraduate series or equivalent
2. Passing the 1G language study course with a grade of B (3.0) or better
3. Passing the UCLA Foreign Language Placement Test in one of those languages.
4. Students whose native language is not English may use English as a foreign language.

Composition for Visual Media Specialization

There is no foreign language requirement.

Step 1: MA Committee Nomination

It is the students’ responsibility to put together a faculty committee to guide their thesis in consultation with the committee chair. The committee is composed of three faculty members, consisting of:

1. The major teacher.
2. Two (2) members nominated by the student.

At least two (of the three) faculty must be members of the Academic Senate (the SAO will have a list of Senate faculty members).

Step 2: Submit the MA Committee Request Form

The student must contact all of the committee members personally. Once the student has received confirmation that their three faculty members agree to be on their committee, the student must submit a MA Committee Request Form.

Step 3: Submit the Nomination Master’s Committee Form, Graduate Division

After the departmental form and dissertation is approved, the student must complete the Nomination of Master’s Committee Graduate Division form. This form is completed vis DocuSign and submitted to the Division of Graduate Education by the SAO for approval.

Step 4: Master Advancement to Candidacy Form (MATC)

This is the process of certifying that the student either has or will have satisfied the degree requirements by the end of the quarter. The Division of Graduate Education Master’s Advancement to Candidacy Petition will be initiated by the SAO no later than the second week of the quarter in

which the student expects the award of the degree.

Step 5: Submit the MA Thesis and File

The thesis will be an original composition of significant length and or breadth. For Composition for Visual Media Specialization, that original composition will be cues for a work of visual media (which may be an original or a pre-existing work), or possibly cues for more than one work of visual media.

Once the student’s thesis is approved, the student can File Your Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD)

The M.A./Ph.D. and Ph.D. exam takes place in the first two weeks of the Winter quarter of the third year for entering Ph.D. students, and the fourth year for entering MA students. The four written examinations are spread over a two-week period but should be completed within three weeks. Repeat examinations may be scheduled in consultation with the exam committee after a stipulated period of time (typically after one entire year). Students will take MUSC 598 (4 units each, with members from their committee) to fill their 12 unit requirements through the Oral Qualifying Exam and MUSC 599 (12 units) once the student has Advanced to Candidacy.

Step 1: Submit the PhD Exam Committee Request For Departmental Written Qualifying Exam

Composition Specialization exam committee consists of:

1. The faculty members who taught Music 254 or Music 255,
2. The faculty members who taught Music 256
3. The faculty members who taught the 200-level Musicology course whose topic covers some aspect of music after 1900
4. The faculty members who taught the student’s principal breadth adviser.

Composition Visual Media Specialization exam committee consists of:

1. The faculty members who taught Music 255
2. The faculty members who taught Music 256
3. The faculty members who taught Music 260A or Music 260B
4. The faculty members who taught the student’s principal breadth adviser.

Step 2: Ph.D. 4 Pieces Examination

Composition Specialization consists of:

1. Analysis of pre-1900 music (based upon coursework in either Music 254 OR 255)
2. Analysis of post-1900 music (based upon coursework in Music 256)
3. Topics in 20th-or 21st-century music (based upon their 20th-or 21st-century Musicology seminar)
4. The breadth area (based upon coursework in ONE of their two breadth area courses).

Composition Visual Media Specialization consists of:

1. Analysis of pre-1900 music (based upon coursework in Music 255)
2. Analysis of post-1900 music (based upon coursework in Music 256)
3. Topics in music for visual media (based upon coursework in either Music 260A OR 260B)
4. The breadth area (based upon coursework in ONE of their two breadth area courses).

Step 3: Defense of the WQE Departmental Oral exam #1

Schedule with the WQE exam committee to meet and go over the exams let SAO know which date is scheduled.

1. Taken in the third or fourth week of winter quarter
2. Could be an hour to 2 hours
3. Separate the WQE from OQE about a week.

Step 4: Defense of the WQE Departmental Oral exam #2

A presentation of all aspects of four compositions specified by the composition faculty in the previous year, including (but not limited to) the historical context, analyses, and significance of the works to other works in similar or identical genres.

1. The Four Pieces Exam is given before the entire composition faculty.
2. This examination is scheduled by the composition faculty for the fifth or sixth week of winter quarter.

Step 5: Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal should include a detailed description of the expected length, instrumentation, and goals of the proposed dissertation composition, including the source of text, if applicable. It should also include a detailed description of the proposed monograph; the monograph must demonstrate the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Step 6: Nominate Doctoral Committee

PhD Doctoral Committee Request & Dissertation Approval Form

Nomination Doctoral Committee Form, Graduate Division

The composition of the doctoral committee must adhere to these rules:

1. The chair (or one of the co-chairs) must come from the home department and be a ladder faculty member of the Composition Division.
2. A minimum of two of the four members need to be from one of the three UCLA School of
3. Music Departments (Adjuncts may serve if they are certified and approved by the Committee on Degree Programs).
4. A third member needs to be a UCLA faculty member, though need not be in the School of Music
5. Two of the three UCLA-affiliated members must be at the Associate rank or higher.
6. The fourth member can be either from UCLA or its academic equivalent at another accredited university or college (for non-UCLA, must have senate faculty appointment).

These four members of the committee must be in the professorial ranks. If the student’s primary teacher is not in this category, they must be included as a fifth member of the committee. The student must contact all of their committee members personally.

Step 7: Committee Appointed by the Division of Graduate Education (DGE)

NOTE: Students CANNOT take the OQE until their Doctoral committee is officially constituted by the Graduate Division.

Step 8: Schedule University Oral Qualifying Exam (OQE)

Students should coordinate their University Oral Qualifying Exam date with their committee. Once you have confirmed the structure of your committee and nominated the committee formally with the Division of Graduate Education, you may then hold your University Oral Qualifying Exam.

Step 9: Advance to Candidacy (ATC)

If you receive a pass on your OQE from your committee, you will Advance to Candidacy (ATC). The student’s Committee Chair will need to contact the SAO to submit the Oral Qualifying Exam and ATC Request form for the Division of Graduate Education Approval.

Step 10: Dissertation Writing and Dissertation Year Award

After the student has formally advanced to candidacy (ATC), they begin work on their dissertation and enroll each quarter in MUSC 599 under the direction of their Committee Chair.

Helpful information: Students are encouraged to apply for external funding opportunities, such as the Dissertation Year Award, in Winter quarter when the application deadline is posted.

Step 11: Dissertation Defense and File

Students are required to schedule their dissertation defense with their committee and let the SAO know the scheduled date. Once passed, the student will File Your Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD).

Students who no longer plan to take courses, be employed by UCLA, receive financial support, or access certain campus services may submit the Filing Fee Application. Students may use the Filing Fee application only if they were registered for the previous academic term, and satisfy the eligibility criteria.