| 4.5 REGISTRATION
General Requirements
Any graduate student utilizing the assistance of a faculty member or
any facility of The University of Alabama in relation to a degree
program must be registered in an appropriate course reflecting that
activity. This includes such activities as coursework, thesis and
dissertation advising and reading, comprehensive examinations, and
other degree requirements. Registration in courses numbered 599
(Thesis Research), 699 (Dissertation Research), 598 (Master's
Research), and 698 (Doctoral Research) may be repeated.
Prerequisites
If the student's undergraduate preparation in either the major or
minor subject is considered inadequate, certain preliminary
(undergraduate and/or graduate) courses will be prescribed by the
department or school concerned. These courses become prerequisites
and do not carry graduate credit. They must be taken, if possible,
during the first semester of enrollment.
Course of Study
The student's course of study (i.e., plan of study) is selected in
consultation with the head of the major department or the
chairperson of the graduate committee, and approved by that person
and the dean of the Graduate School.
Course Loads
The normal course load for a fall or spring semester is 12
credit hours; the maximum course load for a semester is 15 credit
hours. Full-time enrollment for graduate students is 9–15 hours per
regular semester.
Students may register for a maximum of 6 semester hours in a summer
term or 12 hours during an entire summer dual session. No more than
3 semester hours may be taken during the Interim session. Taking
more than 12 semester hours in a summer dual term can be justified
only in extraordinary circumstances and requires written approval of
the Graduate School. A student who is employed part-time is expected
to take a reduced load. The course load of a fully employed student
will be evaluated according to the individual graduate program.
Fully employed students should be registered in no more than one
course plus thesis or dissertation research.
Failure to Register for Three Years
If a student fails to register for three consecutive years, the
student must reapply for admission. If readmission is granted,
previous credit earned may be out of date and therefore not
applicable toward a degree. See sections titled "Time Limits" for
each degree in this catalog.

Assistantships: Admission
Status, Class Hours, and FTE Level
Students with regular or conditional admission status may hold
graduate assistantships. A minimum GPA of 3.0 must be maintained
while holding any assistantship, except during the first 12 graduate
semester hours earned at UA.
Students who have earned academic
warning or are in non-degree status may not hold graduate
assistantships.
A conditionally admitted student
whose graduate GPA falls below 3.0 at any time during the
conditional status will not be allowed to hold a graduate teaching
assistantship until such time as the GPA has increased to 3.0 or
better. A student with provisional language admission status may
hold only an assistantship that is externally funded through a
contract or grant; he or she may not hold a permanently budgeted UA
assistantship.
Each graduate assistant must be a
full-time graduate student. Full-time status here means 12 or more
graduate semester hours of classes; however, the level of FTE
(Full-Time Equivalent) of the assistantship assignment is converted
to equivalent credit hours and is combined with actual class hours
in order to meet the full-time requirement. A quarter-time
assistantship (0.25 FTE) equates to 3 class hours; a half-time
assistantship (0.50 FTE) equates to 6 class hours; and a
three-quarter time assistantship (0.75 FTE) equates to 9 class
hours. This means that a student who has, for example, the typical
0.50 FTE assistantship needs to register for only 6 class hours in
order to meet the full-time requirement (6 assistantship equivalent
hours plus 6 actual class hours).
Students may hold up to 1.00 FTE
assistantship plus up to 3 semester class hours without Graduate
School approval. However, formal approval of the Graduate School is
required when class hours exceed 3 at the 1.00 FTE level. Please
note that combined FTEs approaching 1.00 may negatively affect a
student’s full-time status with the IRS, funding agencies, health
insurance carriers or others.
The FTE from ALL assistantships,
plus any other on-campus employment, must be combined when
determining full-time equivalent status.
The table below is a guide to
determine whether or not Graduate School approval is required for
typical combinations of FTE (assistantship) hours plus course hours
the student is taking.
|
Combined FTE of All Assistantships |
Class
Hours the Graduate Student is Taking |
Is
Graduate School Approval Required? |
|
.25 |
9-15 |
NO |
|
.50 |
6-12 |
NO |
|
.50 |
13
or more |
YES |
|
.75 |
3-6 |
NO |
|
.75 |
7 or more |
YES |
|
1.00 |
1-3 |
NO |
|
1.00 |
4 or more |
YES |
For fall and spring semesters, a
graduate student must be enrolled in classes to hold an
assistantship. For interim and/or summer, it is not required that a
graduate student be enrolled in classes to hold an assistantship.
Please note that full-time status here
is not the same as that required for other registration and
financial situations. For example, fellowships, financial aid
regulations, resident visa rules, UA System Cooperative Exchange
Program, INS and IRS regulations, and other academic policies use
different status definitions with regard to full-time. For more
information, please refer to the department(s) administering these
other programs.
The Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools requires that all graduate teaching assistants
with primary responsibility for teaching an undergraduate course for
credit and/or assigning grades must first complete a minimum of 18
graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline, must have direct
supervision by a faculty member experienced in the teaching
discipline, regular in-service training, and planned and periodic
evaluations. SACS guidelines and UA policy do not permit graduate
students to teach graduate students; only members of the graduate
faculty may teach courses numbered 500 and above.

Part-Time Temporary Instructors
A graduate student employed as a
part-time temporary instructor (PTTI) to teach a credit-bearing
course must meet the SACS 18-hour requirement. Such PTTIs do not
receive tuition waivers, must pay taxes on the income they earn as
PTTIs, and must comply with "Personnel Policies for Student
Employees of The University of Alabama" (http://graduate.ua.edu/publications/ga/)

Class Attendance
Graduate students are subject to the same rules regarding class
attendance, the performance of assigned tasks, and course
examinations as undergraduate students. Since graduate work
presupposes specialization and thorough investigation, students will
not be permitted to overload themselves with courses.
Continuous Registration for Doctoral Students
Once a student has met the requirements for admission to candidacy,
received approval for the dissertation research proposal, or
initiated enrollment in 699 (dissertation research for a doctoral
degree), the student must pursue completion of the dissertation
without interruption by enrolling each fall and spring semester of
the academic year for at least 3 hours of dissertation research.
This is true whether or not the student has submitted an Application
for Admission to Candidacy (http://graduate.ua.edu/academics/forms/).
The only exception is for D.M.A. students who complete a document
rather than a dissertation. D.M.A. students may register for one
hour of document research during a semester but must maintain
continuous enrollment. A Ph.D. student must have completed a minimum
of 24 hours of dissertation research credits upon completion of the
dissertation. An Ed.D. student must have completed a minimum of 12
dissertation research credits upon completion of the dissertation.
The amount of dissertation research for which a student enrolls in
any given semester should be commensurate with the progress a
student is expected to make on the dissertation, as well as
reflective of the extent to which University facilities and faculty
time are invested in the proposed activities.
To assist faculty and students in determining the appropriate
registration for doctoral research, the following guidelines are
recommended.
Three semester hours. No substantial progress will be made on
the dissertation, only minimal use of University facilities will be
involved, and/or there will be only slight faculty contact with the
student; the work and writing of the dissertation are complete and
only final grammatical corrections and the oral examination on the
dissertation remain to be accomplished.
Six semester hours. The student will be devoting
approximately one-half of a full-time academic load to the
dissertation. Moderate progress on the dissertation is expected of
the candidate, only limited use of University facilities will be
involved, and/or faculty contact with the student will be limited.
Nine semester hours. The student will be devoting
approximately three-fourths of a full-time load to the dissertation.
Substantial progress on the dissertation is expected of the student,
there will be major use of University facilities, and/or
considerable faculty contact with the candidate is anticipated.
Twelve semester hours. The student will be working full-time
academic on the dissertation. Extensive progress on the dissertation
is expected, there will be considerable use of University
facilities, and/or faculty contact with the student will be
extensive.
Graduate Credit
A student must be admitted to the Graduate School and must register
as a graduate student in order to receive graduate credit.
Approval for graduate registration must be obtained from program
advisors prior to registration. No graduate credit may be earned
by correspondence study or for experiential learning not conducted
under the direct supervision of The University of Alabama.

Withdrawal from a Course
A graduate student who desires to withdraw from a course may do so,
with the approval of the student's advisor or department head,
during the period allowed for dropping a class. It is the student's
responsibility to consult the Graduate School 's deadline sheet for
the specific date by which one may drop a course (http://graduate.ua.edu/deadlines).
No notation of courses attempted will
be made on the permanent record of a student who withdraws from the
University during the first week of a regular semester or the first
week of a summer session. After the first week of classes, the fact
of withdrawal from a course will be noted on the student's permanent
record. It is the student's responsibility to consult the semester's
schedule of classes for the specific date by which one may withdraw
without receiving a grade notation. From the end of that period
until the end of the tenth week of a regular semester or the
equivalent in a five-week summer session or three-week Interim
session, a student may withdraw from a course, and a grade of "W"
will be assigned. Normally, graduate students are not permitted to
drop a course after the tenth week. In extraordinary circumstances
beyond the student’s control a student may petition the graduate
dean to drop a course after the tenth week of class. After the tenth
week, the student's academic status at the time of the withdrawal
will be noted on the record ("W" for courses passing, "F" for
courses failing).
Withdrawal from a course may affect several elements linked to
registration and class loads, including (but not limited to)
graduate fellowships, assistantships, tuition awards, financial aid,
withholding taxes, etc. For more information regarding withdrawing
from a course, please contact the Graduate School.

Withdrawal from All Courses
For information on a non-medical or medical withdrawal from all
courses, please refer to the earlier section of the Catalog
entitled, “Withdrawal from the University.”

Leave of Absence
Under compelling circumstances beyond
the student’s control, a graduate student may request that the
department petition the Graduate School with the rationale for
granting a leave of absence. If granted by the Graduate School, a
leave of absence will cover one or more upcoming semesters rather
than any prior semester(s). A leave is not a method of avoiding
continuous registration requirements, and it does not lengthen the
time limit. When a student returns from a leave of absence, the
Graduate School must be notified and will work with the department
and student to determine the number of semesters remaining on the
time limit and the degree requirements that remain.

Active Military Duty
Students called for active military duty will receive an extension
to time limits equal to the term of active duty, plus reasonable
time to reacclimate to academia. A copy of pertinent military orders
must be provided to the Graduate School in order to receive an
extension.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Requirements for Federal Financial
Aid Recipients
All students at The University of Alabama who receive federal
financial aid must make satisfactory academic progress toward
completion of their degrees within a reasonable period of time.
Satisfactory academic progress criteria may be obtained from the
Office of Student Financial Aid, Box 870162, 106 Student Services
Center, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0162; phone (205) 348-6756, fax (205)
348-2989; website
http://financialaid.ua.edu/progress.html.
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