GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING & SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS

Good academic standing is required to maintain guaranteed funding. A loss of good standing renders the student ineligible for:  Cornell School of Theory; the Institute of World Literature; Doctoral Completion Award; Ontario Graduate Scholarship and may also be grounds for program termination as outlined below. To remain in good academic standing students enrolled in the Ph.D. Program at the Centre for Comparative Literature, must:

  • maintain an average grade of at least an A- in courses
  • respect all deadlines for courses, Field Examinations, thesis preparation and yearly meetings with advisory committees
  • complete course work and language requirements by the end of the second year of the Doctoral Program (Ph.D.2)
  • register a thesis topic by May 1st of the second year of the Doctoral Program (Ph.D.2)
  • have an approved Field Proposal by the Advisory Committee that has met by the end of May of the second year of the Doctoral Program (Ph.D.2)
  • have completed their Field Examination by the end of the Fall term of the third year of the Doctoral Program (PH.D.3) at the latest
  • not be absent from the University for an extended period of time or participate in a program offered by another university without the explicit permission of the Centre.

Committee Meetings and Good Standing:

A candidate for the Ph.D. program must meet with their advisory committee and receive a satisfactory progress report at least once a year, and more often if the committee so requires. The Centre will work with students to schedule advisory committee meetings between March and May for new PhD candidates and for all students who have achieved candidacy. Students in year 3 who have achieved candidacy the previous fall are expected to hold their first committee meeting in the spring of year 3. If insufficient progress or scholarly achievement is observed, the advisory committee can recommend a probationary period of up to 6 months during which the candidate will be given a chance to correct deficiencies. If, following this probationary period there is still insufficient progress, the student will not be in good standing and the committee may recommend termination of the student’s program. The final decision to terminate for cause rests with the Director of the Centre in consultation with the Graduate Academic/Appeals Committee.

SGS stipulates that: “A student is expected to meet with the committee at least once a year, and more often if the committee so requires. At each meeting, the supervisory committee will assess the student’s progress in the program and provide advice on future work. If in each of two consecutive meetings, a student’s supervisory committee reports that the student’s progress is unsatisfactory, the graduate unit may recommend to the School [of Graduate Studies] the termination of registration and eligibility of that student. A student who, through the student’s own neglect, fails to meet with the supervisory committee in a given year will be considered to have received an unsatisfactory progress report from the committee.”  (SGS Calendar)

Grounds for Program Termination: A candidate for the Ph.D. program may be denied further registration in the program and will have their candidacy terminated at the end of the third year of registration if, by that time, either a) they have not completed all requirements for the degree exclusive of thesis research – including course requirements, language requirements, Field Examination,  b) they do not have an approved thesis topic, supervisor(s) or advisory committee, or c) they have received two consecutive reports of unsatisfactory progress at supervisory committee meetings.

 

 Updated September 9, 2022