Academic Standing

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04

Doctoral students are degree-seeking students who have been admitted to the doctoral program in Educational Leadership at the University of North Florida.

The doctoral program in Educational Leadership at the University of North Florida is designed to accommodate students who are full‑time employed professional educators. Each student is required to enroll in course work common to the cohort in which they were admitted and to continue such enrollments until the common cohort courses are completed. Such enrollments will include a minimum of six semester hours during each of the first seven consecutive semesters, including summers.

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04; DTF 4/08/09

Students must maintain continuous enrollment in pursuing their degrees by following the policies and requirements in effect at the time of their original admission. To maintain continuous enrollment a doctoral student must enroll for each term of the academic year including summer prior to admission to candidacy. After admission to candidacy, students are not required to register for dissertation credits during the summer term. Students who have not maintained continuous enrollment and who have not been admitted to candidacy for the degree shall follow the regulations in the most recent catalog. Students who have not maintained continuous enrollment and who have been admitted to candidacy for the degree shall follow the regulations in the catalog in effect at the time at which they were admitted to candidacy. Students are responsible for being aware of all changes in regulations that affect their graduate work.

A student, who is approved for a leave of absence, will then enroll in the common course work with a subsequent cohort and maintain continuous progress with that group.

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04; DTF 4/08/09

The University of North Florida defines full‑time enrollment in graduate programs as a minimum of nine semester hours for each term.

The maximum number of credits in which a doctoral student may enroll in any one semester is 12 semester hours. No student will be permitted to enroll for more than 15 credit hours in a semester.

Approved enrollment in course work at other universities that is included on a doctoral student's program of study shall be included in the determination of enrollment status.

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04

Part‑time enrollment is defined as registration in fewer than nine semester hours of graduate credit.

Unless otherwise exempt, part‑time doctoral students must enroll in the common course work of the cohort in which they were admitted. That common registration is approximately six semester hours per term for seven semesters.

(See section 5.11, Time Limits)

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04

The student cohort is an integral feature of the doctoral program in Educational Leadership. Once admitted, students are expected to matriculate with the other members of their cohort and to observe the policy on continuous enrollment.

In the event of personal hardship, a student may request a leave of absence from the program for a specified period of time. To officially withdraw from all classes and thereby from the university, or to not register in a given semester without loss of student status, doctoral students must obtain prior approval of the faculty sponsor/faculty research mentor and the Doctoral Program Director.

Any extension of an approved leave of absence, whether before or after admission to candidacy, requires prior approval of the student's faculty sponsor/research mentor and the Doctoral Program Director.

If a student is approved for a leave of absence, then the student must enroll in the common course work with a subsequent cohort and maintain continuous progress with that group.

APPROVED: DSC 3/29/2012; DTF 4/4/2012

Students who were previously admitted to the doctoral program, have not been on a formal leave of absence, and wish to be reinstated will need to petition for readmission. A petition for readmission should be submitted to the doctoral program director and should include the following information.

• The applicant's status at the beginning of the period of inactivity: e.g., taking course work, course work completed but had not passed the comprehensive examination, passed the comprehensive examination but not yet admitted to candidacy, admitted to candidacy.
• Activities and experiences that have maintained currency of knowledge in the following strands of the program:
  • Leadership
  • Research
  • Foundations of education
  • Cognate concentration
• Supports available to ensure the applicant's success upon readmission, including the identification of a faculty member who is willing to chair the dissertation research.
• Proposed timeline for completion of the program.

Most applicants for readmission will also need to petition for extension of the eight-year time limit for completion of the program (see the Doctoral Policy Handbook, Section 5.11 Time Limits).

Readmission to the program and exceptions to doctoral policies and procedures must be approved by the student's Faculty Advisor, the Program Director, and the Department Chair (see the Doctoral Policy Handbook, 1.4 Exceptions to Policies and Procedures).

APPROVED:  DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04

A doctoral student who is earning a passing grade in a course but who has not completed all of the course requirements at the end of the term may, with approval of the instructor, be assigned a grade of "I".

An "I" grade will be changed to the earned final grade at the time the student completes the required assignments.

If the "I" grade is not removed within one calendar year following its assignment, the grade will be recorded as "F".

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04; DTF 4/08/09

Graduate students who fail to maintain satisfactory academic progress are subject to dismissal. The graduate average of a student is computed over all graduate course work taken at UNF, regardless of the level of the course. Graduate students are expected to maintain at least a 3.0 (B) average. A grade of C or below in two or more courses will result in academic probation. Students who fail to maintain satisfactory academic progress are denied further registration, and may be readmitted to the program following a successful appeal, only upon the approval of the dean.

(See the Graduate Academic Policies and Regulations of the current UNF Graduate Catalog for an expanded description of University policies regarding academic progress, academic probation, and academic dismissal.)

APPROVED: DSC 12/08/03; DTF 3/04/04; DTF 4/08/09

Students may be subject to administrative dismissal for the following reasons:

• a) failure to maintain continuous enrollment until the completion of the doctoral degree,
• b) failure to take the comprehensive written and oral examinations in the first administration following the semester in which the student completes 52 credit hours of
  approved course work,
• c) failure to pass the comprehensive written examination by the second attempt,
• d) failure to pass the oral comprehensive examination by the second attempt,
• e) failure to register for at least 3 credit hours of dissertation each semester after admission to candidacy, with the exception of the summer terms, unless the faculty mentor and the program director approve enrollment in a 1 credit hour dissertation course,
• f) failure to defend the dissertation successfully within 5 years of admission to candidacy.