Warning Status, Academic Dismissal, and Termination

To continue in the Graduate School beyond the first semester or summer session, the student must make satisfactory progress in fulfilling any admission conditions that were imposed, meet any requirements made in writing by the Graduate Studies Committee, maintain a graduate grade point average of at least 3.00, and receive the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.

Program requirements are provided by the Graduate Studies Committee in the program’s student handbook. Requirements may be changed from one student handbook to the next. The student is normally bound by the requirements of the handbook in force at the time of their first registration in the program; the student may choose, however, to fulfill the requirements of a subsequent handbook. If the student does not fulfill handbook requirements within six years of their first enrollment in the program, they are then bound by the requirements of a subsequent handbook. The student may choose the handbook in effect in any year in which they are enrolled in the program, within the six year limit.

On an annual basis, Graduate Studies Committees are responsible for evaluating the students in their programs to ensure that they are making satisfactory progress toward a degree. The results of each review will be communicated to the student in writing.  If the Graduate Studies Committee finds that a student is not making satisfactory progress, it may recommend to the graduate dean that the student’s program be terminated.

Graduate students whose cumulative graduate grade point average falls below 3.00 at the end of any semester or summer session will be warned by the Office of Graduate Studies that their continuance in the Graduate School is in jeopardy. The students must attain a cumulative graduate grade point average of at least 3.00 during the next semester or summer session they are enrolled or be subject to dismissal; during this period, they may not drop a course or withdraw from the University without the approval of the graduate adviser and the graduate dean.

A graduate student who has been dismissed may be readmitted for further graduate study only by petition of the Graduate Studies Committee in the student’s major area or by the Graduate Studies Committee of another program that will accept the student. The petition must be approved by the graduate dean.

Warning status and academic dismissal are reflected on the student’s academic record.

Additional information about grades and the grade point average is given in General Information.