There are three basic components to academic standards
Maintaining graduate degree status (minimum unit enrollment—8 units are needed for full time status, employment and fellowship eligibility);
Achieving satisfactory performance to levels as evaluated by faculty members; and
Making timely progress through required program milestones.
It is the goal of the Academic Senate and of the Graduate Division that all graduate students make timely progress toward successfully completing their degree programs. In order to ensure such success, it is necessary to provide early support to prevent later problems. The following text outlines essential components to ensuring success, taking steps to help when needed, and following due process in the unfortunate case where dismissal is needed.
Stage 1: Preventing the problem
Efforts by faculty and staff that ensure a high probability of success are:
Careful admission decisions, matching the talent and interests of students to the opportunities in graduate programs and faculty areas of research
Clear definition of “good academic standards”:
Clear guidelines about degree requirements (detailed handbooks and General Catalog entries)
Clear expectations about timely progress through degree milestones
Informal encouragement and continuous timely feedback on student performance:
Connecting a student to an advisor for periodic meetings
Providing periodic feedback on performance
Completing a yearly evaluation (in writing)
Referring graduate students to the Disabled Students Program when medical issues are preventing normal progress towards degree milestones.
Stage 2: Helping to solve the problem early
Students may experience problems making timely progress through their program for a variety of reasons. There are steps that the institution may take to prevent these problems and help the students through.
Provide written notification that gives:
A clear description of the unsatisfactory performance
A clear statement about what must be done within a specified amount of time to rectify the problem (expectations must be reasonable and consistent with what is required of all other students in the program)
An indication of what assistance will be provided to help the student during this time
A specification of what the consequences will be if expectations are not met. You may notify a student that the department may recommend monitoring status or probation if expectations are not met, keeping in mind that only the Dean has the authority to place a student on monitoring or probation, and only the Dean can dismiss a student for academic reasons. Please see section below for the formal process.
Two things to avoid:
Helping a student too much for an extended period of time. – Why not? The student needs to achieve the ability to independently produce quality research or scholarship at a high level. Help offered early should be eased back at later stages of the student’s program.
Giving a student a passing grade (on coursework or on milestone exams) when that student has not met the requirements/standards of the course. – Why not? If at some point a dismissal process is needed, there must be evidence of the student’s failure to meet standards.
Stage 3: Addressing the problem through formal means (Warning, Monitoring, Probations)
Three important processes must be implemented: 1) notification, 2) chance for remediation and 3) due process.
Full policy available here: http://www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/academic/academic-performance
Coursework Performance Standards
Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in a given quarter.
Establish a GPA; A student who does not take courses for a letter grade receives a "0" GPA.
Complete course work--The standard will not be met if the student has 12 or more units of Incomplete (I), No Grade (NG), or No Record (NR)
A graduate student will receive written notification from the Graduate Dean if one of the above academic standards have not been met (the department will by copied on this communication). When this happens for the first time, this notification will be considered a warning.
If the student does not show improvement during the following quarter, the Graduate Dean will ask the department to recommend and justify (a) continued warning status, or (b) academic probation.
If the graduate student continues to have deficiencies in grade point average or incomplete units after the 3rd quarter, the Graduate Dean will, upon consultation with the student's department, (a) notify the student of new or continued academic probation or (b) proceed with academic disqualification.
Academic Progress and Time-to-Degree Standards
Meet time limit for advancement to doctoral candidacy
Meet time limit for completion of the master's or doctoral degree
When a student exceeds time standards for advancing to candidacy or completing the doctoral degree, Graduate Division will notify the department and the student with written notification that he or she has exceeded time standards set by the department and approved by Graduate Council. The Departmental Faculty Graduate Advisor and/or the student’s mentor will consult with the student and develop an academic progress plan (to be co-signed by the faculty member and the student). A copy of the notification and the Academic Progress Plan will be sent to the Graduate Division. A student will remain on departmental progress monitoring status for the remainder of the academic year or until the student advances or graduates within that academic year.
If the student does not meet their milestone after the end of the academic year (or subsequent summer), the department will be notified and asked to have the student submit a new progress plan and the department will recommend either extended monitoring status or an escalation to probation. If a student does not meet their milestone after the end of a probationary period, the Graduate Dean will ask the department to recommend and justify (a) continued academic probation (must involve extenuating circumstances) or (b) academic disqualification.
Note: For any of the above timelines, the department has the discretion to ask for probation or academic dismissal under an earlier timeframe
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Other types of problems seen in the academic community
Dishonesty and disruptive student behavior must involve the Office of Student Conduct.
Ethics and professionalism are implicit in our academic community but may be explicitly defined in discipline‐specific accreditation or licensing standards. A student should be notified at the beginning of a program that they will be assessed on their ethical and professional behavior throughout their academic tenure.