University Registration Policies: Policies on full-time/part-time status, adding and dropping courses, cross-registration, grading systems, etc. are governed by the University at large. Students should refer to the University’s Academic Regulations for general information and contact the SCI Records Office for more details on applying these policies in practice.
Highlighted are frequent topics of inquiry: Satisfactory/No Credit , Registration (Enrollment) , Cross-Registration , Withdrawing or Resigning , Grading and Records , Academic Record and Grade Reports
In addition to those University-wide regulations and standards detailed in the section on General Academic Regulations, each student in the School of Computing and Information is expected to be familiar with the following School-specific regulations and academic standards.
Grading Policies
Courses for which a G, I, N, R, or W grade is recorded and courses numbered below 1000 (0-0999) do not contribute either credits or grade points toward graduation. Courses numbered below 2000 only contribute credits or grade points toward graduation when approved by the department or program PRIOR to enrollment.
Students must achieve the minimum GPA, in no case less than 3.00, and individual course grade minimums established by their department or program in order to be eligible to retain teaching assistantships or fellowships, to undergo the preliminary evaluations, to take comprehensive examinations, to be admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree, and to graduate. No grade lower than a C will be counted toward graduation requirements; yet all letter grades will be calculated into the student’s cumulative GPA unless if a class is repeated and a course repeat form processed. See “Repetition of Courses” section for more information.
Auditing Courses and Selecting a Grading Option
With the consent of the school and instructor, students may choose to audit a course or complete it with a Satisfactory/No Credit (S/NC) option. Regulations for S/NC credit allowances are governed by the Departments and are subject to the grade options allowed for each particular course (i.e., not all courses may be taken as S/NC). To audit a course, a student must register and pay tuition for the course. The audit grade (N) is not counted toward graduation or the GPA.
Graduate students choose a grading option (letter grade or S/NC) during enrollment from those listed within the University’s Student enrollment system. Any decision to change the grading option after a class has been added to the student’s enrollment must be processed no later than one week after the end of the Add/Drop period. The University’s Office of the Registrar does not require submission of a Grade Option/Audit Request form for graduate courses. However, the SCI Records Office does require this documentation for course auditing.
The default is for all classes to be graded with a letter grade (unless otherwise stipulated by the Course Catalog) and decisions to select an alternative grading option (S/NC or Audit) should be discussed with the student’s advisor. After a grading option has been selected and documented, this decision may not be changed.
Grade Changes
Grade changes are submitted by the course instructor. Grades will not be changed more than one year after the term’s end nor if a student’s record has become inactive or if a student has graduated.
Incomplete (G or I) Grades
The G grade signifies unfinished course work due to extenuating personal circumstances. Students assigned G grades are required to complete course requirements no later than one year after the term in which the course was taken. After the deadline has passed, the G grade will automatically be replaced by “NG” or “no grade” and will remain on the record. The student will be required to reregister for the course if it is needed to fulfill requirements for graduation.
The I grade signifies incomplete course work due to nature of the course, clinical work, or incomplete research work in individual guidance courses or seminars.
If an instructor is to assign an incomplete grade, the student and instructor must come to an agreement regarding the expected timeline of completion, grading, etc. The Records Office can provide assistance in documenting and enforcing this agreement through the “Incomplete Grade Contract.”
Repetition of Courses
Required courses for a major must be repeated or replaced by a comparable course if a grade does not meet the degree’s minimum requirements (see Department or program page for specifics). Course repetitions are subject to further regulations:
- Students typically only repeat a course in which the grade of C- or lower has been earned, however, upon department or program approval the student may repeat a course in which they have earned a B- or lower.
- A student may not enroll in the same course at another institution and have that grade replace the original grade earned at the University.
- The original course and grade remain on the transcript; however, the grade and credits originally earned are not counted in the calculation of the GPA.
- The grade earned by repeating a course is used instead of the grade originally earned. W, R, or N grades reported for the repeated course will not be identified as a course repeat, and therefore the original grade earned will continue to be counted in the GPA. Incomplete grades (G and I) are not identified as repeated courses until the course work is completed.
- Students are only permitted to repeat a course up to two times. Programs may have stricter course repeat policies.
- Any grade earned in the repeated course will be recorded on the academic transcript and calculated in the GPA, even if it is lower than the original grade.
The School automatically submits a course repeat form for students, however it is the responsibility of the student to ensure their repeat course grades have been updated with the “Repeated - Excluded from GPA” flag on their academic record and that all credits have been calculated correctly. Students should discuss repeat courses with their advisor at the beginning and end of the term of enrollment.
Credit & Enrollment Policies
Pre-requisite courses, and any coursework required to prepare for pre-requisite courses, are not calculated in the total credits required to earn a degree. For a list of pre-requisite courses for a degree and/or a degree specialization, refer to the individual degree Catalog pages.
Transfer Credits
Students who have completed graduate courses in degree-granting graduate programs at other appropriately accredited institutions prior to admission to the University of Pittsburgh and who would like to request a transfer of credits should submit official transcripts from those institutions in addition to the School’s Transfer Credit Request form so that the courses can be evaluated for transfer credit.
Transfer Credit Requests are reviewed and approved by the department or program faculty before the form is submitted to the Records Office. As with all School forms, this can be found on the School’s Current Students > School forms webpage.
Requests must adhere to the University’s limitations for transfer credits. See the University’s Academic Regulations for details.
Advising
The quality of education that graduate students receive is greatly enhanced with good academic advising at all stages of their program. Given the diversity of these needs, each program must determine the best way to provide these services. Academic advising provides the foundation upon which students plan their studies. It is the policy of the School for each student to have an academic advisor whose responsibilities include providing guidance in developing the student’s career goals and academic programs, approving course selections, and advising as needed on issues affecting the student’s academic and professional careers. Students are matched with an advisor upon admission; they may, however, change advisors at any time. A student’s assigned advisor can be viewed in the Student Center via my.pitt.edu. The goal of academic advising is to develop a consistent academic program coordinated to meet general program requirements and specific needs of individual students. Ideally, the student and faculty advisor function as a team working toward the objective of career preparation by means of the strongest possible academic experiences for the student. Students should meet each term with their advisors to ensure timely progress through their program.
All departments and programs are responsible, with Dean’s Office oversight, for implementing policies and practices consistent with the University’s in Elements of Good Academic Advising. Unresolved problems relating to the advising of graduate students at the department or program level should first be addressed with the Chair of the department or program.
Note regarding Graduate Faculty advisors and enrollment: Advising holds/service indicators, permission numbers, withdrawals, and questions regarding the mechanics of enrollment should be referred to the Records Office via SCIreg@pitt.edu. Course selection, research development and interests, and curriculum-based inquiries should be vetted through the student’s advisor.
Exemptions to enrollment policies and degree requirements are approved by the department or program and are mediated through the student’s advisor. Exemptions are then relayed to the Records Office, via various forms (see School Forms) for inclusion in the student’s academic record.
Tracking your degree progress: In order for students to verify that they are making progress toward graduation, they should meet regularly with their academic advisor and review their progress and plans for future study.
In addition, Master’s students should make use of the academic advisement report (AAR) as a self-advising tool. This report is submitted with the graduation application as a contract between the School and the student. The AAR provides detailed course options for fulfilling all requirements for the degree. When using the AAR online, students have quick access to schedule details for approved courses and links to enrollment. It is recommended that students continually monitor their AAR and utilize this tool frequently for enrollment and advisement purposes.
If a student finds errors in their AAR, they should speak to their advisor and request updates to their AAR. Requests for updates include “Best Fit” changes (re-directing courses to the appropriate requirement area), authorized student exemptions (exemptions pre-approved by the Program Director and/or the Dean’s Office), and corrections to transfer credits. See the School’s Current Students site for related forms (School Forms).
Informational videos and documents related to the AAR can be found on the Registrar’s Student Training website. Detailed advising information is available on the program offering pages.
Statute of Limitations: The purpose of the statute of limitations is to ensure that a graduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh represents mastery of current knowledge in the field of study. Individual schools within the University may adopt policies that are more stringent than the University policies. Variations and additions to those rules within the School of Computing and Information are as follows:
All requirements for master’s degrees must be completed within a period of four consecutive calendar years from the student’s initial registration for graduate study. Dual degrees and joint degrees that require course work in excess of 50 credit hours may be granted a longer statute of limitations by the University Council on Graduate Study.
From the student’s initial registration for graduate study, all requirements for the PhD degree must be completed within a period of 10 years, or within eight years if the student has received credit for a Master’s degree appropriate to the field of study. Some departments may have a more stringent statute of limitations for completion of Master’s or Doctoral degrees. See the program offerings for specific details.
Under exceptional circumstances, a candidate for an advanced degree may apply for an extension of the statute of limitations. Requests for an extension must state the reason for the delay, provide evidence of continuing progress toward the completion of the degree, and include a detailed plan of study and proposed date for completion. The request must be approved by the chair of the student’s Doctoral or Master’s committee (if applicable) and the department or program chair or director of graduate studies, and be submitted to the Dean’s Office for final action.
Leave of absence (LOA), Readmission, and Reinstatement: Graduate students may be granted a leave of absence under special conditions. Students who have resigned without requesting a leave of absence or have been away from the University for one or more years must apply for readmission or reinstatement. By University definitions, readmitted students previously attended the University of Pittsburgh and then enrolled at another external institution. Reinstated students previously attended the University of Pittsburgh and left for one or more calendar years, not attending external institutions in the meantime. These terms are attached to specific graduation requirements. All students interested in readmission or reinstatement must submit an application except for those on an approved leave of absence (see Special Admissions section for details ).
Readmitted students follow the School and degree graduation requirements and rules based upon their term of readmission. Their statute of limitations is reset to their term of readmission and their transfer credits, advanced standing, and previously authorized exemptions will be reevaluated at the point of readmission.
Reinstated students follow the School and degree requirements and rules based upon their original term of entry to the School. Their statute of limitations is calculated against their original term of entry to the University and their transfer credits, advanced standing, and previously authorized exemptions will be accepted as previously approved at the point of reinstatement.
Exceptions to the reinstatement rules include:
- Students whose leave exceeds two years. All students who have been away from the University more than two years will be subject to the requirements of the School and of their major and/or certificate programs at the time of their reinstatement, rather than those in place at the time of their last attendance.
- Students on an approved leave of absence.
Under special conditions, graduate students may be granted one leave of absence. A maximum leave of two years may be granted to Doctoral students or one year to Master’s students. The length and rationale for the leave of absence must be stated in advance, submitted via the School’s Leave of Absence Request form (found on the Current Students > School Forms webpage), recommended by the Department or Program, and approved by the Dean’s Office.
If granted approval by the Dean’s Office, a student is ensured that the time of the leave shall not count against the degree’s statute of limitations, the student’s transfer credits and previously authorized exemptions will be accepted as previously approved. If a student petitioned the faculty and received permission to enroll in an external institution during their LOA for transfer credit in advance of their LOA, the credits may still transfer upon the student’s return.
Students who have an approved LOA do not have to apply for readmission nor reinstatement. Instead, instructions for returning to the School will be shared with the student in the letter sent approving their leave.
A note on advising appointments and a returning from a break in continuous enrollment:
Since registration open enrollment begins in the twelfth week of the preceding term, applications for reinstatement should be received prior to that period so that the student’s application can be reviewed and their record updated. Similarly, students who are returning from a LOA should keep this timeline in mind for setting up an appointment with their advisor and/or notifying the Records Office of their return to studies. Only after a student on an approved LOA has notified the Records Office will their enrollment service indicator (registration hold) be released from their record.
Regardless of the conditions surrounding a student’s leave - e.g., an intentional leave of absence, suspension, or an extended lapse in enrollment requiring reinstatement - when a student returns, they return in the standing attached to their record (good, warning, or probation) at the term of their departure.
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