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Spring/Annual Evaluations

Spring Evaluation Access

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Graduate Council policy requires that all doctoral and MFA students be evaluated every Spring. A satisfactory evaluation on file in Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affair (GEPA) is necessary for future support to be approved. The following are exempt from Spring evaluations:

  1. A student advancing to Doctoral or MFA candidacy during Winter or Spring of the current academic year.
  2. A student on an approved leave of absence during Spring of the current academic year. In this instance an evaluation must be submitted by the end of the first quarter of return to continue support.

Students are advised to work with their advisor and graduate coordinator for the timely submission of their evaluation so that student support for the future is not jeopardized.

The student signature is required on every evaluation. Student signature does not indicate agreement with the evaluation and student comments are encouraged. Each student should receive a copy of his/her evaluation.

ALL REQUESTS FOR EXCEPTION, INCLUDING TIME LIMITS OR PERCENTAGE OF SUPPORT, MAY ONLY BE REQUESTED IF A CURRENT SPRING/ANNUAL EVALUATION IS ON FILE AT the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affair (GEPA).

Following is a summary of the policies regarding evaluations.

Policy for Pre-Candidacy Students

The Graduate Council policy on January 11, 1974 regarding these evaluations is as follows:

[The] evaluation [is to] to be made available to students who will sign it to indicate that they have read it, whether or not they agree with it; ... a copy of this evaluation shall be sent to the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affair (GEPA), to be made part of the student's permanent file. This evaluation will indicate: the degree to which students are, over-all, progressing satisfactorily in their studies; their strengths and weaknesses as students and, where applicable, as teaching and/or research assistants. These evaluations should contain cogent and clear advice to students.

Policy for In-Candidacy Students

Graduate Council policy (November 11, 1988) on in-candidacy evaluations is as follows:

Each student in doctoral candidacy is to receive an annual substantive progress review. At least three members of the student's doctoral committee are to participate in the review. The review should cover the student's progress to date, recommend the modifications to the dissertation's scope or methodology, timetable for completion, and recommendation for support in the following year.

The doctoral committee chair shall write up the results of the review and discuss them with the student. All members of the doctoral committee participating in the review, the student, and department chair are to sign the progress review.

Procedures

  • It is expected that an evaluation will include a face-to-face meeting between the faculty member(s) and the student, and also that the student will feel free to make comments on the evaluation.
  • It is important to note that Spring/Annual evaluations affect not only future support but are required before any exception can be requested of the Graduate Council, and, if there are academic difficulties, will be relied upon heavily in the Dean's action. In many instances, they are the only narrative documentation of a student's progress, other than the transcript.
  • Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affair (GEPA) monitors the receipt of Spring evaluations by program.