1. Time to Degree: PhD students are expected to complete all degree requirements within four years, if entering with an MA, or five years, if entering with a BA, from the semester in which they are admitted and begin coursework in the doctoral program. To continue beyond four or five years, respectively, the student must file a petition for an extension of the time limit with the Dean of the Graduate School. The dissertation director and the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies must endorse such petitions. Extensions may be granted for up to one year. For additional time, you must file another petition for extension.
2. Good standing: To remain eligible for teaching assistantships and departmental fellowships, you must maintain good standing as a graduate student in our program. You are in good standing if you fulfill all of the following:
- Are enrolled in a full-time program of graduate study. (Full-time is defined as taking 5 hours of graduate-level credit, or 8 hours of combined graduate/undergraduate credit, or any number of dissertation hours prior to passing the comprehensive exam. After passing the comprehensive exam, you must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 dissertation hours.)
- Obtain grades of B- and above in graduate courses and have an overall B (3.0) average in graduate courses. Courses in which grades below B- are received will not be accepted toward doctoral program credit-hour or content requirements.
- Comply with the policy on grades of incomplete.
- (If ABD) make progress at a pace that meets your "timeline for completion” (approved by your committee as part of the prospectus).
- Comply with the general timeline for the German PhD degree.
- If you do not comply with the timeline for the German PhD, or the dissertation advisor and Graduate Associate Chair determine that you are not making satisfactory progress towards the PhD, you will be asked to fill out a contract, specifying the work to be completed and the deadline for its completion. The contract will be signed by you, the dissertation advisor and Graduate Associate Chair. If you do not to meet the terms of the contract, you may be asked to petition for a Terminal MA. (See #5 below.)
3. Graduate School Grievance Policy for Graduate Students
4. Probation: If you do not comply with the timeline for the German PhD, or the dissertation advisor and Graduate Associate Chair determine that you are not making satisfactory progress towards the PhD, you may be put on probation. A Probation Contract must be filled out and signed by you, the dissertation advisor and Graduate Associate Chair, and will specify the work to be completed and the deadline for its completion.
5. Letter grades and pass/fail: All coursework applied toward the PhD must be taken for a letter grade, except for courses taken to fulfill the foreign language requirement, which may be taken pass/fail. In all other courses, you must receive a grade of B- or better, for a cumulative grade-point average of B (3.0).
6. Transfer credit: Transfer credit from accredited institutions may be accepted by CU-Boulder after approval by the Graduate Associate Chair. Transfer credit is defined as any credit earned at another accredited institution, credits earned on another campus of the CU system, or credits earned as a non-degree student within the CU system. PhD students are allowed a maximum of 21 hours of transfer credit. Thesis hours may not be transferred. All courses accepted for transfer credit must be graduate-level courses and must have a grade of B or above. Coursework completed more than five years prior to acceptance to the PhD program will be evaluated by the department with regard to current relevance and applicability to the degree requirements. Credit may not be transferred until you have completed at least six credits of CU graduate-level coursework as a degree-seeking student on the CU Boulder campus with a 3.0 GPA. See the Graduate Program Assistant for transfer credit forms.
7. Policy on grades of “Incomplete”: A grade of incomplete (IF) is granted when, due to circumstances beyond your control (illness, military service, hardship or death in the family), you are unable to complete the requirements of a course or courses in the semester for which you are registered. Incompletes must be completed before the beginning of the following semester. An Incomplete Contract must be filled out and signed by both you and the instructor, and will specify the work to be completed. The final grade (earned by completing the course requirements) does not result in the deletion of the "I" from the transcript.
8. Terminal MA: If a PhD student, having completed 30 credits and the comprehensive exams, wishes to leave the program before finishing the dissertation (or if the dissertation advisor and Graduate Associate Chair determine that he or she is not making satisfactory progress towards the PhD), the student may petition to receive the German MA.