Graduate students must register for a minimum of 2 credits each fall, winter, and spring term. Leaves from the program may be approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies under the following circumstances:

1. Parental leave or major illness (documented by physician, psychologist, etc);
2. Extended family-leave due to illness (documented by physician, psychologist, etc);
3. Significant off-campus field assignment (documented by department chair);
4. Post-defense periods in which there is thesis, dissertation, or professional paper clean-up only; after one semester, one-credit registration is required for one semester; beyond one semester, three-credits continuous registration is required.

The Dean of Graduate Studies allows a leave of absence up to one-year with approval of the Division (e.g. for parental, major illness or personal need). The form requesting a leave of absence is available on the Graduate Studies website. Because leave of absence presumes the student is not engaged in college activities, no college resources (except those available to the general public) are available during the leave-of-absence and students will not be charged tuition.

All students who are approved for a leave will be informed of any conditions for continuing in the program. Students returning after a leave of absence should contact their advisor one academic term prior to return to discuss a plan for progression and completion. An exception to the two-credit mandatory continuous registration policy should occur using the following procedures:

1. All exceptions must be approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies;
2. All requests for an exception should be submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies before the first day of classes for the academic term for which an exception is requested;
3. Parental or major illness and extended family leave exception requests should be in the form of a memorandum from the student’s advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies, and suitable documentation (from physician, psychologist, other medical professional, etc.) may be included as an attachment;
4. Significant off-campus field assignment (domestic or foreign) exception requests for each student should be in the form of a memorandum to the Graduate Dean from the major professor (advisor) and endorsed by the department chair. This memorandum will constitute suitable documentation.
5. Exception request memorandum need not be lengthy, but should include the specific request including the student’s name and student identification number, the reason for the request, and any supporting documentation. In addition to this continuous registration policy, the Division of Graduate Studies allows a one-quarter leave of absence with no penalty, with approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

History:

Adopted: 4/16/2021
Revised: