The UCSB Graduate Council has approved departmental recommended time-to-degree standards for advancement to doctoral candidacy and degree completion to ensure that students make timely progress toward completion of their degree objectives. (See Time-To-Degree Advancement and Completion Chart.) Graduate Council has set four years as the time limit for completion of master’s degrees at UCSB.
Time-to-Degree Standards
The Graduate Division will deliver written notification to students via umail if time standards for advancing to candidacy or completing a master’s or doctoral degree have been exceeded. The departmental faculty Graduate Advisor and the student's faculty mentor/advisor will consult with the student to develop an Academic Progress Plan- Time-to-Degree (signed by the faculty mentor/advisor and the student). The student will be on departmental progress monitoring status for the remainder of the academic year or until the milestone is completed.
If a student who has not advanced to doctoral candidacy or completed the degree after the end of an academic year on monitoring, the Graduate Dean will ask the department to recommend and justify (a) continued academic monitoring (must involve extenuating circumstances) or (b) academic probation.
If a student on academic probation fails to make adequate progress after a minimum of one quarter, the department may request from the Graduate Dean that the student be academically disqualified.
Departments have the discretion to ask the Graduate Dean for academic probation or disqualification under an earlier time frame.
A student is not eligible for central fellowships if they are beyond time-to-degree or normative time standards for advancement to candidacy or degree completion.
Performance Standard on Required Milestones or Exams
If a student fails to pass master's exams, doctoral screening, or
qualifying examinations, cannot form a master’s thesis or doctoral committee,
or fails to meet other departmental or University standards, the Department
Chair or Graduate Advisor may recommend monitoring status, academic probation,
or academic disqualification to the Graduate Dean.
As part of the written materials provided to students, departments are required
to state their policy on the number of times a student will be permitted to
take an exam or complete a required written product, if they do not pass their
first attempt.
When considering either monitoring status, academic probation, or academic
disqualification, the Graduate Dean expects documentation showing that the
student received written feedback and opportunities to fulfill the unmet
standard(s).