If any of these situations apply to you, make sure the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member) submits the required petitions during your first matriculated semester: Transfer credit, Bachelor's/Master's of Science, Undergraduate to Graduate credit, non-matriculated, and Language (when applicable). If these are not processed correctly and on time, it could jeopardize your ability to graduate.

All prospective Master’s candidates  and Ph.D. candidates who do not yet have a Master's degree must pass a written Master’s Qualifying Examination, which is not to be confused with the thesis defense. If you already have a Master's degree, you still enroll in “Reviews in Earth Science” (GEO 6950), but will not need to take the Qualifying Examination.

The format of this exam in the GG Department consists of a compulsory seminar, called “Reviews in Earth Science” (GEO 6950), which is offered in the fall semester and is followed immediately by the comprehensive M.S. Qualifying Exam. GEO 6950 addresses broad Earth science themes about which all graduate students are expected to be knowledgeable. Specific emphasis is placed on integrating knowledge from multiple subdisciplines in the geosciences. The qualifying exam consists of questions that are broad in nature, open-ended in style, and designed to reward students who are able to integrate material from multiple subdisciplines within geology and geophysics, and also to advance detailed arguments from a specific perspective.

Administration and grading of the M.S. Qualifying Exam is done under the supervision of the Graduate Affairs Committee. The consequence of an unsatisfactory performance on the M.S. Qualifying Exam is at the discretion of the Graduate Affairs Committee; possible actions include an opportunity for the student to re-take the “Reviews” course and/or Qualifying Exam, or immediate dismissal from the graduate program. Results are submitted by the faculty instructor on your behalf to the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member). If your passing date does not show up in your Graduate Student Summary Tool (CIS) when you do your spring audit, let the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member) know.

Students who do not take the Qualifying Exam as normally scheduled will not be eligible to enroll in future graduate courses and will be dropped from the Graduate Program. Students with a bachelor’s degree outside the Earth sciences may petition the Graduate Affairs Committee to take the “Reviews” course and M.S. Qualifying Exam in a later semester.  

Create a schedule to graduation and begin writing

The supervisory committee needs to be formed before the end of your first year. This is needed so your profile in Graduate Student Summary Tool (within CIS) can be activated. However, you do not need to select all members of your committee by the end of the first year; until all members are identified and approved, your committee will be considered a "mentor" committee. You should finalize your committee at least 2 full semesters before the semester in which you defend and, if you are PhD candidiate, before you take you PhD Qualifying Exam. Also, keep in mind that  you can make changes to the membership if needed. 

Form: Request for Committee Form - Once this form is signed off on by all committee members, email it to the department's Graduate Advisor and Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member). The Department Graduate Committee will review the committee as a whole and, if it meets the requirements, the department's Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member) will sign off on it and it will be moved to the University Graduate School for final reivew and approval. It is the student's responsibilty to make sure their committee has been fully approved; approval will show up in the Graduate Student Summary Tool (in CIS) when you do an audit (see instructions above). 

COMMITTEE CHAIR: The Graduate School Dean wants thesis students to have a Committee Chair/Faculty Advisor that is tenure-line (tenured/tenure-track)when they are completing thesis or dissertation.  (If approved by the Department Leadership, the Committee Chair/Faculty Advisor can be a careerline (non-tenure-track) faculty member from the department; this is determined as part of the student being accepted into our graduate program.)

OUTSIDE MEMBERS (this applies to anyone who is NOT a U of U faculty member):

• Current and full/complete Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • They must hold an academic or professional doctorate, a terminal degree in the relevant field, and/or must have demonstrated competence to do research and scholarly work in the general field of your graduate research.
  • Needs month/year that the CV was updated; it must be a version that is less than 3 years old. 
  • Needs to include any activities, papers, grants, within the last three years. 
  • Needs to have current employment title & institution.
  • Needs to have date of the graduate degree and institution.
  • Needs to have recent papers and grants (at least the past 3 years worth).
  • Should not be an abbreviated version. 
• Justification Letter
  • Customize this template. It needs summary the outside member's background and expertise and have a clear explanation as to how their experience is relevant to your program/research. You also need to include their current employment title and institution and the name of the institution that conferred their graduate degree and the year they graduated. 
  • See examples.  Write this letter as if you were our Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member). Then, email it, the CV, and the Request for Committee Form to our Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member). Once they have finalized and signed the letter, they will send it back to you. It is your responsibility to then send all 3 documents to the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member). 

U OF U STAFF: On rare occasions, a University research staff member (with a Phd) may qualify for inclusion in a committee. However, they should be uniquely qualified based on the student's research focus. Additionally, they should not be supervised in their staff position by the faculty advisor/chair of the student's committee as this presents a conflict of interest. If you feel a staff member is appropriate to include on your committee and your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair agrees, follow the steps above for "Outside Members" in order to provide the required documentation. 

POST DOCS: Post Docs are not allowed on committees.

OVERALL COMMITTEE: If a committee's overall makeup does not exactly meet the below U of U minimum requirements, an exception to policy must be requested. These exceptions can include seeking approval for a non-tenure track faculty member counting towards the the requirement that the "committee chair and the majority of the committee be tenure-line faculty in the student’s department"; this is done through the Committee Petition process. Please reach out the the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member) for guidance. 

U of U Policy (Mininum Requirements) & Information:

• Master’s supervisory committees consist of three faculty members. The committee chair and the majority of the committee must be tenure-line faculty in the student’s department. One of the three may be from outside dept or be adjunct or careerline from the dept.  All members must have at least a Master's degree (no exceptions). The department's Director of Graduate Studies is added as an automatic fourth member. 
• Doctoral supervisory committees consist of five faculty members. The committee chair and the majority of the committee must be tenure-line faculty in the student’s department. One member of the supervisory committee must be from outside the department. One member can be anyone from within or outside of the department. All members must have at least a PhD (no exceptions). The department's Director of Graduate Studies is added as an automatic sixth member.
• Immediate family members are not eligible to serve on a student’s supervisory committee.

Department Requirements (from Handbook):

• 4.1.2 M.S. (& M.E.)Supervisory Committee (“Thesis Committee”): An Master's. supervisory committee consists of three members, the majority of whom must be regular (tenured or tenure-track) faculty in the GG Department (“department representatives”). The supervisory committee chair must be a regular faculty member in the GG Department. Exceptions allowing a research or lecturer faculty member to serve as either department representative or committee chair require recommendation and justification by the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair and approval by the Dean of the Graduate School. An adjunct faculty member or other highly qualified individual may serve as a committee member if their expertise is especially pertinent to the student’s thesis research topic. In no case can a supervisory committee include less than one regular (tenureline) faculty member primarily appointed in the GG Department. 
• 4.3.2 Ph.D. Supervisory Committee (“Dissertation Committee”): A Ph.D. supervisory committee consists of five members, the majority of whom must be regular (tenured or tenure-track) faculty in the GG Department (“department representatives”). The supervisory committee chair must be a regular faculty member in the GG Department. Exceptions allowing a research or lecturer faculty member to serve as either department representative or committee chair require recommendation and justification by the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair and approval by the Dean of the Graduate School. An adjunct faculty member or other highly qualified individual may serve as a committee member if their expertise is especially pertinent to the student’s thesis research topic. One member of the Ph.D. supervisory committee must be a qualified professional from outside the department; usually this is a faculty member from another science or engineering department in the University, but they may be someone from another university, government agency or other appropriate scientific or engineering organization. In no case can a supervisory committee include less than one regular (tenureline) faculty member primarily appointed in the GG Department.

(Look for an email from the GG office about this.) In the few weeks before each semester, it is time to get set up for tuition benefit and/or opt in or out of student insurance for the next semester.  To do so, you need to fill out the on-line form/portal: Tuition/Insurance: opt in/out 

In regards to the insurance, as of Fall 2023 graduate students no longer have to pay 20% of their insurance premium costs if you opt to enroll in the Grad Student insurance offered by the Grad School/U of U.  100% of the cost of the premium will be covered by the Grad School, the Department, your PI or your fellowship when you are funded as a TA, GR, RA or GF!  

Information on the health plans offered by the Grad School/U of U can be found here.  So take a moment and review your options before you fill out the TB/insurance form.

How to Pay your Tuition: Visit U of U Office of the Bursar - Financial Services. They are there to help you  with all university fee and tuition needs, including payment plans.

Minimum, Continuous Registration: All graduate students must maintain minimum registration (see Dept Handbook Section 2.3 or 2.4 for definition of minimum registration) from the time of formal admission through completion of all requirements for the degree they are seeking, unless they are granted an official leave of absence. U of U Policy

How many semesters?

• Time Limit for a M.S. Degree: All work for the M.S. degree must be completed within four consecutive calendar years (not including official leaves of absence). Students who find it impossible to complete all the requirements within the four-year limit must request a Petition of Extension in writing prior to the end of the fourth year.  
• Time Limit for a Ph.D. Degree: The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of three years (six semesters) of continuous course work and research, but the University imposes no maximum time limit for completion of the doctoral degree requirements. In the GG Department, however, Ph.D. candidates normally are expected to complete all requirements for their degree within five years upon admission to the Ph.D. program. In each year that a Ph.D. candidate extends beyond the five years, the candidate should submit a written explanation of their progress to their supervisory committee with a copy to the Graduate Affairs Committee, which includes an outline of how and when the student intends to finish the degree in a timely manner. 
• Summer?: Continuous registration refers only to registration during the regular academic year and is not terminated or interrupted by non-registration during summer semester. However, students who take courses or exams during summer term must be registered in the summer semester.
  • If a student works at the University of Utah during the summer semester, s/he must be enrolled and registered at the University of Utah as a student fo three credit hours during the summer semester in order to qualify for Student-Employee FICA exclusion.

What if you don't attend one Semester?: If students do not comply with this continuous registration policy and do not obtain an official leave of absence, your supervisory committee will be terminated and your records will be inactivated. To reactivate a student’s file at a later time, the student is required to reapply for admission to the Graduate School. 

• International students, check here for policies that relate to your enrollment.

  Questions? Contact: international@utah.edu, (801) 581-8876, isss.utah.edu.

Am I enrolled in the tuition benefit program?

• In most cases, your offer letter specified tuition benefit program coverage.  Please check your offer letter. If you are unsure about your tuition benefit eligibility, please contact the Payroll and Payables Coordinator.
• Review the Tuition Benefit Program TBP Guidelines, so that you know the limits of the coverage.

How many credit hours per semester?

• If you are on tuition benefit, you will enroll for a mix of credit hours that are divided between course work credit hours and research credit hours. Tuition benefit program (TBP) will cover a maximum of 12 graduate credits in each the Fall and Spring semesters (minimum enrollment of 9 credits required).  In general, you should utilize and register for all of the 12 graduate credits of TBP coverage.
• Register for the course credits you would like to take. 9 course credit hours (3 classes) is considered a full graduate load.  Make sure you discuss preferred courses with your primary faculty advisor before registering. (Refer to the section below titled "What courses should I take?".)
• Register for the rest of your eligible credit hours as research credit hours with your primary faculty advisor as the instructor.  You will need to contact the Payroll and Payables Coordinator to gain a permission code specific to your faculty advisor in order to register for research credit hours with your primary faculty advisor.
• For example, you might register for 9 course credit hours and 3 research credit hours, totaling the 12 credit hours covered by tuition benefit.
• Minimum: You must enroll in at least 3 credit hours per semester during the academic year
• Maximum: No candidate for a graduate degree is permitted to register for more than 16 credit hours in any single semester.  Please note the 12 credit hour maximum coverage for Tuition Benefit Program.
• International students, check here for policies that relate to your enrollment. Questions? Contact: international@utah.edu, (801) 581-8876, isss.utah.edu.

 Last Semester: Refer to "Register for Credit Hours for your FINAL (Defense & Graduation) Semester(s)" under the "Steps to Graduation" section.

What courses should I take?

• First Fall Semester: As noted above, your first Fall Semester you should enroll in Reviews in Earth Science (GEO 6950).
• Frontload Content Courses: Try to take all your content-specific courses early on in your program. Try to take at least 2 per each semester. Talk to your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair about which ones to take. Keep in mind that not all courses are offered every semester or every year. Refer to Department Course Catalog as a guide. 
• Distinguished Lecture Series (GEO 6920) The Department sponsors a weekly lecture series that brings in a variety of geoscientists who add new insights and breadth to our curriculum in the Earth sciences. It is expected that all graduate students will attend these lectures regularly as a part of their graduate education (Grad Handbook 5.7). Students may opt to register for one credit hour in the course  (Distinguished Lecture Series) on a CR/NC basis. Sign-in attendance of 80% or more is expected in order to gain a CR. Registration for the Distinguished Lecture Series course number counts in determining full-time student status, but it does not count as a course requirement for a graduate degree, since it is a CR/NC course.
• Thesis Research (GEO 6970/7970): Once you are finished with your content courses and/or if you have semesters in which you need a couple extra credit hours to ensure you have at least the nine required to be full-time, you should enroll in Thesis Research. You may take as many Thesis Research credits as you wish; however only up to 10 (for Master's) and up to 14 (for Phd) may be counted as thesis hours in fulfillment of the degree requirements.
  • In order to register for Thesis Research, you need to email the Graduate Advisor for the code. 
• Continuing Registration (GEO 6990/7990): Continuing Registration cannot be used for verification of half-time or full-time enrollment in order to qualify for deferment of student loan repayments or to receive student loan funds. The Registrar’s office places a limit of four semesters for use of GEO 6990/7990.  These credits do not count toward fulfillment of degree requirements.
• Faculty Consultation (GEO 6980/7980): You may register for three credit hours of Faculty Consultation during any semester in which you are not otherwise enrolled, but these credits do not count toward fulfillment of degree requirements.
• Course Numbers: Courses numbered 6000 or higher are considered to be graduate-level courses, although courses numbered between 5000 and 5999 also may count towards a graduate degree. Enrollment in courses numbered 7000 or higher is restricted to Ph.D. candidates. In courses that have multiple numbers (e.g., 5000-, 6000- and 7000-level for the same course), master’s degree students should register for the 6000-level number, and Ph.D. students should register for the 7000-level number.  
• Lower Level Courses: If graduate student needs a graduate level section for a course with a lower level course number, a special topics course can be created. First, the student will need permission from the instructor. They should then email the Graduate Advisor and cc the instructor to make the request. 

U of U Policy: If you need to take a Fall or Spring semester off,  you need to file a Leave of Abesence as soon as you can. And you will need to reapply for graduate school for the semester you want to return; reach out to the Graduate Advisor for assistance. 

Leaves of Absence are not granted retroactively. If students do not comply with this continuous registration policy and do not obtain an official leave of absence, they will be automatically discontinued from graduate study, their supervisory committee will be terminated, and their records will be inactivated. In this case, students will be required to reapply for admission to the University through Graduate Admissions upon approval of the home department.

The deadline for graduate students applying for a Leave of Absence will be the add/drop deadline of the second half session for the semester their leave is requested.

Below are a few scenarios when a student would or would not need to submit a Leave of Absence request to avoid being discontinued and lose enrollment eligibility:

• A continuing student enrolled in spring semester is not enrolled in summer classes, but will be returning for the upcoming fall term will not be discontinued.
• A continuing student enrolled spring semester (summer excluded) and does not submit a Leave of Absence or enroll by the add/drop deadline of the second half session of the fall semester will be discontinued.
• A continuing student enrolled fall semester and does not submit a Leave of Absence or enroll by the add/drop deadline of the second half session of the spring semester will be discontinued.
• A continuing student enters summer term and does not submit a Leave of Absence or enroll by the add/drop deadline of the second half session of the fall semester will be discontinued.

 

Leave & Extension Forms:

• Leave of Absence
• Request for Graduate Student Parental Leave
  • Additional information

 

The GG Department sponsors a weekly Distinguished Lecture Series and many other special lectures to bring in a variety of geoscientists who add new insights and breadth to our curriculum in the Earth sciences. It is expected that all graduate students will attend these lectures regularly as a part of their graduate education (Grad Handbook 5.7). Students may opt to register for one credit hour in the course GEO 6920 (Distinguished Lecture Series) on a CR/NC basis. Sign-in attendance of 80% or more is expected in order to gain a CR. Registration for the Distinguished Lecture Series course number counts in determining full-time student status, but it does not count as a course requirement for a graduate degree, since it is a CR/NC course.

Informal brown-bag seminars are offered frequently to promote communication and exchange between faculty and graduate students in different subdisciplines. Student participation in all other Departmental activities is strongly encouraged. 

Each fall our department hosts a community open house. We have about 400-500 visitors, many are local families with K-12 students. In order to make this event happens, we need everyone to help (we average about 100 volunteers). Graduate students are encouraged to lead a hands-on activity related to their research or the research of their Faculty Advisor/Commitee Chair. If your research is not condusive to such an activity, we have many other ways that you can help.

For details, please talk to the department's Events Coordinator. 

Look for an email from our Payroll & Payables Coordinator about signing up for student insurance and, if applicable, tuition benefit. This process needs to be done before the start of each semester.

Student Insurance: Graduate students may be eligible for the University of Utah’s Graduate Subsidized Health Insurance Program (GSHIP) To qualify, you must be supported as a Research Assistant (9314), Teaching Assistant (9416), Graduate Assistant – Research Focus (9330), and Graduate Assistant – Teaching Focus (9417), and receive a 100% tuition benefit.

Tuition Benefit: Tuition Benefit Guidelines

The department's Payroll & Payables Coordinator oversees tuition benefit. 

Any tuition covered through Tuition Benefit is automatically at resident rates. This applies up to 84 credit hours.  

Tuition Benefit Forms

Tuition benefits for each term starts posting to students’ tuition bills about a week before the start of the semester.  A couple notes about disbursements:

• Students must be enrolled in a minimum of 9 credits and have signed their TBP agreements for TBP to post; additionally, if a student is supported by an assistantship, their job record needs to be active;
• If coordinators make any changes to a TBP entry (for example, adding GSHIP or changing from a GR to an RA), the student will need to sign again) – if the edit happens after benefits have posted, the student may have tuition benefit pulled back until they sign again;
• If your student is enrolled full-time now and TBP has posted, but drop a class in the coming days, their benefits will be pulled back – if students drop a course and are awaiting permission codes or such at the same time, they may have a temporary removal of TBP until their enrollment is back up to 9 credits;
• Tuition benefits can take up to two business days to post completely – please remember that TBP (and financial aid) disbursements to tuition bills is not automatic but on a scheduled daily process with the tuition office (ie, if a student is enrolls full-time and signs at 10:30am, their benefits will not post on the same day); with this, please also keep in mind that tuition for the term is due on the stated due date for all students, at 4:45pm, regardless of how that tuition bill is being paid.

International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP): Before you can work as a Teaching Assistant (TA), you must first complete the required ITAP training. This training takes place BEFORE the start of the semester in which you will be a TA and must be done in-person. Request that our Payroll & Payables Coordinator register you and make sure to take the training date into consideration when scheduling your travel to come to Salt Lake City to start school.  You can find details about the program here. 

Request/remind your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair to update their multi-year funding plan for you every October (for Spring payroll), February (for Summer payroll if applicable), and July (for Fall payroll) and to send it to the department Payroll & Payables Coordinator to ensure your payroll is set up correctly for the the semester. And make sure that you, the student, are aware of the plan to fund you and for which semesters. Note: Although funding sources and plans may change, this document will facilitate timely appointments and balancing budgets.

 

Every quarter (April, July, October, January), certify your  Electronic Personal Activity Report (ePARs) in CIS. Look for a reminder email from our Accountant around the 15^th of the month following the end of the quarter. You have 45 days from the end of the quarter to certify.  If you certify and then realize there is an error, the only way to fix it is to do a time-consuming cost transfer with the department Accountant. 

There is a quick training module to access ePAR and instructions within the ePAR program/CIS tile.  

Example:

• 1st Quarter: Jan-March
• Request to certify sent  around April 15^th.  
• To be in compliance it needs to be certified by May 15^th.
• The emails are sent out via the EDR/ePAR system. Here is an example. 

Most scholarships have open application periods in January-February, which provide funding for the following school year. These are souces of money that are almost always above and beyond what your Faculty Advisor/Commitee Chair and the Department offer and provide. However, they require you to take action and apply for them directly yourself! Check here for details.

Tutorial on how to run a an Audit. 

Make sure your committee members are correct, your exam dates are entered (as appropriate), and you are on target for meeting the credit hour requirements (for course credits and thesis research credits) for graduation. Refer to the Graduate Manual for details. 

1st Year Grads: You will not be able to run an Audit until your Committee has been submitted to the department's Graduate Advisor.

As you go about your grad school years, keep the GG Grad Milestones Form in mind. This form should be completed with your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair before the end of each March.  By completing it with your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair, it serves as a powerful mechanism to foster communication and provide feedback on progress through your career. Further, the Graduate Affairs Committee reviews these submissions to identify potential challenges faced by individual students and, importantly, to highlight student accomplishments.

1.  Update your Milestones form and then review it with your Faculty Advisor/Commitee Chair.
   • Do not create a new form each year; just add on to the same form.
   • Note: You should finalize your committee at least 2 full semesters before the semester in which you defend. See instructions above under Year 1 tasks (committees are to be formed in Year 1).
   • Make sure you are on track to meet your degree's requirements. Refer to the Department Graduate Handbook (see link above) and the Degree Program listing in the University's Catalog. 
2. Save the file so your last name and the year are the first part of the filename.
   • For example: Futral_2023_GG Milestone.
3. Once your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair has signed off on it, email it here. 

Note: Once you have submitted your Milestones Form, the department's Graduate Advisor (staff member) will update your online profile. It will take a couple months for those updates to be reflected in your profile/show up when you run an audit. 

How you file your taxes may vary depending on what resources are funding your graduate program. Check out Publication 970 (2021), Tax Benefits for Education | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov).

Another good resource is the University's Tax Service Office.

International graduate students: For more information, visit U of U Tax Services Nonresident Alien Employee website.