- Policy for Students Entering a Ph.D. Program in Fall 2011 and Beyond
- Policy for Students Entering a Ph.D. Program Prior to 2011
Policy for Students Entering a Ph.D. Program in Fall 2011 and Beyond
GSAS understands the optimal time for completing a Ph.D. to be no more than seven years; hence, Ph.D. students are not eligible for funding from GSAS/Arts and Sciences or University housing after the seventh year. The policy below applies to time in a Ph.D. program beyond the seventh year of registration.
Students who enter a Ph.D. program in the Arts and Sciences beginning in Fall 2011 are allowed nine years of continuous registration to satisfy all requirements for the doctoral degree.** Students who do not complete all requirements for the doctoral degree by the end of the ninth year will no longer be considered GSAS Ph.D. degree candidates and will be notified accordingly in writing by GSAS.
Students so notified may appeal this determination within 30 days of receipt of notification. To appeal, students must submit a letter to the Dean of GSAS that describes their progress since the most recent progress report and indicates all the steps they will take, with a timetable, in order to deposit the dissertation in at most two additional semesters of candidacy. This letter must be accompanied by a letter of support from the dissertation sponsor. The sponsor's letter of support must include a description of what work has been accomplished since the last progress report and what remains to be done, indicate that he or she has seen the student’s plans and timetable, and assert that completion is feasible within at most two semesters. The DGS must endorse the sponsor’s letter of support. GSAS will review the request and determine either that a) the student be allowed to remain a degree candidate as an unregistered student for up to two additional semesters; or that b) the student not be allowed to continue as a degree candidate.
**Only those semesters in which a student has been registered are counted toward the time-to-degree limit—i.e., official leaves of absence granted by GSAS are not counted. Students who have not registered continuously and who have not received an approved leave of absence must apply for and be accepted for reinstatement by both the department and GSAS.
Policy for Students Entering a Ph.D. Program Prior to Fall 2011
GSAS students in a Ph.D. program in the Arts and Sciences are expected to complete all requirements for the Ph.D. degree in no more than seven years, beyond which students are not eligible for funding from GSAS and the Arts and Sciences.
Students who entered a Ph.D. program in the Arts and Sciences between Fall 2002 and Fall 2010 are allowed nine years of continuous registration to satisfy all requirements for the doctoral degree**. Students who entered in Fall 2010 or earlier and who have neither registered continuously nor received an approved leave of absence must apply for admission in order to return to doctoral study. Questions about this policy may be directed to GSAS-PhD-Dean@columbia.edu.
Beyond the ninth year, students may request, with the approval of the dissertation sponsor and the DGS, permission from GSAS to register for up to two additional semesters. Students who receive permission and register for either one or two semesters must deposit the dissertation by the end of the second semester. Otherwise they will no longer be considered GSAS Ph.D. degree candidates and will be notified accordingly in writing by GSAS.
Students so notified may appeal this determination within 30 days of receipt of notification. To appeal, students must submit a letter to the Dean of GSAS that describes their progress since their seventh year of registration and indicates all the steps (with a timetable) they will take in order to deposit the dissertation in at most two additional semesters of candidacy. This letter must be accompanied by a letter of support from the dissertation sponsor. The sponsor's letter of support must include a description of what work has been accomplished since the seventh year and what remains to be done, indicate that he or she has seen the student’s plans and timetable, and assert that completion is feasible within at most two semesters. The DGS must endorse the sponsor’s letter of support. GSAS will review the request and determine either that a) the student be allowed to remain a degree candidate as an unregistered student for up to two additional semesters; or that b) the student not be allowed to continue any longer as a degree candidate in GSAS.
To certify that the student’s scholarly preparation remains current, the student may be required to repeat coursework taken more than ten years prior or to re-take the doctoral qualifying exams (in whole or in part).
**Only those semesters in which a student has been registered are counted toward the time-to-degree limit—i.e., official leaves of absence granted by GSAS are not counted.