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Academic

Additional Policies

Family-Friendly Policy Link to section

The School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences (Hajim) at the University of Rochester provide accommodation for their graduate students for the birth or adoption of children, as outlined in this policy.

Parental Accommodation for Full-Time PhD Students Link to section

Full-time PhD students in good academic standing are subject to the University’s PhD Student Parental Accommodation Policy. This policy provides up to twelve (12) weeks of parental accommodation immediately following the birth or adoption of a child. Students must refer to the University Graduate Education Office’s website for further details and application instructions.

Parental Accommodation for Part-Time, Master’s, and Advanced Certificate Graduate Students Link to section

All other matriculated graduate students in SAS and Hajim (including part-time, master’s, and advanced certificate students) are provided up to eight (8) consecutive weeks of accommodation period for the primary caregiver immediately following the birth or the adoption of a child. During this period, students may postpone course assignments, examinations, and other academic requirements but remain active students, with access to applicable University resources (including student health insurance, library privileges, and housing) and to University faculty and staff.

While students will continue to be active students during the accommodation period, students will be excused from regular coursework, teaching, or research duties. However, it is the student’s professional responsibility to work with their advisor or faculty member to prepare for the absence in advance of the accommodation period, including:

  • Arranging alternative timelines for the completion of coursework missed during the student’s absence, including filing incomplete contracts if necessary
  • Reviewing the status and continuation of research projects
  • Adequately preparing those who will assume teaching responsibilities during the student’s absence
  • Arranging for a smooth transition in any other responsibilities.

Eligible graduate students are required to notify their department and school graduate education office of the date of their intended time away at least 60 days prior (when possible) to the expected date of childbirth or adoption, using the Parental Accommodation Request Form. While applications for parental accommodation are required, the benefit is automatic.

If extended time is needed beyond the eight weeks of accommodation period, written approval for an extension must be requested, and approval obtained, from the student’s department chair or program director and the SAS/Hajim dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs. In some cases, a leave of absence may be recommended for the student rather than an extension of the accommodation period.

For resources relating to childcare, lactation rooms, and counseling and health insurance, please see the resources section of the GEPA website. Pregnant and parenting students may also work with the Title IX office to make arrangements for appropriate accommodations.

Non-Academic Grievance Policy Link to section

The purpose of the Student Non-Academic Grievance Procedure is to provide a process for students to seek resolution of disputes and grievances with faculty or staff that may not fall within the scope of one of the other grievance processes.

Students may at times feel improperly treated, and concerns about unfairness may also at times arise. This policy is designed to address individual decisions or individual actions that affect the grievant personally in his or her capacity as a student. This policy applies only to students enrolled in a graduate program in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at the University of Rochester. In those instances where a graduate student has a complaint against researchers or staff in a campus research institute, a national laboratory, or in a setting governed by a federal grant whether on or off campus, the student’s home academic department (the unit awarding the degree) is responsible for helping to achieve a remedy.

Examples of what would fall under this policy include:

  • Concerns about mentoring from primary advisors such as meetings, availability, and responsiveness
  • Faculty requests to complete personal tasks that fall outside of normal academic/research requirements
  • Requiring add-on research
  • Academic work that is not compensated

Grievances not covered under this policy include:

  • Students who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, as this would fall under HR Policy 106 or Title IX.
  • Student disciplinary proceedings for academic misconduct, including plagiarism and cheating, fall under the provisions of the Standards of Student Conduct and Academic Honesty.
  • If the matter involves another student, this falls under the Student Conduct Policy.
  • If the matter involves an academic decision, this falls under the AS&E Graduate Student Academic Grievance Policy.
  • Similarly, and as a general proposition, dissatisfaction with a departmental, school, or University policy or practice of broad or general application is not grounds for a grievance under this procedure.