After at least 30 days of probation, the degree-granting program can dismiss any graduate student who is deemed to be making insufficient academic progress or whose work is not of the quality required from the program. The faculty advisor or academic program chair must inform the Office of Graduate Studies as soon as the student has been notified and the probationary period has begun.
When a department/program determines that a student is not making satisfactory progress, the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in the program and/or faculty advisor will recommend a face-to-face meeting between the student and the faculty advisor. If after this meeting the department/program and the student can agree on a plan to remedy the situation, the faculty advisor (or DGS) and the student will jointly sign a document enumerating steps to take. If, on the other hand, the department/program and the student disagree on issues of progress, the DGS or chair may send the student a letter placing the student on probation.
The letter placing a student on probation must include an explicit statement of what must be accomplished and by what date in order for the student to be removed from probation and returned to good standing in the department/program.
Termination letters must inform the student of the right to appeal, first, to the department/program, and second, to the Graduate Faculty Senate. A copy of a termination letter must be sent to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies at the same time it is sent to the student.
A student’s first appeal of dismissal must be made to the department/program. If the student does not appeal, the Office of Graduate Studies will send the student an official notice of dismissal from the program.
Students should notify their DGS in writing that they are appealing dismissal. A copy of the appeal letter addressed to the DGS should be sent to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies. Departments and programs organize their own appeals processes and all students must be made aware of those processes as they start their graduate program. If the department/program does not reverse its decision, the DGS will notify the Office of Graduate Studies that the student has completed the probationary period and the appeal process and has been dismissed.
As long as a student is in an appeal process, the student should maintain enrollment and continue working on degree program requirements. If there are reasons why maintaining enrollment is a hardship, the student should immediately contact the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies.
An appeal to the Graduate Faculty Senate can be made only after all internal appeals to a student’s program/department have failed. The appeal must be based upon the program/department’s failure to adhere to its or the Office of Graduate Studies’ published rules and regulations. A student wishing to appeal dismissal must send a letter addressed to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies within two weeks of dismissal. Once the intent to appeal is received by the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies, the following procedures will be followed: