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Department of Geology & Geophysics

College of Mines and Earth Sciences

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Important Information

Contact information for our current Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member), Graduate Advisor (staff member), and Payroll & Payables Coordinator (staff member; oversees hiring, payroll, tuition benefit, and other services related to human resources).  

As per the Graduate Handbook Section 5.6, "Grievances":  In general, faculty and staff in the GG Department maintain an open-door policy for students to ask questions and voice concerns. Graduate students may formally appeal any decision relevant to their status or progress in the graduate program by petitioning the chair of their supervisory committee. If satisfaction is not obtained at this level, the student may petition (in turn) the department's Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member), the Department Chair, the College Dean, and at any time the University’s Student-Faculty Relations Committee. 

U of U Graduate Policies

Policy 6-409 Graduate Student Parental Leave (effective July 1 2022)

https://gradschool.utah.edu/navigating-grad-school/degree-requirements/phd.php 

Supervisory Committee  •  Program of Study  •  Residency Enrollment  •  Approval of Program of Study  •  Qualifying Examination  •  Registration  •  Language Requirements  •  Dissertation  •  Final Examination  •  Time Limit  •  Exceptions

https://gradschool.utah.edu/navigating-grad-school/degree-requirements/masters.php 

Program of Study  •  Residency Enrollment  •  Approval of Program of Study  •  Exams: Thesis  •  Exams: Non-thesis  •  Registration  •  Language Requirements  •  Thesis Regulations  •  Thesis Alternatives  •  Time Limit

Changing from a doctorate to a master's, want to finish your master's then move immediately onto a doctorate, want to change from Geology and GeoPhysics or GeoEngineering?  Prepare the documents below and send them all together to the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member), who will forward them to petition@utah.edu.

If it is BEFORE or DURING your first (admitted) semester: Request that the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member) send a revised graduate referral to the Admissions Office.

If it is AFTER your first semester:

  1. Statement describing the request, signed by student, their Committee Chair/Faculty Advisor, and the department's Director of Graduate Studies(faculty member).
  2. Recommendation for Change of Graduate Classification - This form is due at the very latest the week before the semester begins in which you want the change to be in effect. You can fill it out as soon as you are ready; the sooner the better just in case there are any issues that pop up; the Graduate Admissions Office will not process until the time is right.

If you are changing from a Ph.D. to a Master's degree or vice versa (without getting a terminal Master's degree), there are 3 additional steps (below).

If you are finishing your Master's degree, then directly moving on to a Ph.D, the only item below that is needed is the updated Committee form).

  1. Change Courses in Transcript - If you have any Thesis Research (GEO 6970/7970) credits on your transcript, you need to have your courses converted to the course number that corresponds with your degree level (7000-level = Ph.D., 6000-level = Master's). You only need to do this for courses that give you at least 14 hours of 7970 or 10 hours of 6970.
  2. Submit Grades - For all courses you are changing to, you need to submit grades for those "new" courses (the grades do not transfer over when you change the course level). You have to do this even if the grade is not changing from what it was when it was at a different level (7000-level = Ph.D., 6000-level = Master's). For each "new" course, in a Word document (do a separate document for each course) provide: Student name, UNID, Term, Year, Department Name, Catalog Number, Section Number, Credit Hours, Correct Grade, Date Work Completed, and Reason for Report of Credit/Change in Final Grade.
  3. Update Committee - Refer to the instructions under "Getting Started" for forming a committee. You may need to add members, drop members, or change members out, depending on what degree you are changing to. 

When you conduct your next audit in the Graduate Student Summary Tool (CIS) (but not sooner than the start of the next semester), confirm that it reflects all the above changes.

Graduate Handbook for Geology & Geophysics

Program Forms:

Department Update Forms:

  • GG Grad Milestones Form - Due every Spring by mid-March. Please save the file so your last name and the year are the first part of the filename. For example: Futral_2023_GG Milestone. Then email it here. 
  • GG Funding Plans (not accessible for students) - Submitted each year by your Committee Chair/Faculty Advisor.

Leave & Extension Forms:

Change Request Forms:

  • Recommendation for Change of Graduate Classification - Changing from a doctorate to a master's, want to finish your master's then move immediately onto a doctorate, want to change from Geology and GeoPhysics or GeoEngineering?   This form is due at the very latest the week before the semester begins in which you want the change to be in effect. You can fill it out as soon as you are ready; the sooner the better just in case there are any issues that pop up; the Graduate Admissions Office will not process until the time is right.  Once the form in complete and signed off by the department's Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member), email a copy of it the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member), who will process it. 
  • Exception to University Policy
    • Withdraw from Class(es) for a Past Term
    • Add Class(es) for a Past Term
    • Change Credit Hours  for a Paste Term
    • Section Change/Cross-Listed Course Charge from a Past Term
    • Elect or Revoke CR/NC 
  • Change Grades: If you have a missing or incorrect grade on your transcript, the instructor needs to send the following information in a Word document attachment to grades@utah.edu: Student name, UNID, Term, Year, Department Name, Catalog Number, Section Number, Credit Hours, Correct Grade, Date Work Completed, and Reason for Report of Credit/Change in Final Grade.

 

You can check the status of most of the below forms and requirements by going to: cis.utah.edu > Student Homepage > Graduate Student Summary. 

Committee Formation Forms:

  • Request for Committee Form - Refer to "First Year Tasks" for instructions. Any time you need to make a change to your Committee, you must fill the form out again; however, only the new member(s) and your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair need to sign it.  Once it is signed off on, it  and the other required documentaion is email it to the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member) to be processed.

 Qualifying Exam Form

  • PhD Qualifying Exam Form - Once it is signed off on, email it to the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member). 
  • Master's Comprehensive Exam (No form; exam submitted by Instructor from GEO 6950 Reviews in Earth Science.)

Thesis Forms:

Defense Forms:

Graduation Forms

International Students

Establishing an Ethic of Sampling for Future Generations of Geoscientists (Chan, August 2023, GSA Today)

Use responsibly and appropriately! Logos (and letterheads) are legal property of the University of Utah.  

Before you use a letterhead or logo, please be sure you understand and follow U of U branding guidelines. Also, you are only permitted to use these assets for official university business/research/teaching, which may include correspondence, posters, and flyers. You are not allowed to them on anything for which you will charge money, such as t-shirts, without first receiving department and U of U Marketing approval. If you have any questions, please reach out the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member). 

https://gradschool.utah.edu/navigating-grad-school/graduate-student-summary-tutorial.php

https://gradschool.utah.edu/navigating-grad-school/supervisory-committees.php 

The Grad Student Committee page displays the members of your supervisory committee.

Individual Exception to Supervisory Committee Policy

Student Responsibilities

  • form a supervisory committee and submit to your department for approval
  • verify your committee information
  • keep your department informed and up to date with any changes

Grad Student Committee

https://gradschool.utah.edu/navigating-grad-school/graduate-student-summary-tutorial.php

The Grad Student Prog Plan Audit provides a summary of:

  • which Graduate School requirements have been met
  • where you are in terms of meeting your requirements for graduation
  • missing supervisory committee approvals
  • all the semesters for which you have been continuously enrolled
  • a list of all approved leaves of absence that have been placed on your record

Student Responsibilities

  • make sure you are on track for graduation
  • keep track of any missing approvals, grades, etc.
    • FYI: Non-U of U committee members do not have access to this online system. Therefore, you need to secure their approvals via email and/or in writing.

Graduation tile

 

Last Updated: 7/31/23