Continuous Enrollment Policy

Unless On-leave or In Absenti

a status has been approved (maximum 3 academic-year terms), graduate students enrolled in an advanced degree or graduate certificate program are required to be continuously enrolled, excluding summer session, until all requirements have been completed.

To remain in compliance with the Continuous Enrollment Policy, graduate students must be registered for a minimum of 3 graduate credits each term. This includes students who are taking only comprehensives, or final examinations or presenting recitals or terminal projects. Also, students not in residence while writing a thesis, dissertation or project, but using faculty assistance, university services or facilities such as sending chapters to an adviser by mail or email for criticism must register for a minimum of 3 graduate credits per term. Registration should be for Thesis or Dissertation or Project credits.

A graduate student who fails to maintain continuous enrollment or obtain On-Leave or In-Absentia status is required to file a Permission to Re-Register form and petition for reinstatement. The petition is reviewed by the student's major department and the Graduate School. This procedure is equivalent to a new admission and the petitioner may be required to meet departmental admission policies and degree completion requirements that are in effect on the date of re-enrollment. When re- registration is approved, a master's candidate must register for 3 credits for each term he or she has stopped out. If the accumulated credits total more than 16, the student may be required to enroll in more than one term of increased registration. Doctoral candidates must register for a new year of residency--three consecutive terms of at least 9 graduate credits in each term. They must also retake the comprehensive examinations if completed prior to stopping out.

Graduate Residency

Each graduate degree at the University of Oregon has a residency requirement, which must be fulfilled by every graduate student who completes that degree. The residency requirement allows graduate students to concentrate exclusively on course work or research; to acquire knowledge, skills, and insights necessary for attaining the degree; and to find opportunities to work closely with faculty members and students. Residency provides significant and tangible advantages to graduate students because it enhances the quality of the academic experience. For example, competence in the field is enhanced by close familiarity with the university's libraries, computing resources, specialized collections, and other unique facilities; valuable experience is gained by attending and participating in formal and informal seminars, colloquia, and discussions led by specialists who visit campus; fluency in the specialized language and vocabulary of the discipline is enhanced by frequent and close association with faculty members and other students in the same field; and thesis or dissertation research is facilitated by frequent interaction with the adviser.

Academic programs in which the majority of course work is delivered away from the Eugene campus or by distance-education technology must obtain prior written approval for waiver of the residency requirement from the Dean of the Graduate School. Waiver of the residency requirement is dependent on the program's plans for satisfying the spirit of the residency requirement in the absence of full-time study on the Eugene campus.

Master's Residency and Enrollment Requirements

For a master's degree, the Graduate School requires that a minimum of 30 credits (applicable to degree requirements) be taken on the Eugene campus during at least two terms of study. A second master's degree also requires a minimum of two terms of full-time study on the Eugene campus. Individual schools or departments may have additional residence requirements. For example, the Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Arts has a residence requirement of two academic years (six terms).

Students enrolled in an advanced degree program must attend the university continuously, except for summers, until all program requirements have been completed, unless on-leave status (maximum of three academic terms) has been approved. In the term the degree is received, the graduate student must register for at least 3 graduate credits. For more information see Course Registration Requirements and Limits, Continuous Enrollment, Graduate Residency, and On-Leave Status under General Requirements and Policies.

Doctoral Residency and Credit Requirements

Doctoral candidates must complete at least three (3) years of full-time graduate level work beyond the baccalaureate degree, of which at least one academic year--the residency year--must be spent in residence on the Eugene campus. This year of residency will occur after the student has been classified as a conditionally or an unconditionally admitted student in a doctoral program. During this year of residency the student is expected to make progress toward the degree by completing course credits and satisfying doctoral degree requirements. The residency year consists of three consecutive terms of full-time study, with a minimum of 9 completed graduate credits a term in the student's major. Courses in Research (601), Reading and Conference (605), and other individualized study options may be a part of the 9 credits, but the majority of the year of residency is expected to consist of regular graduate course work.

The year of residency is expected to be the first year after admission as a doctoral candidate. A doctoral candidate may fulfill the residency requirement during the period in which he or she works toward a master's degree on the university campus as long as the student has been officially awarded the master's degree, the doctoral degree program immediately follows the master's degree program, and both the master's degree and the doctoral degree are in the same discipline.

Course Registration Requirements and Limits

A graduate student may enroll for up to 16 credits for graduate and/or undergraduate level coursework in each term during the academic year. Registration in excess of 16 credits, up to a maximum of 18 credits, requires an additional per credit tuition fee assessment. During summer session graduate students are limited to a maximum of 16 credits. The minimum registration requirement for any term is 3 graduate credits.

For the term in which a degree is granted, graduate students must register for at least 3 graduate credits. If submitting a master's degree thesis in this final term, registration must include at least 1 of the 3 credits as Thesis (503) (see Master's policies). If a doctoral dissertation is being completed, registration must include no fewer that 3 credits of Dissertation (603) in both the term of graduation and the preceding term (see Doctoral policies).

Various on-and off-campus agencies and offices have their own course-load requirements. For example, some agencies offering student loans set registration requirements. Because the minimum registration requirements for the Graduate School may not satisfy some agency requirements, it is the student's responsibility to register for the required number of credits. The Office of the Registrar can certify a student's registration.

International students should request information from the Office of International Programs about Immigration and Naturalization Service regulations and minimum credit requirements.

Course Enrollment for Faculty and Staff Members

Faculty and staff members who want to take graduate courses should refer to the Office of Human Resources for information regarding staff registration benefits. University employees who enroll for courses are subject to the academic policies, procedures and deadlines in effect for all graduate students.

Concurrent Faculty-Student Status

Faculty members, including Officers of Administration, may not pursue an advanced degree in the department in which they hold an appointment. To pursue a degree in another department, they must petition to the dean of the Graduate School for approval to hold Concurrent Faculty/Graduate Student status. See Concurrent Faculty/Graduate Student Petition Process

Enrolling in a Joint-Campus Program

Graduate students at the university may, with adviser and departmental approval, take graduate courses at any of the other institutions in the Oregon University System. A student registers for these courses with the University of Oregon registrar, who records each grade on the academic record under Joint-Campus Course (JC 610). The student must be a matriculated UO graduate student in an advanced degree program and registered for UO courses the same term the JC 610 course is taken. A maximum of 15 credits may be applied toward a graduate degree program. Joint campus course work counts toward the 24 graded credits required for the master's degree. Forms are available in the Office of the Registrar.

Enrolling in a WICHE Regional Graduate Program

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) coordinates a regional graduate exchange program to enable students from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming to apply for admission to selected professional programs and, if admitted, to be treated as resident students for tuition purposes.

The University of Oregon has graduate WICHE programs in Historic Preservation and Human Physiology. For information about the following degree programs, write to the listed coordinators: M.S. in Historic Preservation - Kingston W. Heath, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, 5249 University of Oregon 97403-5249; Ph.D in Exercise and Movement Science - Gary Klug, Department of Human Physiology, 1240 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1240.

Reservation of Graduate Credit/Permission to Register for Graduate Credit

Undergraduate students who wish to register for a graduate level course must request permission by submitting a Reservation of Graduate Credit form with the Graduate School before the beginning of the term of registration.

Two options are available:

Option One permits inclusion of a graduate level course in your bachelor's degree program. Eligibility: A GPA of at least a 3.0 in each of the three terms prior to enrolling. Note: An undergraduate student who receives less than a B in a graduate-level course will be ineligible for further enrollment in graduate-level coursework.

Option Two reserves a graduate level course for consideration by a department after admission as a graduate student. Under this option, you may take up to 3 graduate courses. The 3 courses may not exceed a total of 12 credits. Eligibility: Classified as a senior. Have at least a 3.0 GPA in each of the three terms prior to enrolling in the graduate course. Note: An undergraduate student who receives less than a B in a graduate-level course will not be allowed to use the course toward a master's degree, and will be ineligible for further reservation of graduate credit.

The following courses do not qualify. These are graduate level experiences in which a student may enroll only after admission and enrollment in a graduate program.

• Research credits (601);
• Supervised College Teaching (602);
• Internship (604);
• Reading and Conference (605);
• Field Studies or Special Problems (606);
• Workshop, Special Topics, or Colloquium (508 or 608); and
• Practicum, Terminal Project, or Supervised Tutoring (609)