Graduate Program Student Handbook: Suggested Components

The following outline contains suggestions for items to include in graduate program student handbooks. Not all items may apply to your graduate program, although those items included are considered to be relatively common across disciplines and degree objectives. Clearly, there will be items specific to your discipline that are not included here; we encourage you to include any additional information that will be of assistance to graduate students as they pursue their degrees.

Specific web addresses for additional information are included below for reference. In addition, you will want to refer to the Graduate School’s web pages for current students for more information about Graduate School policies/procedures.

1. Program Overview

• Statement of broad goals and objectives of each degree objective (e.g., MS, MA, PhD) offered by the graduate program. Themes could include, for example, attaining depth and breadth of knowledge in certain areas of the discipline; gaining proficiency in scientific inquiry and experience in the research enterprise; gaining teaching experience.

2. Program Components

• General description of the components (i.e., the informal and/or formal emphases/concentrations/tracks) of each degree objective offered by the graduate program
• General description each degree objective offered by the graduate program (e.g., Ph.D., MS Plan A and/or Plan B)

3. Degree Requirements

• Maintaining active student status (i.e., fall/spring registration requirement)
• Coursework requirements for each degree objective/emphasis, including courses required for the major, related fields/supporting program
• Thesis credit requirements
• Limitations on use of S/N credits
• Limitations on the use of transfer credits
• Language proficiency
• Internship requirements
• Requirements unique to the graduate program (e.g., teaching or research experience, publication of articles, conference presentations, participation in brown-bag sessions)
• Filing of milestone forms (e.g., degree program form; thesis proposal form)
• Examinations
  • Masters Final Examination
    • Describe examination components and eligibility requirements (e.g., Master’s Plan B final – Written? Oral? Both? Master’s Plan A final – Written in addition to the GS-required oral?)
  • Doctoral Preliminary Written Examination
    • Describe separately the written examination(s) for each emphasis/concentration/track
    • Eligibility requirements
    • Schedule (e.g., are the exams available once per year? twice per year?)
    • Components of examination (e.g., length; closed-book; sit-down)
    • Material to be covered
    • Evaluation/grading of writtens (e.g., what constitutes a passing vote; when students can expect notification of outcome; whether a retake is allowed, and if so, any conditions placed upon the retake)
  • Doctoral Preliminary Oral Examination
    • Eligibility requirements
    • Scheduling with committee members, the graduate program, and the Graduate School (e.g., how and when)
    • Material to be covered
  • Doctoral Final Oral Examination
    • Eligibility requirements
      § Scheduling with committee members, the graduate program, and the Graduate School (e.g., how and when)
• Degree completion deadlines
  • 7-year time limit for master’s students
  • 5-year time limit for doctoral students

4. Departmental, Collegiate, and University Policies

• Academic Standards
  • Standards should be outlined for each degree objective offered
  • Minimum GPA
  • Maximum number of incompletes
  • Expectations for degree progress
    • What constitutes “good academic progress” in the program?
    • Distinct sets of expectations for full-time and part-time students
    • Consider timelines for
• Coursework completion
• Filing of milestone forms (e.g., the program form; the thesis proposal)
• Completion of internship
• Determination of project or dissertation topic
• Researching topic; analyzing data; writing chapters
• Completion of major examinations (e.g., the doctoral prelim writtens and oral; the master’s or doctoral final examination)
• Annual Review of Student Progress
  • Timing of the review
  • Documentation that informs the review
  • Individual(s) responsible for providing necessary documentation
  • Who participates in the review
  • Possible outcomes of the review (e.g., student is/is not making satisfactory progress in the view of the graduate program)
  • How and when student is notified of review outcome
• Writing Standards
  • Quality of writing expected by the graduate program
  • Accepted manuscript writing style(s) (e.g., APA)
• Advising
  • The graduate program’s view of the adviser-advisee relationship
  • When and how advisers are assigned
  • How to request a change in adviser
• Records Policies
  • Documents/information kept in the student’s graduate program file
  • Privacy (e.g., faculty and staff have access to the file on a need-to-know basis, per FERPA regulations)
  • Access (e.g., the student has access, per written request to the DGS, to contents in his/her file to which s/he has not waived viewing rights)
• Degree Clearance Procedures
  • Explanation of how the graduate program verifies that all program-specific requirements are met
  • Reference to Graduate School degree clearance procedures
• Responsibilities
  • Refer to the Graduate School’s Mutual Rights and Responsibilities document
  • Explanation of the responsibilities of the departmental chair, director of graduate studies, departmental committees, and the graduate secretary/DGS assistant
• Graduate Assistantship Opportunities
  • Teaching Assistantship information
  • Research Assistantship information
• Work-Related Policies
  • Human Resources: Graduate Assistants Office
  • note: inquiries regarding information to include concerning work-related policies should be directed to the Graduate Assistantship Office and/or Human Resources
• Opportunities for Student Involvement
  • Committees within the graduate program that include graduate students
  • COGS
  • GAPSA
• Conduct
  • Standards of Student Conduct Enforceable by University Agencies (the Graduate School follows this student conduct code, written for the University and available through Student Judicial Affairs )
  • Expectations for Graduate Students in Research, Scholarship, and Professional Education
  • Program-specific expectations regarding conduct
• Research Involving Human Subjects
• Research Involving Animal Subjects

5. Miscellaneous

• University of Minnesota student email account as the University’s official method of communication
• Mailboxes
• Telephones
• Copy machines
• Travel funds
• Student lounge

6. Appendix

• Checklist of relevant graduate program, Graduate School, and other forms
• Checklist of graduate program and Graduate School degree clearance requirements
• Copies of forms
Applicable deadlines
• Filing milestone forms
• Scheduling examinations
• Applying for various funding/work opportunities

Final Suggestions

You are strongly encouraged to include the following language in your graduate program handbook, which is language similar to what is used in University publications (e.g., the Graduate School Catalog):

The information in this handbook and other University catalogs, publications, or announcements is subject to change without notice. University offices can provide current information about possible changes.

Also, please be aware that you may get requests for the handbook in alternative formats. If you need assistance with such requests, you can contact the Disabilities Services’ Document Conversion Specialist at (612) 624-6899. Disabilities Services has information online about Document Conversion .

March 2003