Section 6 Academic Progress
6.1 Expectations Regarding Time to Complete Your Degree
The policies around Time to Degree (TTD) are designed to lay out departmental expectations for progress and to lay out clear milestones for students to achieve in their career at UC Santa Barbara.
Normative times
The normative times outline our expectations for an average graduate student in one of our programs. These times may not apply to you depending on your previous classwork and preparation. Some students complete the milestones faster, and some very successful students need extra years. Use normative times as a guide, and you should discuss your plans with the Graduate Advisors.
Time-to-Degree Standards (TTD)
The TTD standards are the deadlines the department has established by which various degree milestones should be completed. Students who do not complete these requirements within the TTD standard may be placed on Academic Monitoring. This will require you to set up a specific strategy and time table for completion of the milestone.
MA degree
For students in our MA program the normative time to complete the MA in Applied Statistics (either track) is two years. The TTD standard is four years.
Qualifying Exams
Doctoral students are expected to pass qualifying exams in two areas within their first two years in the program. The TTD standard is that all students must pass their exams within their first three years.
Advancing to Candidacy
Students are expected to form a thesis committee and advance to candidacy by the end of their third year. The TTD standard is four years.
Dissertation Defense
The time it takes to complete a PhD dissertation can be quite variable, but the department expects that it can be completed within 5 years. Funding offers are made with the expectation that students will be able to finish their degree within this time. The TTD standard for completing the dissertation is the end of the sixth year.
6.2 Leaves of Absence
Graduate Students are expected to be registered each Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters while they are working towards their degree. The exception is for approved Leaves of Absence
6.2.1 Personal Leave
A student may request a personal leave for any personal reason that they encounter that limits their capacity to enroll and make progress towards their degree. This includes absences that are needed due to medical or family issues. A Leave of Absence Petition must be filed with Graduate Division. No additional documentation is needed in support of the leave request, unless the student is requesting beyond the first 3 quarters of leave. You may request up to 3 more quarters but only with the Graduate Dean’s approval.
Fellowship awards may be affected by any leave of absence. If you are the recipient of a Central Fellowship, then you should submit Central Fellow Leave Petition in addition to your Leave of Absence Petition. This additional form is a request to reschedule which quarters you will receive your fellowship. It is at the discretion of the university as whether fellowship money can be carried over to subsequent years.
If you do not return to UCSB and register for classes in the quarter following the approved leave quarters, then you will be considered to be in Lapsed Status.
In considering all normative times and TTD standards, any official Personal Leaves of Absence are not counted in the total time.
6.2.3 Filing Leave
Doctoral students are eligible for a special leave in the quarter in which they expect to Defend their Dissertation. There is a specific Filing Leave of Absence Petition. This will reduce the cost of tuition during that quarter and allow you to begin working if you have a job offer. However, you would not be eligible to be hired or funded by the university while on Filing Leave, and students can only file for this leave one time. If you do not file your dissertation during that quarter then you will have to be fully registered for one quarter before filing.
For international students who want to file in Summer Quarter and to apply for OPT, they will need to apply for a special Summer Filing Leave. Graduate Division has the details regarding eligibility, terms and conditions.
6.2.4 Lapse in Status
Please consult with the Graduate Advisors before lapsing in status. It could badly affect your financial support.
Students not registered for a quarter will be considered to have lapsed in status. You will not be able to register in the program after lapsing until you have filed a request to be reinstated. Students in lapsed status will be considered to have forfeited the financial offer that was made to them when admitted. It is possible that you will not be eligible for fellowship funds that were originally promised in future quarters.
A doctoral student who finds employment before having finished their dissertation may lapse in status as they take the job. The student may then defend and file their dissertation, but only after they have received reinstatement approval and registered for a quarter. You will be responsible for paying the tuition and fees for that additional quarter.
To be reinstated following a lapse in status, you must meet with the Departments Director of Graduate Studies to discuss your academic progress and funding situation. Then you will need to submit a Reinstatment Petition which must be approved by both the Department and the Graduate Dean. We will typically support reinstatement for students in good standing who have lapsed for less than a year, but it will depend on all of the relevant circumstances surrounding your absence: academic standing before the absence, length of absence, and changes in department resources during the absence.
6.2.5 Circumstances during an Absence
During any leave of absence, you are not eligible to
- Hold student academic appointments (TA, GSR, Reader, Tutor) or other student appointment titles
- Receive fellowship support
- Be exempt from payment of loans (check with loan agency)
- Have student MTD bus privileges or parking privileges
- Take a qualifying exam or Advance to Candidacy or have a degree awarded (unless it is specifically a Filing Leave.)
You may still be eligible for some health insurance, housing, and child care benefits. Check the Grad Division web site for details.
6.3 Academic Monitoring and Probation
All graduate students are expected to maintain their academic standing, and meet the time to degree requirements (see also the University Academic Performance and Progress Policies.)
The University Graduate Division has a process for addressing students that do not meet the standards expected by the department.
6.3.1 Academic Monitoring
Academic monitoring is implemented for students who fall behind or otherwise do not meet academic standards. Some possible reasons for being placed on academic monitoring include
- Cumulative GPA below 3.0
- 12 or more units of unfinished coursework i.e. courses with Incomplete or No Grades.
- Beyond TTD standards.
- Failure on one or more qualifying exams.
Students that are placed on academic monitoring will be expected to complete an Academic Progress Plan in consultation with their research advisor and then have it approved by the DGS. Most of the time, students will have up to one year to remedy the situation. If progress is not made, then Probation or Disqualification will be recommended.
6.3.2 Probation and Academic Disqualification
If a student on Academic Monitoring is deemed by the Graduate Advising Committee to not be making progress to regain full academic standing, then they may recommend to the University Graduate Dean to place the student on probation.
A student on academic probation is not eligible for employment in Academic Student Employee (ASE) titles (in particular Teaching Assistant or Grader positions) or for central fellowship support.
Academic Disqualification is a process where the Graduate Dean separates a student from UC Santa Barbara. This will only occur after a period of Academic Probation, and after an appropriate evaluation of the particular circumstances of the students.
6.4 Academic Honesty
Collaboration and citation are core principles in the academic endeavor. It is of the utmost importance that our research cite and properly credit all of the prior work that has gone into advancing the area under study. This is why a review of the relevant literature is often a key step in beginning a thesis project.
This collaborative community is disrupted when any scholars misrepresent the work of others as their own. As a result, academic honesty should be of utmost importance to our graduate students in all of their work. This includes everything from writing a dissertation to preparing a report for a class. All research is conducted using results and tools of others, but that borrowing and referencing must be done explicitly and honestly.
Instances of plagiarism, taking credit for the work of others, or cheating will be taken as serious breaches of the norms by which our community functions. All such instances will be reported to the Office of Student Affairs for adjudication.