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Advising

In order to register, you must first be advised by your faculty adviser. Your faculty adviser will assist you in filling out an Advising Form during your advising session with them, which will include your name, EID, and the courses you have been advised to take for the following semester. You must then turn the completed and signed form in to EDP (instructions on the form), and the EDP registration staff person will remove your advising bar and may contact you with follow-up questions. Note: students must go over their Program of Work with the faculty adviser during this advising session. 

Registration Bars

Students must clear any other bars that may prevent timely registration, such as owing money for library books, money to the health center, etc. Any registration bars will be listed on UT Direct. Financial bars, in many cases, may be cleared by making payment online (What I Owe). For non-financial bars, you must contact the department listed on the bar details to have it cleared. Your emergency contact information in UT Direct must also be updated annually, as failure to do so may result in a registration bar from UT. 

Registration

You will register for each semester and summer session online through the Registrar’s online services. You should plan to advise at the first opportunity and register early, as courses can fill and delaying registration may limit your ability to add courses. General registration access periods are available via the UT Academic Calendar online, and your exact/specific registration times are available via your Registration Info Sheet (RIS), accessible via the UT Registrar's page. You must also register as soon as possible to ensure your course is not cancelled due to low enrollment; late registration can also affect your instructor’s ability to obtain a TA for the course. Do not register for classes that are not on your Advising Form. If you wish to change your advised class schedule, you must notify your faculty adviser and the EDP registration staff person. If you have issues getting into any of your EDP classes, or have other registration issues not addressed on this page, contact Kim.

Late Registration

Late registration is a serious matter. Because there are increasing budgetary issues, and because UT receives no funding and supervising faculty receive no credit for students who register after the 12th class day, students pay increasingly higher late registration fees, and the amount of paperwork (and legwork) needed to register late escalates quickly.  The Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies will not grant petitions for waivers of late registration fees.  

If you register late (or forget to pay for your classes on time and, therefore, have to register late because your courses are dropped from the system), you must e-mail the Graduate Coordinator the circumstances that led to your late registration.  These circumstances will be reviewed by the Graduate Adviser and, if there is still space available in the courses you need, and if he decides to petition the Dean to allow you to register late, you must complete the late registration form; obtain the signature of the instructor(s); obtain the Graduate Adviser’s signature, along with the accompanying petition; walk those to the Dean’s Office in the Main Building (Tower), and plan to spend some time in three different Main Building offices and to pay the tuition, fees, and late fees the same day.  If you do not pay the same day by 5:00, the whole process must begin again.

If you think there will be any problem making the payment deadline (and this includes potential problems getting financial aid applied), select to take out a tuition loan.  The rate in only 4% per year, so you will probably end up paying less than $20.  This will save you a lot in late registration fees and walking paperwork around to get your courses back when they are "zapped" for nonpayment!

Dropping and Adding Courses

Students may drop or add courses (approved by their faculty advisers and cleared by Department staff) through the online registration system during the first four class days of a long semester and the first two class days of summer sessions.  

During the fifth through twelfth class days of the long semesters, and the third and fourth day of summer sessions, the EDP registration staff person can make adds and drops for students who have their faculty advisers’ approval for the changes.  After these periods, students are permitted to add classes only under exceptional circumstances.  If you add a class late, you must e-mail the EDP Graduate Coordinator the circumstances that led to your late course addition.  These circumstances will be reviewed by the EDP Graduate Adviser and, if there is still space available in the courses you need, and if he decides to petition the Dean to allow you to add the course late, you will need to: complete an add/drop form, obtain the signature the instructor, obtain the Graduate Adviser’s signature along with the accompanying petition, walk those to the Graduate Dean’s Office in the Main Building, and plan to spend some time in Main Building offices to get approval for the late add and to pay the fees. 

Graduate students may drop a class through the last class day of a semester, and the instructor will assign a symbol of Q (Quit) or F (Fail).  The form you will need to drop a class can be obtained from the Graduate Coordinator.  Because the form requires the signatures of both the instructor and the Graduate Adviser, it is best to decide to drop a course before the last week of classes (and certainly prior to being in a failing status in the course).  If you wait until the last week of class, you will need to walk the paperwork to the Graduate School yourself in order to ensure timely recording of the change.  

Check your registration carefully!  Please verify through the online registration system, and with the instructor on the first day of class, that you are, in fact, registered for the courses you intend to take. Some courses have the same course numbers but different topics, slightly different names, etc. Several students have received an F or NC (no credit) grade at the end of a semester after diligently attending class and completing assignments, but for the wrong class! 

An F or NC grade cannot be changed except with approval of the Graduate Dean.  The Graduate Dean does not take kindly to petitions of this nature, as graduate students are expected to ascertain they are in the correct classes. Please, therefore, take the time each semester to be certain you register for the correct courses.

Continuous Registration

All students are expected to register and pay tuition and fees by the appropriate deadlines of the fall and spring semesters of each academic year until graduation (this continuous registration rule does not apply to summer sessions).  

Full-Time Course Load

Full-time status is necessary to receive most University fellowships, reside in University housing, and be employed for an academic appointment (Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Assistant Instructor, etc.).  Full-time student status is also required for visa permits for international students (until they reach candidacy), and is frequently required for student loans or deferment of existing loans (check the Office of Student Financial Services or your lender).  Full-time registration in the summer, for the purposes of having an academic appointment (TA, RA, AI, etc.) is three hours (either summer session).

Maximum Course Load

The maximum course load for a graduate student during long semesters is 15 hours; 12 hours is the maximum during the twelve weeks of summer.  A heavier course load must have the recommendation of the Graduate Adviser and approval of the Graduate Dean.  Approval is granted only one time and under certain circumstances.  Contact the Graduate Coordinator if you need to take more than the maximum number of hours.

Leave of Absence

Typically, a graduate student may apply for a leave of absence of no more than two long semesters.  Requests for a leave of absence must be recommended by your faculty adviser to the Area Chair or Program Director, who will email a leave of absence request to the Graduate Adviser (including details regarding duration and reason for the leave), who will notify the Dean of Graduate Studies. 

If a student has been admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, the GSC Executive Committee (GSC EC) and Dean of Graduate Studies must also approve a leave of absence.  The Dean of Graduate Studies approves such leaves of absence only in rare and unusual circumstances (typically documented medical reasons and never for financial reasons).  In-candidacy students who leave The University without an approved leave of absence must reapply for admission and, if admitted, must pay for all semesters of dissertation missed during the leave.

Paperwork must be in the Graduate School office no later than a week prior to the beginning of classes or the student will have to pay the regular readmission application fee.  

A student on leave of absence may not use University facilities or receive advice from any member of the faculty.  A student who is on leave of absence (or not registered for some other reason) cannot gather data for research.

Federal Financial Aid

All students who are receiving federal financial aid are subject to the "excessive hours" limitations of the Office of Student Financial Services.  A Satisfactory Progress Appeal form must be filed and approved in order for you to receive federal financial assistance if you exceed 40 hours for a master's degree, or 160 hours for doctoral degree (without a master's) and 140 hours for a doctoral degree (with a master's -- even if the master's degree is from another university, and regardless of how the degree was financed).  In addition, there is a maximum amount students may receive from federal financial aid.  You can find more complete information on the Financial Services website, or by contacting your Student Financial Services representative.

Academic Warning, Dismissal, and Termination

Registration in the Graduate School beyond the first semester or summer session depends on three factors:

  1. satisfactory progress in absolving any admission conditions;
  2. maintenance of a GPA of at least 3.0 in all graduate coursework; and 
  3. approval of the student’s GSC.

A graduate student whose GPA falls below 3.0 will be warned by the Graduate School.  The student must attain a satisfactory GPA during the subsequent semester or be subject to termination.  The student may not drop a course or withdraw from a course during this period without approval of the Graduate Adviser and Graduate Dean.

Unless the course is only offered CR/NC, EDP students must pass all courses used to satisfy degree requirements with a letter grade of B- or better.  You don’t want to have to repeat a course, so make sure you are signed up for the correct grade status.

In general, if a student's performance is below the expectations of the area/program, either academically or behaviorally, the student can be placed on probation through written documentation outlining all the problems, the processes by which to be removed, and the deadlines by which the processes must be completed, as well as the final recourse should satisfactory progress not be achieved by the deadlines.

The GSC may recommend termination to the Dean of Graduate Studies if a student is not making satisfactory progress.  Again, contact your faculty adviser to learn what constitutes satisfactory academic progress in your area/program.  Students have the option to voluntarily withdraw from the doctoral program.

Other

Cross-listed courses taught by EDP faculty cannot be counted as out-of-department courses.