PHD Good Standing.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE concept PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.1/OS/dtd/concept.dtd" []>
<concept id="phd-good-standing">
<title>Good Standing</title>

  <shortdesc></shortdesc>
  <prolog>
    <author type="creator">Graduate Program Committee</author>
    <copyright>
      <copyryear year="2014"/>
      <copyrholder>CS Department</copyrholder>
    </copyright>
  </prolog>
  <conbody>
    <p conref="Reference.xml#lib/good-standing"></p>

    <p>A PhD student will typically graduate five years after entering the graduate program (if starting with a BS) or four years after entering the graduate program (if starting with a MS) PhD students retain their good standing by meeting all of the following:</p>

    <ul>
      <li>take a normal course load (12 semester credits) in each term and maintain a B (3.0) average over all courses. Note that while a normal course load is 12 credits, this does not mean that students are expected to take four regular 3-credit courses during any semester. Students should take the number of courses in a given semester appropriate for making good progress toward completing their degree, and add in research hours (<xref href="http://www.cs.vt.edu/graduate/courses/CS7994" format="html" scope="external">CS 7994</xref>) to bring the total number of credits per semester to 12;</li>
      
      <li>take any courses assigned as a background deficiency during the earliest possible academic term;</li>
      
      <li>remove any Incomplete course grade by the end of the next semester in which the student is enrolled;</li>
      
      <li>complete the PhD qualifying process within 30 months of entering the PhD program;</li>
      
      <li>have an approved Plan of Study on file within 12 months of passing the Ph.D. qualifying process; and</li>
      
      <li>pass the preliminary examination within 18 months of passing the PhD qualifying process.</li>
    </ul>

    <p>Students who have any doubts about their standing should discuss this with their advisor (or ARA) and/or the GD.</p>
  </conbody>
</concept>