Graduate Student Responsibilities
Know the Department and Grad School Policy and Requirements
The Graduate Catalog and the Department's Programs and Policies for Graduate Studies are the two documents that constitute your contract with the University. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with these documents. The requirements that you must follow depend on the date of your admission; students currently in the program do not all have to follow the same set of requirements. If you have questions about Department or Graduate School policy, you should contact the Department's Graduate Program Assistant or the Graduate Coordinator.
Effective communication with UF and the Department
Keep your contact information updated. It is your responsibility to make sure that your contact information is correct and up-to-date on the UF directory and with the Department. All registering students are required to enter their emergency contact information in myUFL to register for classes. In addition, please email the Graduate Program Assistant with your current contact information whenever it changes.
Departmental listserv. The Departmental listserv is used only for Departmental messages and announcements, including announcement of funding application deadlines. All graduate students in the department are required to be on this listserv. All messages from this listserv should originate with the office staff, the department chair, or the department graduate coordinator. If you wish to send a message to the listserv, please send it to a staff member to be forwarded.
The Department’s Programs and Policies for Graduate Studies defines satisfactory progress for graduate students as success in four areas:
Course work. Satisfactory coursework consists of: Maintaining a 3.0 GPA (3.5 for Anthropology coursework); limiting the number of incomplete grades to 1; taking an adequate number of courses. You are expected to complete the Proseminar courses (I and II) in the fall and spring of your first year or to have written approval of the Graduate Coordinator for exemption from or postponement of the courses.
Supervisory committee composition and meeting. You are expected to create a supervisory committee, and to arrange meetings with you committee at least once each year. All students entering our MA program must have a committee chair by the end of their first semester and a complete committee by the end of their second semester in the program (excluding summer terms). Students certified into the doctoral program from the MA program must have a complete doctoral committee by the end of their second semester in the doctoral program.
Progress towards the degree includes making progress in several areas: defining your research interests, fulfilling degree requirements, completing comprehensive and qualifying exams, undertaking field research and specialized training, and seeking funding opportunities.
Professional development: You should be developing papers or posters for presentation at national and international meetings and for publication in professional journals.
Self-monitoring and record keeping
Transcripts. At the end of each semester, about three weeks after classes have ended; you should check your transcripts to make sure that grades have been submitted. It is your responsibility to monitor your transcript for errors. A grade of N or NG means no grade was submitted for you. Your transcripts are the Registrar’s official file of your progress. It is where you would look to make sure that certain accomplishments have been recorded—MA graduation, credit transfers, completion of your doctoral qualifying examinations, doctoral graduation.
Graduate School File (GIMS)
To verify the information in your online graduate file you should use Gatorlink ID and password to sign in to the MyUfl icon on the UF home page. Once signed in go, to Quick Links on the menu on the left, and from there go to GIMS (Graduate Information Management System). There you will be able to confirm that the Graduate School has the correct degree program and committee on file for you.
Your Department file
All documentation of your progress within the program should be kept in your Department file in the Graduate Program office in 1115 Turlington Hall. Your file is the Department’s record of your progress and our correspondence with you. You are also responsible for keeping your own copies of important documents. You may submit any documents to your department file.
Annual Self-evaluation
In April of each year, all graduate students will submit an annual report and will be evaluated by their committee chair and by a committee of faculty. The areas of progressabove are reflected in the Annual Graduate Student Evaluation form that faculty use to evaluate graduate students. The evaluation process begins with you submitting your completed Graduate Student Annual Report to your committee chair. It is also your responsibility at that time to submit a copy to the Graduate Office. Then professors in the department fields (biological, cultural, and archaeology) meet to collectively discuss their students’ progress. After the faculty meeting your chair will submit your annual evaluation to the department. A copy will be sent to you and a copy will be placed in your file.
If a lack of progress in any area is indicated on the evaluation, the supervisory committee chair should indicate what actions must be taken by the student and the deadline for completing those actions (e.g., within one semester) to avoid sanctions. Continued failure to meet criteria for satisfactory progress may result in suspension of fellowship and assistantship support as specified by the Graduate School, and dismissal from the graduate program.
Establishing Florida Residency Status
We strongly recommend you apply for Florida residency if at all possible. More information may be found at http://gradschool.ufl.edu/students/faqs-residency.html. There are several steps to complete and you should complete them all before the first day of classes. This will save you a lot of money during your time here.
