The following provides guidance for the timing of program milestones for students who begin the graduate program in a spring semester. Any questions about special circumstances and exceptions should be directed to the Director of Graduate Studies.
TMC meetings will again be held in January during a second, smaller scale Graduate Student Orientation.
Students who defer entry into the graduate program until Spring semester will operate on a different timeline for advisor selection. Students arriving in January should begin investigating research groups and meeting with potential advisors as soon as possible. Students must meet with at least four faculty to discuss research and obtain those faculty signatures. Meeting with more than four faculty is recommended, but only four signatures are required. Students will turn in their signed form indicating their ranked advisor preferences by Monday of the 11th week of Spring semester (consistent with the timing of advisor selection in the Fall).
Student academic performance should conform to the standards described above, but with end dates determined by one’s start date in the program. For students who defer entry until Spring semester, the benchmarks for an academic year will be applied to the Spring + Fall semesters (i.e. completion of 18 credits with GPA > 3.0, etc. is required for your first two academic semesters). Written and oral preliminary examination deadlines for students who defer entry until Spring semester will follow the schedule detailed below:
Third Monday of August: The candidate submits a brief written abstract (less than one page) to http://z.umn.edu/abstract and includes the names of three chemistry faculty members (not including the advisor(s)) who the candidate feels would be well suited to serve on the written and oral preliminary exam committees. This is the same deadline as students who began in Fall semester, but should be achievable since the Spring entry students had Summer term to do research with their research group as well.
Two weeks after Abstract submission: The Graduate Operations Office informs the candidate of the names of the three faculty members who will comprise the candidate’s written preliminary exam committee and who will also be members of the candidate’s oral preliminary exam committee. The committee assignment will be made in a joint meeting of the Graduate Curriculum Committee and the DGS. The candidate’s advisor will be the chair of the written preliminary exam committee. If a candidate has two advisors, then the second advisor will serve as an extra (internal) member on the candidate’s written and oral prelim exam committees. This is also the same timeline as those who began in Fall semester.
Monday of 3rd week, Spring semester of the 2nd year: The candidate submits the Ph.D. and M.S. Plan B Degree Program Forms and the External Committee Member Form (signed by the proposed external oral preliminary exam committee member). This will be February 5, 2024 for students who entered Spring 2023. Since committees will already be assigned in August, students may alternately choose to follow the schedule of those who began in the fall semester, but are not required to do so.
Monday of 6th week, Spring semester of the 2nd year: The candidate submits the research dossier electronically as a PDF to the members of the written preliminary exam committee via email. Committee members should provide feedback on the written dossier to the candidate at any time after the initial submission. Again, students may alternately choose to follow the schedule of those who began in the fall semester, but are not required to do so.
Monday of 9th week, Spring semester of the 2nd year: The chair of the WPE committee informs the candidate about the outcome of the initial submission.
Monday of 10th week, Spring semester of the 2nd year: If minor revisions were needed, the candidate submits electronic or printed copies of the revised dossier and a cover letter describing the changes to the members of the written preliminary exam committee.
Monday of 12th week, Spring semester of the 2nd year: If major revisions were needed, the candidate submits electronic or printed copies of the revised dossier and a cover letter describing the changes to the members of the written preliminary exam committee.
Monday of 14th week, Spring semester of the 2nd year: In cases of minor or major revisions, the chair of the written preliminary exam committee informs the candidate about the outcome of the revised submission.
The oral preliminary exam can be scheduled at any time once a passing grade is received on the written preliminary exam. For students with Spring entry into the program, we recommend that you schedule the first attempt at your oral preliminary exam by mid-June of your second year. This should allow sufficient time to schedule a second attempt after 10 weeks have passed, as required by the rules for the exam, and still allow you to register for Chem 8888 in the Fall semester. As a point of reference, the latest you can register for Chem 8888 in Fall 2024 is September 16, 2024. Ten weeks before that will be July 8, 2024, making that the absolute latest that one should schedule their first attempt at the oral preliminary exam. Do not delay until the very latest date, if possible.
Students who defer entry until the Spring semester, will have the choice to complete this milestone with the students who entered the program in Fall semester of their academic year or those who entered in Fall of the following academic year.
Annual reviews of graduate students will occur for all graduate students at the end of the spring semester, regardless of the entry date into the program