Source: https://bulletin.fordham.edu/gsas/resources/handbook/enrollment/
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 18:54:36+00:00

Document:
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences adheres to a continuous enrollment policy, which means that students must register every fall and spring semester until graduation in order to remain matriculated in their respective M.A., M.S., M.F.A , Ph.D. and certificate programs. Master’s, doctoral, and certificate students intending to graduate in August must register for the summer prior to graduation if not otherwise registered for coursework in order to maintain continuous enrollment. The appropriate registration for the latter is “Requirement Prep in Summer” (see Registration Procedures and Special Categories).
Students are considered registered when they are enrolled in coursework, registered for comprehensive exams or preparation, for thesis or dissertation-related activities (e.g. proposal development, proposal acceptance, or dissertation direction), or when registered for “maintenance of matriculation.” The only exception to the requirement of continuous enrollment is when a student has been granted an approved leave of absence (see Leave of Absence).
Matriculated students who are not on an approved leave of absence and who do not register for two consecutive semesters are automatically dropped from the rolls of GSAS without notice.
Students who have been dismissed due to nonregistration and who wish to continue their education at GSAS must apply for readmission by submitting an online application, secure the approval of their department chairperson or program director, and must receive the approval of the dean. Readmission is not guaranteed.
Students may register for maintenance of matriculation to retain continuous enrollment at GSAS while away from the University and/or not using University resources, including both faculty and facilities (e.g. library, laboratories, computing technology, online research platforms), and is typically used when a student chooses to spend time away from the University (e.g. in order to take advantage of an employment opportunity).
Time spent registered under “maintenance of matriculation” is counted towards a student’s time limit for the completion of her/his degree, and is charged to the student as a 0.5 credit fee. Students who are registered for “maintenance of matriculation” may not be certified as full time (see Full Time Status Certification).
“Maintenance of matriculation” may not be used while a student is in the process of preparing a requirement: for example, when studying in preparation for the comprehensive exams or when completing a dissertation during the summer prior to graduation. In these cases, “Requirement Prep” or “Requirement Prep in Summer” should be used.
Students who encounter circumstances that prevent their continuous enrollment may request a leave of absence through their department chairperson or program director. A leave of absence is typically granted only for extraordinary personal reasons outside the student’s control that prevent involvement in graduate studies (e.g. serious medical problems). For occasions such as outside employment opportunities, students should instead register for “Maintenance of Matriculation”.
Students on academic probation may be granted a leave of absence only on the condition that they correct their academic difficulties during the semester of their return to the University. Departments may recommend additional conditions for a leave of absence whenever a student is on academic probation.
When requesting a leave of absence, students should complete the appropriate leave of absence form, located on the GSAS Student Resources web page, and specify the reason and the time period involved.
Students requesting a medical leave of absence should complete the appropriate leave of absence form, and include a doctor’s note indicating they are under a doctor’s care. Departments will forward the request, and its recommendation, to the dean, who will grant, deny, or modify the recommendation. If the request is approved, the dean will inform the student, the department chairperson or program director, the Office of Enrollment Services, and the University Reentry team (for medical leaves), and the student will be administratively registered for “Leave of Absence.” There is no charge for this registration.
Students on a medical leave of absence may be required to complete the University reentry process prior to their return and should familiarize themselves with the deadlines and procedures noted on the University Reentry webpage.
Students in good standing may voluntarily withdraw from the University by completing the University Withdrawal form published on the GSAS Student Resources web page. Students should send the completed form to their department or program; the department or program will then forward it to GSAS for approval.
A student who has withdrawn voluntarily who wishes to be reinstated in the graduate school must apply for readmission. Readmission is not guaranteed.
Students dismissed for failure to make satisfactory academic progress or to maintain satisfactory academic performance (see §7.4), or for failure of comprehensive exams (see §7.6), or for an academic integrity violation, may not reapply.
Students who have withdrawn voluntarily may apply for readmission by submitting an online admission application. In addition, they should direct their inquiries to the department chair or program director; however, the decision to readmit is a prerogative of the dean.
Readmitted students must meet the current norms of the department, and must include a plan of study (including a timetable) to meet the program’s current requirements as a part of their application. Additional conditions for readmission may be imposed by the dean in consultation with the department chairperson or program director and/or may follow from policies found elsewhere in this guidebook.
If a student intends to use any courses, examinations, or requirements from her/his original matriculation as contribution towards these requirements, the time limits from their prior matriculation will apply (see §7.3 Time Limit on Completion of Degree). If s/he is unable to fulfill the requirements for graduation within these original time limits, a request for an extension must be included at the time of re-application for admission.
To be certified as full time, students must be registered for their program’s full time equivalent each semester (see Appendix D for full time equivalency by program).
With the recommendation of the department or program, students taking less than the full time equivalent of coursework may be certified as full time by virtue of registration for other statuses which qualify as meeting, partially or fully, the requirements for full time certification. For example, a student who is in the process of studying for comprehensive exams or who is serving as a teaching fellow will typically qualify as full time. Students who wish to be certified as full time while not enrolled in the full time equivalent of coursework must complete the Matriculated Student Status Certification form available at GSAS Student Resources webpage. The granting of full time status is not guaranteed.
Students engaged in dissertation research who wish to be considered full time must enroll in either “Dissertation Mentoring” or “Dissertation Direction,” be certified by their mentor as working full time on a dissertation, and not be employed outside the University more than 10 hours per week.
All students receiving funding or tuition scholarships from the University must be full time students, and may forfeit their future eligibility for funding if they fail to maintain full time status while continuing to receive funding. Students who are registered for “maintenance of matriculation” or who are on academic probation for any reason may not be certified as full time. The only exception to this full time requirement is the Ricci tuition scholarship, which is available to part time students in the International Political Economy and Development (IPED) program, and the Mayor’s Scholarship, which is available to City of New York employees.
Students should be aware that full and part time status affects eligibility for federal funding and for deferment of past federal student loans. Please refer to the University Financial Aid Office for more information.
Registration materials are provided by the Office of Enrollment Services. Dates for registration are published on the GSAS Academic Calendar as well as on the my.Fordham.edu University portal, under the student tab.
Course listings for each department can be found at the top of the home page of my. Fordham.edu.
Students should consult with their department or program adviser in planning their course of study. An advising hold is placed on all students each semester until the department or program adviser approves course selections, at which time the department or program adviser removes the hold and students are able to complete registration via the my.Fordham.edu University portal.
It is the student’s responsibility to bring any questions s/he may have about the registration process to the department or program. Failure to register during the proper registration periods (usually late in the preceding semester) can result in miscalculation of funding or tuition scholarships, ineligibility for student housing and loans, and/or cancellation of courses due to low enrollment. Students are encouraged to complete their registration before final exams of the semester preceding the semester for which they are registering and according to the registration deadline noted on the GSAS Academic Calendar. Students who register late will be charged a late registration fee.
Certain master’s programs require students to pass comprehensive examinations as part of their degree requirements. Students must register for “Requirement Prep” if they are studying for comprehensive examinations during semesters in which they are not enrolled in coursework or actually taking comprehensive examinations. Students are not required to register for “Requirement Prep” if they are studying for comprehensive examinations while registered under any other status, or if enrolled in coursework while studying.
Master's students working on a master's research paper, project, or thesis during a fall or spring semester must register for “Requirement Prep,” or an equivalent status established for this purpose according to their program guidelines. If such work is carried out during the summer, students register for “Requirement Prep in Summer,” or the equivalent according to program guidelines.
Doctoral students are required to take and pass a comprehensive examination within two semesters of completing coursework. If the student does not pass the comprehensive examination within four semesters after completing coursework, the student may be dismissed from the program. If the student fails doctoral comprehensive examinations twice, the second failure is considered final and the student is dismissed from the program.
Students who fail the comprehensive exam must register for “Doctoral Comprehensive” again in the semester in which the examination is actually retaken. If the student wishes to study for a full semester in preparation for the exam, s/he should register for “Requirement Prep.” The fees for these repeat registrations are the same as they are for first-time candidates.
After passing the comprehensive examination, students have up to two semesters to develop a dissertation proposal and have it approved by the department or program. Students may be dismissed for failure to make academic progress if their proposal is not approved within four semesters, and will automatically be placed on academic probation if proposal approval is not secured at least five semesters before the close of degree time limits (see §7.4 GSAS Standards for Satisfactory Academic Performance and Satisfactory Academic Progress; Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress [SAP]).
Immediately after passing the comprehensive examination, students must register for “Proposal Development,” and are required to register for “Proposal Development” each semester until the proposal is approved by the department or program.
Following the acceptance of a dissertation proposal, students begin the process of dissertation research and composition under the guidance of a mentor.
For all departments, other than Psychology, during the first semester after “Proposal Acceptance” students are automatically registered for “Dissertation Mentoring.” After one semester of “Dissertation Mentoring,” students must register for “Dissertation Direction,” and continue to do so each fall and spring semester up to and including the fall or spring semester in which the oral defense of the dissertation is completed. Students defending their dissertation during the summer will be registered for “Dissertation Defense” by GSAS upon receipt of the defense notification.
Students who are away from the University without an approved leave of absence must register for “Maintenance of Matriculation.” This registration may not be used when the student is using University resources (for example, consulting faculty or using Fordham’s technological resources and/or the library).
Students in biology are required to consult the department chair or program director prior to any registration. Students who have completed coursework must register for BISC7999, “Conducting Research for Ph.D.” and must continue to register for "Conducting Research for Ph.D." until the required number of research credits (30 for the direct Ph.D. or 12 for the Ph.D. with a prior M.S.) is completed. Biology students must register for "Doctoral Comprehensive" (BISC0930) during the semester in which they take the comprehensive exam, which may be done either while they are completing their research credits or after they have been completed.
Students should take their doctoral comprehensive examinations and have their dissertation proposal accepted within eight semesters of completing coursework. The dean’s office will register students for “Proposal Acceptance” (BISC0960) for the semester in which their doctoral comprehensive exam has been passed and the dissertation proposal is successfully completed. This means that in certain cases, students will be registered for both "Doctoral Comprehensive" and "Proposal Acceptance" in the same semester. The dean's office will register students for “Dissertation Mentoring” (BISC0970) in the following semester. In subsequent semesters, students should register for “Dissertation Direction” until their dissertation oral defense has been passed.
With departmental or program approval, and in accordance with dates specified in the GSAS Academic Calendar, students may add, drop, or change the grade-type of courses without incurring the grade of "W" ("Withdrawal"). After that date, students may add courses only by permission of the instructor and department and with the consent of the dean. Students wishing to add or drop a class should contact their department to complete the necessary procedures.
After the appropriate approvals are obtained, the Add/Drop Form will be submitted directly to the Office of Academic Records and the schedule changes will be made. Note that dropping a course may affect federal loan eligibility, and part of received loan monies may have to be returned if the cost of attendance is reduced.
Students will not be permitted to “drop” courses after the add/drop deadline, and will instead incur a grade of “W” (“Withdrawal”) if they opt to remove themselves from a course. Please note that this policy applies even in cases where withdrawal is made necessary for medical reasons, and that students withdrawing from courses remain responsible for tuition and fees according to the University Institutional Refund Policy.
Students will incur a grade of “WF” (“Withdrawal Fail”) if they withdraw from courses after the date specified in the GSAS Academic Calendar (approximately one week before the last final examination of the semester).
Matriculated students in good academic standing who have completed at least eight credits of coursework or the equivalent may register for a tutorial to supplement regularly scheduled courses. Tutorials are not normally approved for students on academic probation. Students must complete the Graduate Tutorial Request form (available at GSAS Student Resources) and obtain approval of the instructor, department chairperson, and the dean. Tutorial request forms are submitted to enrollment services upon approval to complete the registration process.
Tutorials supervised by a faculty member outside of the student’s home department or to a student in an interdisciplinary program require approval by the appropriate department chairpersons or program directors. Tutorials are not normally approved where substantial overlap occurs with a current GSAS course offering, and may substitute for required courses only in exceptional circumstances. A request for substitution must be stated on the tutorial request form and a separate, written rationale for the substitution must accompany the form. Only in exceptional cases will students be allowed to register for more than one tutorial per semester.
Students who audit courses are not required to take the final examination, prepare class assignments or write term papers. No letter grade is given, but the transcript shows "Audit" for the course unless the instructor rules that the "Audit" is not warranted on the basis of attendance. In such a case, the course will not appear on the student's transcript.
Doctoral candidates who have completed the coursework required for their degree and who are registered for proposal development or dissertation direction may audit one course each semester without charge, with approval of the dean. Department advisors may require that such courses be taken for credit if deemed important to the student's academic development.
Some courses, (e.g. laboratory or seminar courses) are not open for auditing.
Students registered for a credit-bearing course may change their status to that of an auditor with the written approval of the department chairperson or program director, and the dean, in accordance with GSAS Academic Calendar deadlines. Students who do not change their status to that of an auditor and are absent from the final examination without a satisfactory reason will receive an "ABS" for the course. Unless the "ABS" grade is changed to a letter grade by the deadline specified in the GSAS Academic Calendar, it is automatically changed to "F".
In no case will an audit course be changed into a credit course after the last day for adding courses, as defined in the GSAS Academic Calendar.
Students who audit courses must pay full tuition for them. Students may make a special request to the dean to use University tuition scholarships to cover tuition for audited courses, but such requests are very rarely granted.
The University extends the privilege of auditing courses to scholars with Ph.D. degrees from Fordham and other universities. Applications for audits by scholars outside the University should be made by submitting a non-matriculated application through the GSAS Admissions Department, who will then obtain the dean’s approval. There will be a charge of approximately $404 for general and technology fees. If an individual wishes to receive credit for the course, s/he must pay related fees and tuition for course credit.
GSAS students in good standing may request permission to register in an undergraduate language course offered by the Department of Modern Languages or Classics Department in the fall or spring semesters (summer courses are not currently covered by this policy). GSAS registrants will be accommodated only after all undergraduates have been placed into courses, and will be allowed to register only with permission of instructor. GSAS students may be asked to take a placement test before being assigned to a section. No language course with more than 18 students will accommodate GSAS registrants, and no more than 20 GSAS students will be accepted in any given semester. If there are more applicants than seats available, priority will be given to students who need language skills to complete degree requirements, such as dissertation research or language exams (the latter applies only to languages other than French and German, since these languages offer graduate reading courses specifically designed with this goal in mind). GSAS students will complete all course requirements, including written work, exams, and daily class preparation. Students’ work will be graded SAT/UNSAT and they will sign an agreement indicating that they will complete these tasks. GSAS students are charged only a $100 language fee per semester for these 0-credit registrations; the fee is not covered by any GSAS tuition scholarships or award. Interested students should submit the 0-Credit Language Study Application (available at GSAS Student Resources).
Undergraduate seniors with an adequate grade point average are allowed to register in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for 5000-level courses.
In some programs, permission of the department chairperson or program director is required for enrollment. Students should contact the chairperson or program director for information about how to register for 5000-level graduate courses. Undergraduate registration in 6000-level courses is not normally approved.
Graduate students may not take undergraduate courses for graduate credit. Occasionally, undergraduate courses may be taken to meet language requirements (see §7.5 Language Requirements), but these credits do not count toward coursework requirements.
Graduate students may, in some circumstances, attend undergraduate courses as part of a tutorial, but they must register for a graduate-level tutorial (see §5.3.5 Tutorials) and complete graduate-level work, as determined by the course instructor.
Students who wish to register for courses offered by Fordham graduate schools (Graduate School of Education [GSE]; Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education [GRE]; Graduate School of Social Service [GSS]; Gabelli (GSB), and the Fordham School of Law [LAW]) can do so without special authorization from the school. Permission from the department or program, however, is still required, and students should consult with their departmental advisor before registering for classes at other Fordham Graduate Schools for clarification on the application of any credits awarded to their degree.
Students who wish to register for graduate-level courses offered by Fordham graduate schools must obtain written permission from their program director and forward the permission to the appropriate assistant dean at the intercampus school for registration approval and processing.
Students who wish to register for courses through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium (IUDC) must be matriculated in a GSAS doctoral program and must have completed at least one year of full time doctoral study before taking a consortium course.
Typically, graduate students may take only one consortium course each semester and departments have the right to limit the type of courses and total number of credits taken through the consortium. Other participating universities may place additional restrictions on consortium enrollment. Courses may not be taken through the consortium in the summer.
For consortium courses, grading follows the system of the host institution and grades earned for consortium courses are not calculated into a student's GSAS cumulative GPA (see §6 Grades). Upon completion of consortium courses, students must obtain an official record of their grades and submit them to the dean's office; failure to do so may result in not receiving credit for the course.
Deadlines for making Consortium course changes (e.g. add, drop, or changes of grade type) are governed by both the GSAS Academic Calendar as well as host institution deadlines.
To register for consortium courses, students must use the IUDC Registration form (available at GSAS Student Resources) and obtain all necessary signatures. It is then the student's responsibility to return a copy of the signed form to the dean's office. Upon approval, students will be registered for “Consortium Registration.” Audits are normally not approved for IUDC courses.
Students pay Fordham tuition for consortium courses; these charges are included in the regular bursar bill.
The refund of tuition and fee payments, or the cancellation of charges incurred for tuition, fees, or housing are based on schedules issued by enrollment services and published on the Fordham Admission and Financial Aid website. The fee schedule is based on University policy and is not within the purview of any department or program, or of the dean's office.
Amounts refunded or canceled are based on the date of withdrawal from courses or other registrations. If students have evidence that withdrawal from a course occurred on a date different from that indicated in official University records, the student may contest the official charges by writing to the dean's office.

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