Academic Progress & Annual Review

Satisfactory Progress

Students who are in good standing meet the following criteria: 

  • maintain active student status (appropriate enrollment each semester), 
  • GPA at or above the minimum 3.0 (grade B or better in all courses), 
  • no incompletes (if a student has an incomplete, a plan for resolution has been developed and is underway), 
  • timely completion of milestones, program requirements, and all department, GSSP, and CLA forms (includes timely completion of exams), 
  • active in the department/a good citizen of the department (attend all pertinent committee meetings, active in at least a portion of department events, respectful towards other ‘citizens’, contributing to departmental/scholarly community, responsive to emails/outreaches, etc.).

For PhD students, this also includes:

  • evidence of progress on dissertation research and writing each semester after completing preliminary exams

Annual Review

2023 Deadline: Noon on Friday, March 3rd

Academic Progress

Each Spring semester the Department’s graduate faculty and the DLI review each students' progress. One of the goals is to give students the opportunity for self-evaluation. Two things are needed from the student for this:

  • An Academic Progress Report (APR) form;
  • A statement on academic progress and next steps.

The APR is a Google Spreadsheet and the Statement (one for each year) is a Google Doc. They're both in your Academic Progress and Teaching Review folder. Please type or paste your statement in the Google Doc. Only you may edit the APR and the Statement; the faculty and DLI review them online each year after the deadline.

Teaching

At the same time that your academic progress is evaluated, the faculty will also review your teaching and your application for a TAship in the coming year, if you are requesting one.

See this document for instructions on what to include in your teaching dossier (which includes the self-reflective statement on teaching), which should be submitted by the deadline in early March. Upload required documents to the Teaching folder within your Academic Progress and Teaching Review folder.

Feedback

Each student receives an annual review letter, which incorporates any suggestions or conditions for continuation in the program. If, in the committee's judgment, a student is not making satisfactory progress, the student and advisor together will devise a plan to remedy the situation. If sufficient progress has not been made within a reasonable, designated time, the Department may recommend to the Graduate School that the student's registration be terminated and that the student be excluded from further study.

Timelines and Limits

M.A. students are expected to complete the M.A. degree by the end of the second year of full time study.

Ph.D. students are expected to:

  • take the written preliminary examination in their 4th semester of Ph.D. work;
  • pass the oral preliminary examination by the end of the fourth semester;
  • complete 24 thesis credits by the end of the semester they take prelims;
  • have the prospectus meeting at the beginning of their 5th semester;
  • finish Ph.D. thesis and the complete the final oral examination by the end of the fourth year of Ph.D. work.

Note: University policy states that students must complete their M.A. within 5 years after entering the program, and complete their Ph.D. within 8 years of entering the program. This is a change from previous policy and that states students must complete their M.A. within 7 years and their Ph.D. within 5 years after completing their preliminary exams. The new policy applies to students entering the program Fall 2013 or later.