The Graduate School
Selected Graduate Student Policies
Please note this section is not a complete listing of policies pertaining to graduate students, nor does it state the noted policies in their complete format. To review the official policies, please refer to The University of Texas 2007-2009 Graduate Catalog, or visit:http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/
Leave of Absence: Graduate students may apply for a leave of absence of no more than two semesters. If the student has not yet been admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, this request must be approved in advance by the graduate adviser. Granting leaves of absence for students not in candidacy is left to the discretion of the graduate adviser and Graduate Studies Committee. The only rule is that the decision be made "in the best interests of the academic progress of the student." If the student has been admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, the leave of absence must be petitioned to the graduate dean, and only in rare circumstances will it be approved.
Grievances: Graduate students have the right
to seek redress of any grievance related to
academic or nonacademic matters. Every
effort should be made to resolve grievances
informally between the student and the faculty
member involved or with the assistance of
the graduate adviser, Graduate Studies
Committee chair or department chair. If the
grievance cannot be resolved informally, students
have recourse to the formal grievance
procedures. The formal procedures will vary
depending on the nature of the grievance. For more information, visit
the Graduate School web site.
www.utexas.edu/ogs/student_services/grievances.html
Full-Time Graduate Student Status:
Certification of full-time status, when needed,
is provided by the Office of the Registrar. The
Graduate School recognizes nine semester
hours during a long session semester and
three hours during a summer session as a
minimum full-time course load. Individual
graduate programs may require more. The
three-credit hour minimum course
load for the summer session may be satisfied
in one six-week term, or in the nine-week or
12-week terms. Students enrolled in affiliated
studies are considered full-time students.
99 Hour Rule: The "99 hour rule" refers to the
implementation of Senate Bill 961, passed by
the Seventy-fifth Legislature. It states that students
at UT Austin with over 99 doctoral
hours may be subject to the payment of nonresident
tuition.
www.utexas.edu/ogs/publications/policies/99in99.html
Electronic Theses and Dissertations: Graduating doctoral students are required to publish a copy of their dissertation in electronic format. Master's students preparing a thesis or report may elect to submit the thesis or report in electronic format instead of paper format to the Graduate School.
Grading System
Graduate faculty may use the plus/minus
grading system. Faculty are not required to
use this system, but many do. Here’s how to
calculate the grade point average using the
plus/minus system:
A = 4.00
A- = 3.67
B+= 3.33
B = 3.00
B- = 2.67
C+ = 2.33
C = 2.00
C- = 1.67
D+= 1.33
D = 1.00
D- = 0.67
F = 0.00
The GPA is calculated by dividing the number of hours taken into the number of grade points received. For example, a student who makes an "A" in ARH 396L and a "B" in ECO 382L earns 12 grade points for the "A" and nine grade points for the "B". Adding those points together and dividing by the total number of semester hours (21 points divided by six hours) results in a GPA of 3.5. The cumulative grade point average for a graduate student includes all graduate courses the student has taken in residence and extension courses of graduate rank taken while enrolled in the Graduate School.