Graduate students maintain Continuing Student Status in accordance with the Continuing Student Status Policy under the SSU Academic Regulations. Students who enroll in the Culminating Experience course as the final step toward completing their degree are expected to follow the Graduate Study Degree Completion Guidelines.
If the student will not complete the culminating experience by the end of the semester they enrolled in the culminating experience course, they will receive a grade of RP (report in progress).
The student will retain Continuing Student Status for one semester after the semester in which they enrolled in their final course and may use this “grace period” to complete the culminating experience and graduate in that semester. Programs may have additional enrollment requirements (e.g., to meet licensing/accreditation or summer-only requirements). Please check with your program coordinator.
Should the student require additional time beyond the one semester grace period to complete the culminating experience, to avoid being disenrolled from the university, the student must use one of the following mechanisms:
- Enroll part time in coursework in the program (e.g. special topics)
- Enroll in project continuation through extended education - note this course will not count towards the degree, but will maintain continuing student status
- Take a leave of absence by submitting the Leave of Absence form by the deadline for the semester in question. This petition process would not extend the seven-year limitation on coursework applied to the degree.
The student will have up to two additional semesters (four semesters total) to complete the course associated with the culminating experience. The student must be enrolled in an appropriate graduate program course or in Project Continuation in order to graduate more than two semesters after taking the culminating experience course.
If, under extraordinary circumstances, after four semesters (this includes the semester in which the course was taken) the culminating experience is not complete, the student must re-enroll (with the approval of the program’s graduate coordinator) in the culminating experience course for at least one semester to re-establish matriculation and continuing student status.
Students who allow their enrollment to lapse for two semesters without taking a leave of absence will be considered to have withdrawn from the University and from their degree program. Should such students decide to return, they will be required to apply for readmission.