Registration 

Regulations

Full Time Status 

From the Graduate Catalog: 

The Graduate School uses a unit system in making calculations to determine full-time or part-time student status. Please note that graduate units are different from credit hours. The number of graduate units per credit hour is calculated in the following manner: 

To be certified as full-time, a graduate student must be officially registered for a combination of courses equivalent to 48 units per semester. Graduate assistants holding regular appointments have full-time status if they are registered for at least 24 units in addition to the assistantship; holders of half-time assistantships are considered full-time if registered for 36 units. Audited courses do not generate graduate units and cannot be used in calculating full-time or part-time status. 

Full-time registration throughout the fall and spring semesters is required for international students on F-1 or J-1 visa. Please check with the Office of International Student and Scholar Services for exceptions to this policy. 

Continuous Registration Requirement

From the Graduate Catalog: 

All graduate students must register for courses and pay associated tuition and fees each semester, not including summer and winter sessions, until the degree is awarded. 

A student who fails to register and who has not requested and received a waiver of registration or "Leave of Absence for Childbearing, Adoption, Illness or Dependent Care" will be notified by the Graduate School after the first day of classes that the student must register for the current semester. The Graduate School will also inform the Graduate Director of the graduate program that the student is in jeopardy of termination. If the student does not register, he or she will be dismissed from the Graduate School at the end of the semester for failure to comply with the continuous registration requirement. 

A student who is dismissed for non-registration may appeal dismissal during a 30-day period following the end of the semester of non-registration. If the student does not appeal, or if the appeal is denied, and the student wishes to continue in the Graduate School, the student must apply for readmission. In this case, readmission does not alter the initial requirements for time to complete the degree or advance to candidacy. 

Certificate, Master's, and pre-candidacy Doctoral students who will be away from the University for a semester or a year may request a waiver of continuous registration and its associated tuition for the semester or year. Waivers of registration will be granted only if the student is making satisfactory progress toward the degree and can complete the degree requirements within the required time limits. Interruption of registration cannot be used to justify a time extension.

Doctoral Candidates are not eligible for Waivers of Continuous Registration. Each doctoral Candidate must maintain continuous registration in 899 (Doctoral Dissertation Research) until the degree is awarded. Waivers of Registration may be granted only under the University's policy for Leave of Absence for Graduate Students for Childbearing, Adoption, Illness or Dependent Care (see below). 

Please see the Graduate Catalog or visit Anna Damm in the CEE Advising Suite (1047 Glenn Martin Hall) for more detailed information about submitting the Petition for Waiver of Continuous Registration.  

Leave of Absence Policy

From the Graduate Catalog: 

In recognition of the effects that childbirth, adoption, illness, and caring for incapacitated dependents (such as children, ill or injured partners, or aging parents) may have on the time and energy that graduate students have to devote to their educational programs, the University allows students in such circumstances to apply for a leave of absence of up to two semesters during which time they do not intend to make academic progress toward the completion of their degree. The time taken on an approved leave of absence is not included in the time limitations for degree completion and advancement to candidacy. The Graduate Student Parental Accommodation Policy enables students to maintain full-time enrollment status rather than take a leave of absence. 

If a leave of absence is granted by the Graduate School, all ECE department deadlines are shifted accordingly. Students should submit the Request for Leave of Absence form with supporting documents to the ECE Graduate Studies Office prior to the beginning of the academic term for which leave is being requested. 

Waiver of Mandatory fees

A waiver of Mandatory Fees may be granted to any graduate student, including Doctoral Candidates, if the registered student will be away from the University for a semester. An application for waiver of Mandatory Fees must be submitted to the Graduate School 30 days before the beginning of the semester for which the waiver is sought.