Satisfactory Academic Progress
Your continuation as a graduate student at UW-Madison is at the discretion of your program, the Graduate School, and your faculty advisor. Any student may be placed on probation or dismissed from the Graduate School for not maintaining satisfactory academic progress, and this can impact your academic standing (detailed below), financial aid (see this policy page: policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1040), or funding (consult your sources of funding, as applicable). Our program has its own definition of satisfactory academic progress and related procedures that supplement Graduate School policy, as described in this section.
Definition
Information about how the Graduate School determines satisfactory academic progress can be found at this policy page: policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1218. In addition to the Graduate School’s monitoring of satisfactory academic progress, this program regularly reviews the satisfactory academic progress of its students, defined as the following:
The Kinesiology Program requires students to:
- Maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA) during each semester of graduate course work
- An overall GPA below 3.0 will place the student on academic probation. If a 3.0 GPA not regained in the subsequent semester the student may be dismissed from the program or allowed to continue provisionally for 1 semester based on advisor appeal to the Graduate School. See the Graduate School’s probation policy for more information.
- For full-time students in the MS thesis track program, the department requires completion of course work and thesis proposal within two years of matriculation
- For full-time students in the Ph.D. program, the department requires completion of course work and takingpassing preliminary examinations within 3 years of starting the Ph.D. program
- For part-time students, satisfactory progress is evaluated separately by the student’s advisor
- Annual progress reports must be complete in collaboration with student’s advisors at least once per year
- A student’s failure to comply with the above-mentioned expectations for satisfactory progress may result in disciplinary action or dismissal.
Not making satisfactory progress: coursework/research related specific plan (excludes GPA only satisfactory progress issues)
If a student is not making satisfactory progress, the advisor will first discuss the situation with the student and then provide a written description of 1) specific expectations not being met by the student, 2) a description of actions the student must demonstrate to remedy the deficiency, 3) the date by which the student must demonstrate full remedy, 4) a plan for communication between student and advisor and 5) consequences for not meeting the expectations prior to the deadline. The student is required to confirm receipt of the written communication from the advisor within one week. The document will then be submitted to the Graduate Studies Committee. If the advisor and/or the Graduate Studies Committee determines the student has not met the expectations in the written plan by the specified deadline, the student’s graduate assistantship may not be renewed at the end of the current appointment.
Probation Policy:
The status of a graduate student’s progress is either:
Good standing
- Progressing according to standards
- Any funding guarantee remains in place
Probation
- Not progressing according to standards but permitted to keep enrolling
- Funding guarantee may be lost
- Specific plan with dates and deadlines for removal of probation may be required
Unsatisfactory progress
- Not progressing according to standards
- Not permitted to keep enrolling, dismissal, leave of absence or change of advisor or program likely required
An overall GPA below 3.0 will place the student on academic probation. If a 3.0 GPA not regained in the subsequent semester the student may be dismissed from the program or allowed to continue provisionally for 1 semester based on advisor appeal to the Graduate School. See the Graduate School’s probation policy for more information.