Academic Progression & Review

Progression in the Ph.D. program is based on satisfactory scholarship in required and support courses as well as adequate progress in the project. The policy related to academic progression in the doctoral program in nursing is based on the Graduate School’s policy stating that one or more failing grades or a cumulative grade point average below 3.0 for any semester or combination of semesters may be considered as evidence of failure to maintain satisfactory scholarship and may result in the student being dropped from the University. Beyond a failing grade and/or the cumulative/semester GPA, the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing considers all quality grades (including grades in required core courses and other courses) as indicators of satisfactory academic progress in the Ph.D. program in Nursing.

It is expected that all graduate students will be properly registered at a credit level appropriate to their degree of activity.

Ph.D. PROGRAM: After a Ph.D. candidate has passed the comprehensive examination, the student must register continuously for each fall and spring semester until the dissertation is accepted and approved by the doctoral committee.  

If a Ph.D. student will not be in residence for an extended period for compelling reasons, the Dean of the Graduate School will consider a petition for a waiver of the continuous registration requirement. The petition must come from the doctoral committee chair and carry the endorsement of the Associate Dean for Graduate Education. 

PH.D. PROGRAM

Advisers complete a formal annual review of academic progress. Students are required to update their Individual Development Plan (IDP) annually in conjunction with their academic adviser. The adviser determines whether adequate progress has been made and makes recommendations to the Director of the Ph.D. Program. A student who fails to make satisfactory progress toward program completion will receive a letter from the Director of the Ph.D. Program with these recommendations. If the student does not follow the recommendations, the student may be dismissed from the program.

A formal review is also initiated when a student fails to meet The Graduate School’s GPA requirements or achieves a quality grade of B- or lower in any course. In these cases, the academic adviser or the Director of the Ph.D. Program counsels the student, and a remediation plan is developed with guidance of the Graduate Standards Committee, if needed. The remediation plan will be addressed in subsequent annual IDP review meetings to describe the student’s progress until the remediation has been successfully addressed. 

Updated by the Graduate Affairs Committee April 6, 2009

The individual development plan (IDP) is used for both planning and evaluative purposes. The initial IDP is completed during the first doctoral intensive (NURS 579). In this phase, the student sets both short term and long terms educational and career goals, using the Ph.D. end-of-program outcomes as a guide. Once the initial plan is developed, the student and academic adviser review and update the plan. At the end of each academic year, the student provides an update of accomplishments, achievement of goals, plans to meet unachieved goals and new goals for the upcoming year.

Academic advisers are responsible for evaluating the progress of their advisees each spring. This evaluation provides an opportunity for students to communicate their accomplishments, express concerns about their growth and development, and discuss potential opportunities for teaching, research, and other professional activities that the adviser and student believe are important to pursue. Director of the Ph.D. Program will send a list of advisees and the IDP form to each adviser and to each student in the program.

The annual evaluation process must be completed prior to April 30 of each academic year. All Ph.D. students should complete an updated IDP form, submit the form to their adviser, and make an appointment to discuss their progress. Advisers should complete the adviser’s section of the form prior to meeting with the student. At the end of the conference, both student and adviser should receive a copy of the updated IDP form. The adviser will keep a copy of the IDP in the Advising Folder in SharePoint.

The student and the academic adviser/research adviser share the responsibility for planning a program of coursework that provides the student appropriate academic knowledge, scholarly perspectives, skills, and satisfies the curricular requirements of the program. The plan, also known as the Ph.D. program progress record, should be organized to conform to the requirements of the program. The program plan is always subject to future additions, deletions, or substitutions, as long as the revisions satisfy program requirements. The earliest course on the plan can be no more than eight years old; all courses, therefore, must be taken within the eight-year period of time.