Continuous Enrollment (Graduate)

Policy Statement

All graduate students matriculated to a degree or certificate program are required to enroll in coursework each fall and spring semester following admission.
Students who are not taking formal coursework must enroll in GRD 700. GRD 700 is a zero-credit hour course, therefore no tuition costs are generated. GRD 700 will allow students to maintain their enrollment status, which permits access to email, electronic resources, library resources, and faculty advisors.
Graduate students failing to enroll during the fall or spring semester will be administratively withdrawn from their program unless they have applied and been approved for a leave of absence.

Time limits for completing degree requirements continue to apply.

Rationale

SUNY Oneonta's current continuous enrollment policy has been suspended for the 2020-21 academic year. This suspension is due to the uncertainties of the pandemic, which have caused some graduate students to delay their studies. This suspension has made clear one of the reasons why the policy was implemented in the first place: without it, it is impossible to account for the students in our graduate programs who are not currently registered for classes.
Two other issues have additionally come to light. The current policy requires students to enroll in GRD 700 for one credit to maintain continuous enrollment when they are not taking other courses. However, there are no learning objectives and no requirements for this course. Since there is no academic component to this course, it is not appropriate for credit to be assigned.
The current policy is also applied unevenly to students enrolled in certificate programs depending on who interprets it. As initially proposed by the graduate committee it was not intended to apply to students working toward a CAS, who might not be taking classes every semester. This new policy intends to eliminate any ambiguity.
The proposed policy is based on the continuous enrollment policy at SUNY Cortland.

Applicability of the Policy

This policy applies to matriculated graduate students.

Procedures

Matriculated graduate students must register for at least one credit of coursework each fall or spring semester, register for GRD 700, or apply and be approved for a leave of absence.

Those who don’t will be administratively withdrawn by the Registrar’s office.

Contacts

Questions related to the daily operational interpretation of this policy should be directed to:
Office of the Provost
(607) 436-2517
provost@oneonta.edu

Related Documents/Policies

Graduate Student Catalog:

• Previous continuous enrollment policy
• Time limit policy

Effective Dates

Approved by the Provost on 3/30/2021, Approved by the President on 4/23/2021