In April, 2012, the following GAP document was updated:
- GAP 3.1 Registration, Enrollment and Academic Progress
The policy now gives departments the option to consider the last two weeks before the start of Fall Quarter to be part of Fall Quarter, for the purpose of permitting graduate students to meet program milestones that are administered by the department. There are several considerations listed in a new Section 1.1.1 of the policy.
In March, 2012, the following GAP document was updated:
- GAP 5.9, Childbirth Accommodation
This document has been updated to incorporate an online application for Childbirth Accommodation. The underlying policy has not changed, but the Implementation Guidelines have been updated to incorporate the new request and approval process.
In February, 2012, the following GAP document was updated:
- GAP 4.8, Doctoral Degrees: Dissertations
and Dissertation Reading Committees
Guidance related to the submission of dissertations in a language other than English was clarified. The underlying policy has not been changed.
In January, 2012, the following GAP document was updated:
- GAP 8.3, Retention of Student Records
Guidance related to the retention of departmental student records, including identification of files to be retained and the length of the retention period, has been clarified.
In November 2011, the following GAP documents were updated:
- GAP 4.7, Doctoral Degrees: University
Oral Examinations and Committees
- GAP 4.8, Doctoral Degrees: Dissertations
and Dissertation Reading Committees
Both of these documents have been updated with changes related to committee membership and the role of emeritus faculty. These changes were approved by the Faculty Senate on October 27, 2011, and became effective on September 1, 2011.
In August 2011, the following GAP documents were updated:
- GAP 7.1, General Funding Guidelines
and Definitions
Clarification added that hourly pay should not be used in lieu of an assistantship appointment, where the work being performed would qualify for assistantship compensation.
- GAP 7.3, Assistantships
A new section has been added to this document to describe the circumstances under which a student may participate in a mentored teaching experience without being appointed to a Teaching Assistantship position.
In July 2011, the following GAP documents were revised:
- GAP 2.3, Activating Nonmatriculated Graduate Students
New policy and procedures for appointing Visiting Student Researchers are incorporated, to be effective Septemer 1, 2011. This change was announced earlier in 2011 by means of a memo from the University Provost to all schools. - GAP 2.4, Students of New Faculty
This document describes a new classification of nonmatriculated graduate student, to be effective September 1, 2011. The classification "Students of New Faculty" will permit one or more doctoral students to move from the home institution to Stanford for a limited period of time to complete research under the direct guidance of the newly hired faculty member. The degree is awarded by the student's home institution. Other options for the doctoral students of new faculty were discussed earlier in 2011 in a memo from the Vice Provost for Graduate Education. Stanford's Commitment to Graduate Diversity (formerly numbered GAP 2.4) has been renumbered GAP 2.5.
In May 2011, the following GAP documents were updated:
- GAP 5.3, Leave of Absence
Policy has been clarified and information added regarding involuntary leaves. - GAP 5.4, Program Discontinuation and Reinstatement
Policy has been expanded to include information about the following circumstances in which a student's academic program may be discontinued:
- failure to register or to be approved for leave of absence
- voluntary termination
- dismissal for academic reasons
- expulsion.
_________________________________________________
Contents
This Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures handbook (the GAP handbook) is a compilation of university policies and other information related to the academic progress of Stanford graduate students -- from their application and admission, to the conferral of degrees and retention of records.
The information contained here is drawn from several sources, including:
- the Stanford Bulletin, containing university and degree-specific requirements
- various forms provided by the Stanford University Office of the Registrar
- documentation related to the PeopleSoft Student Administration (SA) and Graduate Financial Support (GFS) applications
- the record of actions taken by the Academic Senate and its Committee on Graduate Studies.
Background information is contained in a box on the right side of each individual document in this collection, including information about the source of the policy and its applicability, related policies and other resources. You will also find links to the current, applicable sections of the Stanford Bulletin. Where the current Stanford University Bulletin includes coverage of these topics, the current Bulletin is the governing policy. Stanford University reserves the right to make changes to its applicable policies, procedures and other materials contained here at any time and without prior notice.
Links to the various chapters and documents within this GAP handbook will open in this browser window. Links to any resources outside of this GAP handbook, e.g., Bulletin sections or forms, will open in a separate browser window.
The Table of Contents of this handbook is available as a pdf file.
Objectives
The GAP handbook provides background and rationale for Stanford's academic policies related to graduate students, defines certain university-wide requirements, and offers implementation guidance to describe how the various functions within the university work together to support the graduate student's academic progress. While recognizing that faculty are critically important as teachers, advisers and mentors, this handbook is designed primarily for university staff -- in school, department and program offices, and in the several central organizational units that support student administration. It should also be helpful to Department Chairs, Directors of Graduate Studies and others with responsibilities in this area.
Within schools, departments and programs, some of the processes described here may be carried out differently depending on local circumstances and the particular facts of individual students' cases. The information contained here is university-wide in its scope, however, and should provide a starting point for local implementation.
Development and Maintenance
As these documents are updated with new information, those updates will be highlighted on this home page.
The office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education is grateful to the many individuals and offices who helped in the development of this handbook, in particular to the Office of the Registrar, to the Committee on Graduate Studies, and to staff in the schools who read and commented on earlier versions of these documents. We are committed to working closely with individuals and offices across the university to maintain this handbook as a reliable source of information.
We also expect that this handbook will evolve and improve with use. For that to happen, we will rely on the feedback and suggestions of those who use it. Questions and comments can be sent by means of an email link to the office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education from any page in this collection. As you explore the information contained here, we encourage you to use those links.
A NOTE ABOUT PRINTING: There is a "Print this page" link in the upper right corner of each document in this collection, providing a "printer-friendly" file. If you experience printing problems, we recommend using a different web browser. Printing from Internet Explorer has been a problem for some users; any other browser should work.
