On-Leave Status
Students requesting on-leave status must be in good academic standing. See Graduate School Memorandum 9 for the University leave policy. Any student who has registered for a quarter may not submit a petition for on-leave status for that specific quarter unless they officially withdraw from all courses before the first day of that quarter.
Students must submit an online Request for On-Leave Status via MyGrad Program and then email the PhD Program Director stating that the request has been made. (When the request is submitted online, MyGrad may indicate that the program has been informed, but in fact no auto-email is sent to the department.) Next the PhD Program Director determines whether the student is eligible for leave and approves the application online, after which the student pays the fee online. Allow 3-5 working days for the whole process. For any given quarter, students may submit the request as early as two weeks prior to the first day of instruction. In addition to the University guidelines, the School of Social Work PhD Program also requires that 1) students submit the online leave request by the last day of week 3 of the quarter [Approved by PhD Program Committee, October 2011] and 2) students only request leave for a maximum of one calendar year or four consecutive quarters excluding summer quarter [Approved by PhD Program Committee, December 2013].
Leave is granted on a quarterly basis and must be requested and paid for quarterly.
On-Leave status entitles students in good standing to use the University libraries and maintain access to their email accounts. They are NOT entitled to extensive faculty and staff counsel, examinations of any type (except for language competency), thesis/dissertation filing, appointments as Academic Student Employees, University housing, student insurance, or any form of financial assistance. Students may use the Hall Health Primary Care Center on a pay-for-service basis and can pay to use the IMA. Students who have had GSSA appointments prior to leave may be eligible to self-pay the GAIP insurance while on leave.
Once students are in the program, they must either be registered full- or part-time, or obtain official on-leave status. Non-registration is considered withdrawal from the University.
Reinstatement Procedures
School of Social Work
PhD students who are not enrolled and who have not maintained “on leave” status are automatically withdrawn from the University. A former student must contact the PhD Program Director regarding the possibility of re-entry into the PhD Program. A formal re-entry request must be sent to the Director and PhD Program Committee including the following:
1. the request for re-entry,
2. the reason for the lapse in on-leave standing,
3. a specific plan for completion of the program, and
4. a statement from the Faculty Advisor/ Supervisory Committee Chair concurring with the petition and plan, and conveying their willingness to work with the student to complete the program.
The request must be signed by the student and Faculty Advisor/Supervisory Committee Chair (email approval in lieu of signature is allowed). The PhD Program Committee has final authority to re-admit upon the recommendation of the Director.
Graduate School
Students previously registered in the Graduate School who have failed to maintain graduate student status but wish to resume studies within the same degree program must file a request for reinstatement to the Graduate School in MyGrad. Requests will first be reviewed and approved by the department. Once the department has approved the request and the Graduate School has confirmed students’ eligibility for reinstatement, students will be notified to pay a non-refundable reinstatement fee before registering for the requested quarter of reinstatement.
The fee for readmission is subject to change by the Graduate School.