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Graduate Catalog: Registration

Registering for Classes

Graduate students (except those in law and medicine) should register via the World Wide Web to secure their classes. For details about registration procedures see Registration in the Undergraduate Information section of this catalog.

Law and medical students register in person at the College of Law and School of Medicine, respectively. For information, see Law and Medicine in the Colleges section of this catalog, or contact the College of Law or School of Medicine.

Minimum Continuous Registration

All graduate students must maintain minimum registration from the time of formal admission through completion of all requirements for the degree they are seeking unless granted an official leave of absence (see Leaves of Absence, below). Students not on campus and not using University facilities are not expected to register for summer term. If students do not comply with this continuous registration policy and do not obtain an official leave of absence, their supervisory committee is terminated and their records are inactivated. To reactivate a file at a later time, the student is required to reapply for admission to The Graduate School.

Master's Degrees

Master's degree students in programs requiring a thesis maintain minimum registration by:

1. Registering and paying applicable tuition and fees for at least three credit hours (Thesis Research, course number 6970, may be used to fulfill this requirement) per semester during the academic year from the time they are admitted to The Graduate School until they have completed all requirements for the degree (up to 10 hours of course number 6970 may be counted toward the master's degree); or
2. Registering for three credit hours of Faculty Consultation (course number 6980) during any semester in which they are not otherwise enrolled.

Minimum continuous registration requirements apply to thesis candidates until the thesis is successfully defended. Students who take their last examination after the final examination period and before the next semester begins are not required to register for the next semester. They will graduate the semester all Graduate School requirements are fulfilled.

Master's degree students in a nonthesis program maintain minimum registration by:

1. Registering and paying applicable tuition and fees for at least three credit hours per semester during the academic year from the time they are admitted to The Graduate School until they have completed all requirements for the degree, including the submission of a final paper or project; or
2. Registering for three credit hours of Faculty Consultation (course number 6980) during any semester in which they are not otherwise enrolled.

The requirements apply to nonthesis candidates until the final paper or project is submitted and approved by the department.

Master's degree students maintaining minimum continuous registration have library privileges, health insurance options, and access to athletic facilities.

Doctoral Degrees

Doctoral students maintain minimum registration by registering and paying applicable tuition and fees for at least three credit hours per semester during the academic year from the time they are admitted to The Graduate School until they have been formally advanced to candidacy (usually after completion of all course work, the qualifying examination, and the language requirement).Doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy maintain minimum registration by:

1. Registering and paying the applicable tuition and fees for a minimum of three credit hours if the candidate is in residence, uses University buildings, consults regularly with her or his supervisory committee, or otherwise uses University facilities. All candidates taking their final examination during the semester in question must be registered for three credit hours, OR
2. Registering for Continuing Registration (course number 7990) if the candidate is not using faculty time or University facilities except the library. No students may register for more than four semesters of 7990.

Doctoral students who successfully defend their dissertations are no longer required to register; however, those who wish to check out books from the library must register for Continuing Registration (course number 7990).

Only courses numbered 6970 and 7970 may be counted as thesis or dissertation hours in fulfillment of degree requirements. Course numbers 6980 and 7980 (Faculty Consultation) do not count toward fulfillment of degree requirements.

Termination of Committee

If students do not comply with the continuous registration policy described above and do not obtain an official leave of absence, their supervisory committees are terminated and their records are inactivated. To reactivate a file at a later time, the student must reapply for admission to The Graduate School.

Course 7990 Limitations

Continuing Registration: Ph.D. (course number 7990) cannot be used for verification of half- or full-time enrollment in order to qualify for deferment of student loan repayments or to receive student loan funds. The department class number for 7990 changes each semester and is available to students only through the department's graduate advisor. There is a limit of four semesters for use of 7990.

Leaves of Absence

Students who wish to discontinue their studies for one or more semesters (other than summer term) must file a Request for Leave of Absence form with the chair of their supervisory committee. Before being forwarded to the Graduate Records Office for approval by the dean of The Graduate School, the form must be approved by the supervisory committee chair and department chair. Requests may be granted in the following circumstances:

1. Leaves of absence generally are granted and reviewed on a yearly basis for reasons relating to illness, military service, pregnancy and/or child care, residence outside the state of Utah, and work in process in which students are not in continual contact with their supervisory committee or other members of the faculty.
2. Leaves also may be granted on a yearly basis to students who, in the judgment of their department chair, are engaged in work considered beneficial to their academic goals, such as temporary teaching or professional employment that allows the students ultimately to complete the degree.
3. Leaves for other reasons may be granted and reviewed on a yearly basis when the student's chair believes the leave is in the best interest of both the student and the University.

Students must apply for leaves of absence for a current semester by the last day of classes of that semester. They also must officially withdraw from classes in any semester for which a leave is granted. Failure to formally withdraw results in the reporting of E or EU grades for all classes. For more information about official withdrawal, see Grading Policies in the Undergraduate Information section of this catalog.
The period during which a leave of absence is granted does not count toward the period allowed to complete the degree. Leaves are granted for a maximum of one academic year at a time. The leave of absence is void if a student registers for classes in a semester for which a leave was granted.

Summer Term Registration

Continuous registration refers only to registration during the regular academic year and is not terminated or interrupted by nonregistration during summer term. Students should, however, maintain registration status during summer term if they are taking examinations or defending theses/dissertations.

Charges

Nonresident tuition is not imposed on matriculated students whose total registration includes only course numbers in the range 6970 to 6989 or 7970 to 7989 (Thesis Research, Faculty Consultation, Final Project) in a given semester. Continuing Registration (course number 7990), available only to doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy, carries a charge (subject to change without notice) of $37.50 per semester, regardless of resident status.

Full-time Status

Graduate students considered full time:

1. are registered for nine or more credit hours;
2. after the residency requirement has been met (two consecutive semesters of nine hours or more), are registered for three credit hours of courses in the range of 6970-6989, 7970-7989 or Pharmacology and Toxicology 7920. Option 2 does not fulfill state residency requirements.

Maximum hours

No candidate for a graduate degree is permitted to register for more than 16 credit hours in any single semester. A schedule of nine hours is considered a full load for master's and doctoral degree candidates.