Each spring quarter, departmental faculty convene to review the progress of all current graduate students. This process should not be a source of anxiety for you; if you are making good progress and communicating regularly with your adviser, no surprises are likely to result from the review process. This is simply a way to ensure that you are making satisfactory progress and to determine your future needs in the program, including departmental funding (especially for those students without an ongoing contract for the next academic year), teaching preferences, and your needs for desk space in the department. The Director of Academic Services will send out a call to graduate students in February or March to provide the following information via Google Forms:
- A brief statement (approx. 250 words) of your academic purpose and research directions, making sure that you also describe your progress to date
- Any courses outside the department that you would like to substitute for specific degree requirements such as methods & research design
- Prospective funding source(s) for next year
- Your course teaching/TAing preferences for the next academic year
- Desk space & mailbox needs for the following year
If the faculty determine at the annual Annual Review that a student is making satisfactory progress, the Chair or Graduate Program Coordinator communicates that to them in writing after the review.
If the faculty determine at the Annual Review that a student is not making satisfactory progress, the Graduate Program Coordinator or Chair will issue a letter of concern that specifies the next benchmark that must be met and a timeline for completion of that benchmark. If the student has not met the benchmark at the specified timeline, the GPC and/or the Chair may send a warning letter. If the student continues not to meet the benchmark at the specified timeline, the GPC and/or the Chair may send a second warning letter. If two warning letters have been sent and the student does not achieve the benchmark defined in the second warning letter at the specified timeline, the faculty may authorize the GPC to recommend academic probation via the Graduate School (See Graduate School Memorandum 16, Continuation or Termination of Students in the Graduate School, for a full explanation of policies, guidelines and procedures for “low scholarship” and “unsatisfactory progress” cases).
All letters of concern and warning letters must specify the reason for the letter or warning, the steps that need to be taken, and potential consequences for not taking these steps. The students’ committee chair should be consulted throughout this process and copied on any communications.
Please review Department of Geography Satisfactory Academic Progress for more information.