Year 1: Fall Quarter

• First week of quarter: Submit you prospectus and reading list to Graduate Committee. Also, begin scheduling a date for the second qualifying exam. (Allow for several weeks between submission of the prospectus and the exam.)
• Last week of quarter: Take second qualifying exam ("Ph.D. orals exam." Go "ABD"!)

Year 1: Winter Quarter

• January: Begin work on a first chapter of the dissertation (whether the ordinal first chapter or some other chapter suggested by your dissertation committee).
• By Early March: Complete draft of a chapter and schedule the required follow-up "first chapter" meeting with your dissertation committee. (Circulate this initial chapter to your committee both to set up for this meeting and to stoke the fires of any reference letters you may ask committee members to write for dissertation fellowship applications due in March.)
• Mid March: Apply to Graduate Division and Interdisciplinary Humanities Center for dissertation fellowships. (Deadline circa March 11 for submission to the department Graduate Committee, which by demand of Graduate Division ranks the applications by April 1.)

Year 1: Spring Quarter (and Summer)

• May: "First chapter conversation" with your dissertation committee.
• June: Begin work on second chapter (unless suggestions from your committee about the first chapter are serious enough to make it a priority to revise that chapter before continuing).
• July-September: Prepare drafts of your job application materials (cover letter, c.v., dissertation abstract, sample chapter) and run them by your committee. Also consider preparing a piece of the dissertation for publication.

Year 2: Fall Quarter

• September: Complete draft of a second chapter. (Note: a successful job search usually requires two finished pieces from the dissertation: one for the writing sample, the second for a job talk if you make the campus fly-out short list.)
• October-November: Revise job materials with help from the Department's Job Placement Committee. Mail job applications.
• January-February: If you are on the job market, this is the period of MLA interviews and campus fly-outs (sometimes also Skype interviews).
• Early March: Complete draft of third chapter.

Year 2: Spring Quarter (and Summer)

• April-August: Complete remaining chapters. (If you have succeeded in getting a job that starts in Fall and you face difficulty in finishing the dissertation in time, make contingency plans to cut a chapter and/or meet with your commmittee chair to commit to a hard schedule for finishing the dissertation while starting your new job.)
• Early April (1-15): Register for Commencement (ask your adviser to "hood" you at the ceremony)
• June: Walk at Commencement!

The Finish Line

• September: File your dissertation! (Check Gradudate Division site for filing deadlines.)

Meanwhile . . .

While writing your dissertation,

• If funding support allows, try to teach at least once in the field in which you will be seeking a job; try also to teach a "service" course in your general field if you have not already done so. ("Service" courses include introductory, required, survey, or other commonly taught undergraduate courses.)
• Prepare sample syllabi and resources for both specialized and service courses in your field.
• Consider preparing Web resources or keeping a research blog related to your field. At a minimum, prepare a professional home page for yourself--e.g., one that provides a professional bio, c.v., links to research resources and course syllabi, etc.
• Circulate for publication at least one article in your field.
• Present a paper in one to two conferences (not too many).
• Keep in contact with your advisor (and committee), even if--or especially if--you are blocked.