Graduate Student Handbook
III. Scholastic Standards
The following general academic standards and requirements of
the Graduate School are applied to graduate programs at the
University of Connecticut. The Graduate Programs Committee has
established specific requirements for students whom receive GPC
assistantships. These requirements must be met before
assistantship support will be continued.
A. Grade Requirements
The Graduate School requires that students must maintain a B
(3.00) grade point average in all course work before a degree
can be conferred. The GPC requires that a student must maintain
a B (3.00) grade point average before funding can be continued
each year.
Whenever a student's cumulative average falls below 3.00, his
or her performance is reviewed by the student's advisory
committee in order to determine whether or not the student shall
be permitted to continue graduate study.
In addition, if more than 3 Incomplete (I) or No Assigned (N)
grades appear on a graduate school transcript, a student will
not be eligible for continued assistantship funding. All I or N
grades should be complete prior to applying for continued
funding.
B. Course Grades
The grade point average is based on a scale where A=4.00;
B=3.00; C=2.00; D=1.00; and F=0.00. The letter A signifies work
of distinction. The letter B represents work of good quality,
such as is expected of any successful graduate student. The
letter C represents work below the standard expected of any
successful graduate student in their area of study. It is
recognized that work of C quality in a supporting area may be of
benefit to students and that they should not be discouraged by
the grading system from including some supporting work in their
programs. Plus and minus values may be assigned to all but
failing grades, are entered on the permanent record, and are
computed into the student's grade point average.
A grade of D+, D, or D- signifies work of unsatisfactory
quality. If a graduate student receives any form of a D grade,
the course may not remain on the Plan of Study and the student's
eligibility to continue in the degree program is reviewed by the
student's advisory committee.
The letter F or U signifies failure in the course and
necessities a recommendation by the advisory committee to the
Director of Graduate Records as to whether or not the student
shall be permitted to continue graduate study.
Final grades of S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory) may be
awarded, but only with prior approval of the Graduate Programs
Committee and the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty
Council. An S is not computed into the student's grade point
average, while a U is counted as an F. Graduate students are not
permitted to take undergraduate or graduate courses on a
Pass/Fail basis.
A mark of I (Incomplete) may be assigned if a student has
been doing work of acceptable quality but, for some reason
satisfactory to the instructor, has not completed by the end of
the semester or session all of the work required to earn credit
for a course. Too many permanent incompletes on the record may
be grounds for the student's termination or dismissal.
C. Grading for Graduate Students Taking Basic Medical
Science Subject Committees (approved GPC 9.23.93)
Graduate students (including Combined M.D./Ph.D. and D.M.D./Ph.D.
students [CDP]) who take the Basic Medical Science subject
committee courses are evaluated with the medical class, except
in those subject committees where material is denoted as
optional for non-medical students. In these later subject
committees, the graduate students are evaluated with the
combined medical and dental class.
Graduate students must be assigned a letter grade by the
grading committee. The following guidelines for assigning letter
grades have been developed by the Graduate Programs Committee.
(Note: +/- grade designations can be used.)
- A graduate student (or CDP student) must have scored at
least 1 standard deviation above the mean of the evaluation
group in order to receive a grade of A- or better.
- A graduate student (or CDP student) scoring near the
mean of the evaluation group shall receive a letter grade of
B (Scores between the mean and 1 standard deviation above
the mean would be assigned grades of either B or B+).
- A graduate student (or CDP student) scoring 1 standard
deviation below the mean shall receive a letter grade of C+.
(Scores between the mean and 1 standard deviation below the
mean would be assigned a grade of B or B-)
- A graduate student (or CDP student) scoring below the
deficiency score shall receive a letter grade of F. (Scores
between the deficiency score and 1 standard deviation below
the mean would be assigned a grade of C or D).
D. Changing a Grade
If an instructor assigns a grade of I (Incomplete) for a
course, it is the student's responsibility to complete this work
within a twelve month period of time. The I becomes a permanent
grade on the student's record even after it has been resolved
and appears alongside the newly assigned grade.
To change a grade, the instructor submits a memo to the
Office of Records/Registration indicating the student's name,
PeopleSoft identification number, semester and year the course
was taken, month, day and year the course was completed, and the
final grade for the course. These grades are processed and sent
to the Registrar's Office at Storrs for inclusion on the
student's transcript. The instructor may also change the grade
in PeopleSoft directly.
It is the student's responsibility to ascertain that the
grade has been reported in a timely manner to the Office of
Records/Registration. Failure to do so may result in delaying a
conferral date at the time of completion.
E. Withdrawing from Courses
The letter W signifies withdrawal from a course after the
second week of a semester or the first week of a summer-session
course. Except in extraordinary cases where academic factors or
extreme or unusual circumstances warrant it, this mark is not
deleted from the permanent academic record.
Students who choose to withdraw from school after the
semester starts will receive the W on their transcript for all
courses.
F. Termination of Status
To remain in good standing, a student at all times must have
a major advisor as well as a reasonable terminal date (the date
by which all degree requirements must be completed) or, in the
event of an expired terminal date, a reasonable terminal date
extension. Once the Plan of Study has been approved by the
Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council, a student
at all times must have an advisory committee comprising a major
advisor and at least two associate advisors.
In the event that a student's major advisor determines that
resignation from the advisory committee is necessary, the
student is provided with a reasonable opportunity to arrange for
a new major advisor. If a new major advisor is not identified
within six weeks of the resignation of the former major advisor,
the student's graduate degree program status is terminated. This
is determined by the Graduate Records Office.
The Graduate Records Office routinely notifies both the major
advisor and the student whenever a terminal date extension
expires. In the event that the major advisor determines that he
or she cannot support a recommendation to extend the terminal
date further, the Director of Graduate Records is to be notified
in writing within six weeks of the date of the notice of
expiration. Extensions of the terminal date are granted by the
Dean of the Graduate School and only on the basis of substantial
evidence that the student is making consistent and satisfactory
progress toward the completion of the degree requirements. In
the absence of a timely recommendation to extend an expired
terminal date or in the event that the Dean has denied a
recommended extension, the student's graduate degree program
status is terminated.
G. Academic Dismissal
A graduate student's progress in a degree program is
monitored regularly by the student's advisory committee. If at
any time, a student's academic performance, progress in a
graduate degree program, or professional development and/or
suitability is judged by his or her advisory committee to be
unsatisfactory and if the advisory committee determines that
dismissal on any of these grounds is warranted, the advisory
committee is to submit to the Associate Dean of the Graduate
School its written recommendation that the student be dismissed
on such grounds. A student may be subject to academic dismissal
if he or she; fails to maintain the minimum cumulative grade
point average required by the Graduate School, receives a grade
of D or F in any course, fails to satisfy the Ph.D. foreign
language requirement, fails the General Examination for the
Ph.D., fails to produce an acceptable Ph.D. dissertation
prospectus, performs unsatisfactorily in any aspect of research
required for a master's thesis or Ph.D. dissertation, fails the
final examination for either the Master's degree or Ph.D.
degree, or fails any other requirement specified on an approved
plan of study. The specific reasons on which the advisory
committee's recommendation is based must be stated. The
recommendation must bear the signature of each member of the
advisory committee. For a student whose advisory committee has
not yet been established, the major advisor alone submits the
recommendation. If the student is to be dismissed on any of the
above grounds, a letter of dismissal is issued by the Associate
Dean. If the student wishes to request a hearing, the provisions
outlined below under "Hearing and Appeal Procedures" apply.
H. Hearing and Appeal Procedures
If a student's graduate degree program status is to be
terminated or if a student is to be dismissed on academic
grounds, a letter is issued by the Associate Dean. If a student,
as a result of termination or dismissal, wishes to request a
hearing before the Associate Dean, the student must submit a
written request within 30 days of receipt of the dismissal
letter. Following the hearing, the student may appeal the
decision of the Associate Dean to the Dean. This appeal does not
constitute a new hearing. It is a review of the record of the
original hearing and is entertained only on one or both of two
grounds: (1) the claim of an error in the hearing procedure, and
(2) the claim of new evidence or information that was not
available at the time of the hearing. If the student's
termination or dismissal is upheld by the Dean, the student may
appeal further to the Provost. In any event, the decision of the
Provost is final.
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