Most forms on this page require several signatures.
“Advisor” always refers to your faculty advisor. If you don’t have a direct faculty advisor then your graduate program director can sign.
“Graduate program director” (GPD) – see here for a current list of all GPDs
“Office of Graduation Education”/“Dean of Graduate Education” – do not send your form directly to OGE. Please return it to your Graduate Program Administrator (GPA) who will send the form to the correct Point of Contact person at OGE.
Other needed signatures: some forms may require signatures from the health center or the International Students Services. These additional signatures will be noted on the form.
All signatures must be obtained before the form is sent to the point of contact at OGE.
The Graduate Student Request for Change of Status is used for a variety of academic situations such as a change in degree program due to adding an MS degree, switching programs, and a leave of absence. The form cannot be used to add a PhD program. Regular admissions procedures apply to students wanting to add or switch doctoral programs.
Submit your Thesis/Dissertation
Dissertation Submission Process (flowchart)
Nomination of Master's Thesis Committee
Record of Master's Thesis and Oral Presentation
Nomination of Doctoral Committee
Declaration of Co-Contribution
RPI Publisher Permission Letter Template
Record of PhD Candidacy Examination Packet
Student-Advisor Expectation Scales
Requirements for Co-Listed Courses
Graduate Students Mentoring Plan
Dissertation Submission Process (flowchart)
OGE supplemental fellowships commitment:
Tuition:
- If a fellowship does not allow tuition charges, the tuition waiver must be formally requested and cleared with OGE prior to applying.
- If a fellowship provides only partial tuition, a cost share request must be requested and cleared with OGE prior to applying.
- If a student completed all credits needed for the degree they can be placed on a zero credit fellowship registration. These requests should be made to Betty Madigan for academic clearance first.
Stipend:
- If the fellowship does not cover the minimum RPI stipend, it is the department’s responsibility to top-up the student’s stipend (in the form of a fellowship) to the RPI minimum.
The RPI Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities sets forth the Student Bill of Rights along with the national, state and city laws and RPI policies that guide Institute and judicial actions in support of RPI student success.
The Graduate Student Supplement to the RPI Student Handbook of Rights & Responsibilities sets guidelines specifically applied to graduate students and graduate education
FIVE STEPS GRIEVANCE PROCESS TO FOLLOW
Definition: a grievance is a charge that (1) a decision made, or action taken, is improper or unfair and directly affects the student and (2) there is a dispute between the student and the person who made the decision. For additional examples, see note 5 below.
Exceptions: Grievances do not include incidents of discrimination, harassment, (including sexual harassment, sexual assault, intimate partner violence and stalking), retaliation and/or unethical conduct/misconduct against faculty, staff, and students. Such incidents must be reported here: https://info.rpi.edu/report-a-concern.
For all other concerns, follow the five-step process above. Always begin by communicating with the directly concerned individual. If the grievance concerns the GPD or department head directly, please skip that step in the process.
The general process for dealing with grievances is shown in he above diagram. For any grievance, please follow these five steps:
Step 1. talk to the directly involved party. For example, if your advisor did or said something that made you anxious, schedule a time to talk to the advisor and explain your concern. You can watch this video for how to manage difficult conversations. You can also reach out to your personal networks, to the graduate Ombuds, or to the Director of Graduate Experience for advice on how to handle this conversation.
Step 2. If the issue was not resolved through direct conversation with involved party, schedule a time to meet with your graduate program director to request their help in resolving the issue.
Step 3. If the graduate program director was unable to help, bring the matter to the attention of your department head.
Step 4. If needed, bring your school's associate dean for graduate programs into the discussion
Step 5. If all else fails, schedule a time to meet and discuss the issue with the Dean of Graduate Education.
At any point along the process, use your support network for help and guidance.
Notes:
1 The list of GPDs can be found here: https://graduate.rpi.edu/about/contact-us
2 The Department Head will be listed on your department’s Website under ‘people’ or ‘faculty’
3 Associate Deans: School of Engineering: Agung Julius; School of Science: Fengyan Li; Architecture: Chris Perry; Lally: Raffi Garcia/Brian Clark; HASS: Ken Simons
4 Forms of Support and Advice: Advice on how to approach the person; Guidance through the grievance process; Support for effective communication; Advice on documenting the process
5 Examples of grievances: Delayed academic progress; Excessive or unreasonable demands; Hostile academic environment; Unclear expectations and performance metrics; For additional examples please review the section on student-advisor relationship in the graduate student handbook supplement
PhD students holding a graduate assistantship (TA or RA) are expected to devote an average of 20 hours per week to assistantship duties. They must also maintain full-time registration of at least 9 credits each semester and devote sufficient time to their academic work to maintain satisfactory progress toward their degree.
The Office of Graduate Education (OGE) recognizes that work outside the assistantship can help prepare students for their careers and generally supports such opportunities under the following conditions:
- Departmental approval. Students must obtain written approval from their department before starting outside work. When requesting approval from the Graduate Program Director (GPD), students should state the expected duration, the weekly hours, and any potential conflicts of interest.
- Weekly limit. Outside work must not exceed 9 hours per week in total across all outside positions.
- Funding and award conditions. Outside work must comply with the terms and conditions of the student’s funding or award. Students receiving fellowships or other awards that prohibit outside employment or require exclusive dedication to progress toward the degree may not engage in outside work during the award period. Departmental approval does not override these restrictions.
- Conflicts of interest. Any potential conflict involving research, intellectual property, confidentiality, or use of Institute resources must be disclosed and resolved before the work begins.
- Academic and assistantship obligations. Students must maintain satisfactory academic progress and continue to fulfill all duties of their assistantship.
International students must work with International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) to obtain all required authorizations before starting outside work.
