Issuing Office

The Graduate School

Affected Parties

LUO and Residential Doctoral Students

Policy Language

Students who seek approval from the department head (associate dean or program director with the guidance of the associate dean) will be allowed to break enrollment for a specific approved period (if approved). This approval must be sent to the Accepts team within Enrollment Management, as well as the Registrar office, so it can be documented on their Banner file. When these students enter the re-application process, they will be granted admission based on the original admission requirements they had during their initial admission to the doctoral program.

Students who do not seek approval from the department head before taking a break in enrollment during the dissertation phase will still need to re-apply for admission in order to register for the dissertation class again, but will need to meet current admission standards for that particular academic year. If students do not meet the current admission requirements or would like to use their initial admission documents, then an appeal will need to be sent to the department head (associate dean or program director with the guidance of the associate dean) which will not guarantee approval.

Policy Rationale

Currently, students who break enrollment at the dissertation phase and re-apply gain waivers from the respective academic department heads. However, there is no official standard or rubric in granting waivers for re-admission based on the student’s initial admission. This creates inconsistency with readmission standards, confusion between the admission counselors/academic advisors and the student, and potential SACS violations.

Definition of Glossary Terms

None specified

Procedures

None specified

Sanctions

None specified

Exceptions

None

Date of Last Review

9/14/2020

Date for Review

9/14/2025