Executive Council of Graduate Faculty

Please review the detailed information about this petition type as provided in the PtD form for 700+ petitions.

Please be diligent in safeguarding the privacy of our students. Please minimize submission of individual medical records or personal health information and documentation because everyone in the PtD workflow can view all attached documents. In some cases, it may be more prudent to attach a doctor's note confirming the medical need, rather than documentation of the specific health concerns. Please contact Graduate Studies for more guidance on this topic.

Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to work closely with students to determine the best possible evidence that supports their request for an exception to policy. The Office of Graduate Studies is committed to reviewing any documentation that students, departments, and schools feel demonstrates the inappropriateness of university policy in a specific situation.

Examples of acceptable documentation in cases of personal crisis might include death certificates, proof of travel or other preexisting commitments, police reports, etc.

Graduate Faculty nominations may be approved administratively by staff in the Office of Graduate Studies when they meet one of the following criteria. The Executive Council of Graduate Faculty will review all other nominations to the Graduate Faculty.

• Individuals who hold full-time, tenure-track faculty appointments at KU with the rank of Associate Professor, Full Professor, or Emeritus/a Professor may be approved for any one, several, or all of the five privileges.
• Individuals who hold full-time, tenure-track faculty appointments at KU may be approved for service as a member of master's and/or doctoral committees, service as the chair of master's committees, and/or service as the Graduate Studies Representative (GSR) on doctoral committees.
• Individuals who already hold current Graduate Faculty privileges at the KU Medical Center may be approved for equivalent privileges on the Lawrence campus.
• Individuals nominated for committee service as outside members or subject-matter experts, whose current CVs demonstrate the following:
  • A doctorate in the field
  • A current tenured or tenure-track appointment at any regionally accredited U.S. institution or comparable international institution
• Individuals nominated for committee service as outside members or industry experts, whose current CVs demonstrate the following:
  • A doctorate in the field
  • Full-time employment as a practicing professional in the relevant industry
  • A record of scholarly publication, presentation, or creative work in the past five years

Staff in the Office of Graduate Studies may administratively approve appointments of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) to courses at the 700 level or above when they meet all of the following criteria. These criteria are intended to mitigate the potential for perceived conflict of interest and ensure worthwhile professional development opportunities for GTAs. The Executive Council of Graduate Faculty will review all other requests to appoint GTAs at the 700 level or above.

• The request is on behalf of a Social Welfare doctoral student teaching in the M.S.W. program.
• The request is on behalf of an advanced doctoral student in a psychological program who will assist in first-year clinical courses, as long as the GTA will not perform summative grading.
• The format of the class lends itself well to appropriate utilization and development of the GTA's skills.
• The petition letter clearly demonstrates no social or academic overlap between the GTA and enrolled graduate students.
• The petition letter clearly demonstrates the GTA will not perform grading or evaluation of enrolled graduate students.

Staff in the Office of Graduate Admissions may administratively approve transcript hold requests when they meet the following criteria. These criteria are intended to streamline administrative procedures when delays arise concerning transcripts not directly relevant to the admission being processed or due to global circumstances outside the applicant's control.

• In cases where the final and official bachelor's degree transcript has been provided but the applicant has not provided final and official transcripts for advanced degrees, Graduate Admissions staff may approve permanent removal of the transcript hold upon written confirmation of the following:
  • The department and school/college do not need final and official transcript(s) from the advanced institution(s) in order for the student to continue in their graduate degree program.
• When students experience a delay in getting a final and official transcript from an international institution, Graduate Admissions staff may approve a one-semester deferral of the transcript hold upon written confirmation of the following:
  • Guidance from World Education Services (WES) confirms relevant challenges affecting transcript submission from the specific institution(s) or country (or countries).

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff in the Office of Graduate Admissions may administratively approve petitions for graduate admission on the basis of alternative documentation of English proficiency when the scores meet the following standards set jointly by the Applied English Center, the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty, and the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies. Applicants admitted by this method must check in at the AEC for in-person proficiency testing prior to enrollment.
• Official Duolingo scores are securely delivered to KU by the testing agency.
• The applicant earns a score of 115 or higher on the Duolingo exam.
• Staff in the Office of Graduate Admissions may administratively approve requests for admission on the basis of alternative documentation of English proficiency when the applicant demonstrates at least five years of work experience as a translator for a high-profile international organization (e.g., the United Nations; the United States Department of Defense), performing translations to and from English in both spoken and written formats.