Teaching
Each student must lead a minimum of nine undergraduate preceptorials – weekly course discussion sections of up to 13 undergraduates -- during his or her five years of enrollment. Students typically teach after passing the general examination although in unusual cases they may begin teaching sooner.
The requirement of nine preceptorials is reduced to six if a student obtains approved funding from outside the University or works as a research assistant for a faculty member during an academic year or term. The requirement of nine preceptorials is reduced to three if students graduate within four and a half years or begin a tenure-track job or its equivalent within five years. The requirement of nine preceptorials is waived entirely if students graduate within three years or begin a tenure-track job or its equivalent within three and a half years.
Ordinarily students anticipating five years of university support should aim to complete at least three units of precepting by the end of the third year, six by the end of the fourth, and nine by the end of the fifth, unless their research plans dictate a different pattern.
Certain fellowships for which post-generals students may be eligible do not allow teaching during the tenure of the fellowship. These include University honorific fellowships, Prize Fellowships of the University Center for Human Values, and the Fellowship of the Woodrow Wilson Society. Students who expect to be candidates for these fellowships are advised to accelerate their teaching so that their teaching obligation will not interfere with their eligibility.