Residency - Master's students must complete at least one semester enrolled in a graduate program at Rice University. PhD students must be enrolled at least four semesters in full-time study at Rice University.

Leave of Absence - Leave of absence is granted only by the Graduate Office upon the recommendation of the department, and is granted only to graduate students in good standing with the University. Leave must be approved in advance of the academic semester in question; it will not be granted after the student has registered for courses or after the registration period has passed. Normally, leave of absence is granted for no more than two consecutive semesters. no work toward a degree may be done at Rice or involve Rice faculty (or facilities) during a leave of absence. A reinstatement fee of $25 is charged upon return from an official leave.

Full-time study - Semester course load for full-time students is no less than nine hours. Full-time students may accept other employment only with the approval of the department and the Office of Graduate Studies. Students who are employed elsewhere or virtually full-time status are normally not eligible for full-time status at Rice.

Part-time study - Part-time students are occasionally admitted by special permission, usually for non-thesis programs only. Departmental recommendation is required. Students enrolling for nine semester hours or more will be considered full-time, and full-time tuition will apply.

Minimum Registration - Students must register for at least 3 hours in a semester, except for Degree 798 ("Degree Candidates Only") registration in the final semester when all requirements have been completed earlier.

Courses of Study - Graduate students may register for courses of study only with the approval of their departmental advisor or chair. Similarly, students are allowed to drop or add courses only if departmental approval has been given.

Course Hour Requirements - The MS degree requires at least 30 semester hours of study (24 hours of course credit and 6 hours of research credit), 27 of which must be done at Rice. The PhD degree requires at least 90 semester hours of credit (48 semester hours of research credit and 42 hours of course credit, 24 for MS and 18 more for PhD) and is awarded after successful completion of a program of advanced study and an original investigation reported in an appved thesis. PhD students must take at least six courses beyond those required for the MS degree.

Grade Standards - Students must achieve at least a B (3.00) average on the courses counted toward a graduate degree. In addition, no course in which the student earned a grade lower than a C may count toward a graduate degree.

Transferring Graduate Credit to Rice - A student may transfer no more than three hours of course credit from a graduate program at another university for the MS degree requirements. Transfer of credit is subject to approval by the Graduate Committee. It is expected that a transfer student will take appropriate additional courses at Rice as approved by the student's advisor.

Course Credits from Another Graduate Program at Rice. Students may use course credits earned in another graduate program at Rice only if the Graduate Committee determines that those courses would have been approved had the student been enrolled as a graduate student in the department, in accordance with general guidelines regarding course requirements for the degree.

Probationary Status. A graduate student is considered to be on probationary status whenever the cumulative GPA, or the GPA for one semester, falls below 2.33. A second semester of probationary status will lead to dismissal by the Office of Graduate Studies unless a plea for exception is presented by the student's department and approved by the Graduate Council. A student may be dismissed by departmental action after only one semester of performance at the probationary level.

Dismissal - A graduate student may be dismissed from a program either for reasons of unsatisfactory progress or for reasons of behavior judged by the University to be disruptive or otherwise contrary to the best interest of either the University or the student.

Appeal - Graduate students may petition the Rice Graduate Council concerning the application of any academic regulation. Petitions should be addressed to the Chair of the Council, but should be made only when a dispute cannot be resolved at the departmental level.

Continuous Enrollment, Readmission - Graduate students are expected to maintain continuous involvement and enrollment, unless official leave of absence has been granted. Failure to register for any period without a leave of absence granted by the Graduate Office constitute a de facto withdrawal. If the student later wishes to resume study, reapplication is required. Readmission is given only on the recommendation of the department and the approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies. A readmission fee of $100 is charged.

TA/Student Conduct. New graduate students are often unsure about how to conduct themselves in their role as a teaching assistant. The following suggestions are intended to provide advice in this area.

Effective teaching depends upon a healthy relationship between instructor and students, but most TA's are only three or four years older than most of their students. Unless they are misanthropic, most TA's will probably be liked, and some may be confided in or invited out for pizza and beer -- and, of course, still expected to exercise thoroughly objective criteria in grading students mid-terms.

Treat students with respect. Most students are serious about course work and will assume responsibility for coming to class or lab, turning in assignments, reading assigned material, and taking exams. Offer students a challenge, but be receptive to real problems and offer them trust rather than automatic skepticism when difficulties arise. It is possible to be flexible without being mallable.

Explain course requirements and grading procedures at the beginning of the semester and again before mid-terms. Students will be more satisfied with the system and less inclined to argue if requirements and standards are explained before instead of after the mid-term or the final exam.