Introduction

Expectations and Responsibilities

Goal of Graduate Education Link to section

The primary goal of graduate education at the University of Rochester is to prepare promising students for outstanding scholarly and professional achievement by educating them in the skills of a discipline and in the intellectual and ethical foundations of research, instilling in each student the capacity for independent critical thinking and inspiring students to use their knowledge and training for the betterment of society.

Master’s Student Expectations Link to section

As with most worthwhile endeavors, success in graduate study cannot be guaranteed and often depends on the mutual efforts of faculty and student. Individual faculty and programs as well as the School of Arts & Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences are committed to your success as a graduate student, and, as such, master’s students may reasonably expect the following support in their program. The exact way in which these goals may be met can vary, depending on the program and the department.

Resources: To receive appropriate resources, including reasonable access to appropriate course offerings to meet the student’s approved program of study and facilities to allow the student to complete the program.
Guidance: To receive advice and direction regarding the student’s academic program.
Expectations: To be informed of the expectations, including timelines, for the successful completion of any potential non-course duties, such as research projects, teaching assignments, and thesis work.
Evaluation: To receive timely and fair assessment of the student’s work, including coursework, program exams, and (potentially) research and teaching assignments.
Support services: To be provided with professional and personal development support services if requested, such as those offered by the Gwen M. Greene Center for Career Education and Connections, Disability Resources, Learning Center, and Teaching Center that enhance the student’s professional and academic experience.
Professional development: To be provided with opportunities to attend colloquia and seminars and, in appropriate cases, to publish the student’s research.
Nondiscrimination: To be treated in a fair, impartial, and professional manner in all dealings in accordance with University policies governing discrimination and harassment (as per the University of Rochester Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment).
Collegiality: To have a collegial, welcoming environment in which to pursue the student’s graduate studies, where students are respected as valuable members of the community.
Fair treatment: To be given appropriate credit for the student’s work and provided clear guidelines on authorship, data ownership, and research practices when engaged in joint research projects.
Conflict of interest: To receive appropriate instruction about conflicts of interest so the student can avoid being placed in a situation that creates a conflict of interest (see the University of Rochester Guidelines on Research Integrity and Conflict of Interest for Graduate Students Policy).
Policies: To receive guidelines on academic policies and procedures, as found in the Graduate Bulletin, on the AS&E GEPA website, and provided by the student’s program.
Feedback: To be provided feedback on performance and given clear guidelines on the required areas of improvement when performance is deemed poor and the student is in jeopardy of being removed from the program.
Appeal: In ways prescribed by University policies, to have the opportunity to petition for an exemption to an existing policy, to appeal decisions related to policies and procedures, and to issue a complaint when standards of fairness may have been violated.

Master’s Student Responsibilities Link to section

Master’s students are responsible for working toward completion of their degree programs in a timely manner. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure continued progress of their academic program. Students have a responsibility for the following aspects of their program.

Timeframes: To work effectively toward completion of the degree in a timely manner.
Academics: To successfully complete a program of study consisting of the number of credit hours specified by the departmental requirements.
Thesis (for Plan A students only): To discover and pursue a unique topic of research in order to construct new knowledge.
Integrity and ethics: To assume the highest integrity and maintain ethical standards in all aspects of the student’s work, including coursework and research, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data and in writing reports or essays. Special care should be taken to follow guidelines established by the University’s independent review boards for research, such as the Research Subjects Review Board (RSRB).
Research records management: Where applicable, to maintain detailed, organized, and accurate research notebooks and records. Please note that when a student leaves a program, all research data and documentation remain the property of the University.
Teaching: Where applicable, to take teaching duties seriously and to use all teaching experiences to enhance the student’s effectiveness as an instructor.
Work environment: To help maintain a clean and safe work environment, including but not limited to classroom spaces, laboratory spaces, and common spaces.
Collegiality: To promote collegiality and a welcoming environment in all aspects of the student’s program, ensuring that all students, faculty, and staff are treated with respect.
Familiarity with policies: To take responsibility for keeping informed of and complying with regulations and policies and to complete all required paperwork and other degree obligations in a timely fashion. Note that individual programs may have additional policies, and it is the student’s responsibility to understand and comply with these policies as well.
Effort: To devote full time and effort toward completing degree requirements (for full-time students). Students are expected to be on campus and completing degree requirements during the academic semester. Students away from campus for an extended period during any academic semester (e.g., for field research) must register in absentia for the semester.
Employment: Not to simultaneously be employed full time while maintaining full-time student status, unless it is an internship related to the student’s academic program and supported by the student’s advisor, the program director of graduate studies, and the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs. International students must discuss with the International Services Office (ISO) any special rules and regulations for internships and part-time employment, including the maximum number of hours they are allowed to work.

PhD Student Expectations Link to section

As with most worthwhile endeavors, success in graduate study cannot be guaranteed and often depends on the mutual efforts of faculty and student to work diligently and form a productive professional relationship.

Individual faculty and programs as well as the School of Arts & Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences are committed to your success as a graduate student, and, as such, graduate students may reasonably expect the following related to their research, their teaching, and their general program support. The exact way in which these goals may be met can vary, depending on the program and the department requirements.

Research, Teaching, and Training Link to section

Resources: To receive appropriate resources, including reasonable access to faculty, appropriate course offerings to meet the student’s approved program of study, and facilities to allow the student to complete the program.
Guidance: To receive advice and direction regarding the student’s academic program as well as thesis research.
Training: To receive training on the current best practices in research and teaching, including appropriate techniques, tools, methods, and equipment needed to successfully carry out the student’s research or teaching duties.
Appropriateness: To have projects and tasks that are assigned to the student be appropriate for the student’s program of study and designed to help the student make continued progress toward completion of the degree.
Expectations: To be informed of the expectations, including timelines, for the successful completion of any duties, such as research projects, teaching assignments, and thesis work.
Evaluation: To receive timely and fair assessment of the student’s work, including coursework, program exams, research, and teaching. Students should receive, at minimum, a yearly evaluation by their advisor or department graduate committee to provide feedback and monitor progress.
Support services: To be provided with professional and personal development support services if requested, such as those offered by the Greene Career Center, Disability Resources, Learning Center, and Teaching Center that enhance the student’s professional and academic experience.
Professional development: To be provided in appropriate cases with opportunities to publish the student’s research, present the student’s work, apply for patents and copyrights for the student’s work, and attend colloquia, seminars, and workshops to support the student’s professional development.

Community and Administrative Link to section

Nondiscrimination: To be treated in a fair, impartial, and professional manner in all dealings in accordance with University policies governing discrimination and harassment (as per the University of Rochester Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment).
Collegiality: To have a collegial, welcoming environment in which to pursue the student’s research, teaching, and professional activities, where students are respected as valuable members of the community.
Fair treatment: To be given appropriate credit for the student’s work and provided clear guidelines on authorship, data ownership, and research practices when engaged in joint research projects.
Conflict of interest: To receive appropriate instruction about conflicts of interest so the student can avoid being placed in a situation that creates a conflict of interest (see the University of Rochester's Guidelines on Research Integrity and Conflict of Interest for Graduate Students Policy).
Policies: To receive guidelines on academic policies and procedures, as found in the Graduate Bulletin and Regulations and University Policies Concerning Graduate Studies, on the AS&E GEPA office website, and provided by the student’s program.
Feedback: To be provided feedback on performance and given clear guidelines on the required areas of improvement when performance is deemed poor and the student is in jeopardy of being removed from the program. Students should also receive a formal evaluation at least annually.
Appeal: In ways prescribed by University policies, to have the opportunity to petition for an exemption to an existing policy, to appeal decisions related to policies and procedures, and to issue a complaint when standards of fairness may have been violated.

PhD Student Responsibilities Link to section

PhD students are responsible for working toward completion of their degree programs in a timely manner. In addition to gaining expertise in a particular field of study, PhD students are expected to expand the knowledge of that disciplinary field by discovering and pursuing a unique topic of scholarly research, resulting in the PhD dissertation. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure continued progress of their academic program and thesis research.

In addition, the Office of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs requires that all departments in AS&E conduct an annual evaluation of their PhD students in conjunction with their graduate program to be completed by July 1.

Annual evaluations are a key practice for professional development. It provides an opportunity to track progress and build your portfolio, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate success. By completing a yearly evaluation, you have an opportunity to receive feedback from your advisor and/or department and to clarify goals and expectations with them, reflect on what you have already accomplished as well as to set goals for the future.

Given the distinctiveness of graduate training by department, each department may administer the self-evaluation differently. Therefore, if you have any questions, please contact your director of graduate studies or your graduate coordinator for more details.

Research, Teaching, and Training Link to section

Timeframes: To work effectively toward completion of the degree in a timely manner.
Academics: To learn the existing theories, practices, and research methods of the discipline and to apply these in the student’s research and teaching.
Thesis: To discover and pursue a unique topic of research in order to construct new knowledge and to apply this knowledge to existing problems and issues.
Communication: To communicate regularly with faculty advisors and thesis exam committee members, providing these faculty with updates on the student’s progress within the program and updates on results of research activities.
Integrity and ethics: To assume the highest integrity and maintain ethical standards in all aspects of the student’s work, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data. Special care should be taken to follow guidelines established by the University’s independent review boards for research, such as the Research Subjects Review Board (RSRB).
Research records management: Where applicable, to maintain detailed, organized, and accurate research notebooks and records. Please note that when a student leaves a program, all research data and documentation remain the property of the University.
Teaching: To take teaching duties seriously and to use all teaching experiences to enhance the student’s effectiveness as an instructor and to further the educational goals of the students being taught.
Professionalization: To contribute, wherever possible, to the scholarly discourse of the discipline through presentations, publications, and professional engagement and service. The student should attend and participate in appropriate meetings, colloquia, seminars, and group discussions that are part of the educational program, and the student should submit all relevant research results that are ready for publication in a timely manner.
Work environment: To help maintain a clean and safe work environment, including but not limited to office space, laboratory spaces, and common spaces.
Mentors: To seek out a range of faculty, professional, and peer mentors who can help the student prepare for a variety of professional and career roles and responsibilities and to serve as a mentor to others when appropriate.

Community and Administrative Link to section

Collegiality: To promote collegiality and a welcoming environment in the student’s classrooms and laboratories and in all aspects of the student’s program, ensuring that all students, faculty, and staff are treated with respect.
Familiarity with policies: To take responsibility for keeping informed of and complying with regulations and policies and to complete all required paperwork and other degree obligations in a timely fashion. Note that individual programs may have additional policies, and it is the student’s responsibility to understand and comply with these policies as well.
Effort: To devote full time and effort toward completing degree requirements (for full-time students). Students are expected to be on campus and completing degree requirements during the academic semester. Students must check with the program director of graduate studies for program-specific guidelines while on vacation.
Employment: Not to simultaneously be employed full time while maintaining full-time student status, unless it is an internship related to the student’s academic program and supported by the student’s advisor, the program director of graduate studies, and the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs. Part-time employment for full-time students is limited by individual programs—any part-time employment must be approved by the student’s advisor and the program director of graduate studies. International students must discuss with the International Services Office (ISO) any special rules and regulations for internships and part-time employment, such as the number of allowable work hours.