Students are required to familiarize themselves with the Graduate Catalog as determined by the Graduate College.
Assigned Advisors
Students will be assigned an advisor or co-advisors at the time of their admission on the basis of their interests. All students are encouraged to contact their advisor(s) once they are admitted to the program.
Advisors will assist the student with planning a program of study, including selection of electives, and give other advice. Students can locate their assigned advisor on their letter of acceptance that they sign and return to the department. Students are expected to contact their advisor in a timely manner before each semester registration and other significant activities.
If you would like to change advisors, please contact your current advisor or TLTE’s Graduate Chair to ask.
Registration
You will be given an NU ID number at the time of application through Graduate Studies. Using your NU ID and password, a student can register through MyRed for up to 9 hours per semester and 6 hours per summer session. Permission from Graduate Studies must be granted to increase the number of hours above these limits.
After meeting with your advisor and determining which classes you should enroll in, you can follow the Registrar’s tutorials to enroll in the courses selected.
Many TLTE courses require permission codes to enroll, which can be requested from here. To ensure getting the right code, students will want to select the correct course number and section, and to choose the faculty member who will be grading their work for the course.
Specific enrollment requirements exist for students who have advanced to candidacy in the doctoral program. Following admission to candidacy, the doctoral student must register for at least one credit hour of dissertation (TEAC 999) during each academic year semester (fall and spring) until they receive the doctoral degree, even if the doctoral student has reached the total dissertation hours on their approved program of study. Students who have completed all courses on the program of studies and who are registering for dissertation (TEAC 999) hours in excess of the requirements of the program in order to maintain continuous registration are eligible for a waiver of the non-resident portion of tuition. To qualify for this benefit, students must:
- Have grades for all courses on the program except for dissertation (999) hours.
- Send an email to Eva Bachman requesting this benefit. (You need only make this request once; your ABD status, once approved, will remain in effect until you graduate.)
Time-to-degree
The Graduate College imposes limits on how long a student may take to earn a degree. The work required for a master’s degree must be completed within ten consecutive years. The time limit on granting the doctoral degree is eight years from the time of filing the student’s program of study in the Office of Graduate Studies. An extension to the time limit for the doctoral degree is considered only if the student has advanced to candidacy and successfully defended the dissertation proposal.
Planning for Summative Projects, MA Theses, Comprehensive Exam Reviews, Dissertation Proposal and Defenses
Graduate students are encouraged to plan ahead and use the summer months to continue their studies through summer course work; further their own research, reading, and writing; and, make progress on their summative projects, theses, and dissertations. TLTE faculty with 9-month academic appointments are available during the fall and spring semesters (one week before classes start in Fall and end one week after finals in the Spring) to advise and assist in these endeavors. TLTE graduate students should plan to schedule faculty-supervised work (e.g., the reviews or defenses of theses, summative projects, comprehensive exams, dissertation proposals, or dissertations) during the academic year from mid-August to mid-May. Graduate students enrolled in cohort programs may have different requirements during the summer months, including the completion of faculty-supervised work, and under these circumstances, students will work closely with faculty assigned to summer supervision of such work.
Transfer of credit
- Master’s Degrees - No graduate credits will be accepted as transfer credit toward a master’s program at UNL if the course work is 10 years or older or if the course work has been applied toward a previous master’s degree. Not less than 50% of the course work of the minimum number of graduate credits required for any master’s graduate degree must be completed at the University of Nebraska. No graduate credits will be accepted as transfer credits unless earned at an institution fully accredited to offer graduate work in the field of the student’s major; nor should the student expect any graduate credits to be transferred unless the graduate committee evaluates the quality and suitability and determines that they are equal to or superior to offerings available at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A grade of B- or higher is required for any courses to transfer as part of a master’s program.
- Doctoral Degrees - At least half of the total program of courses and dissertation research must be completed at the University of Nebraska following submission of the program of studies to the Office of Graduate Studies. As a result, a doctoral student must complete at least 48 hours at UNL to earn the EdD and 45 hours (not including research courses) at UNL to earn the PhD. The supervisory committee is not obligated to accept more than 36 credit hours earned in a master’s degree, credits beyond the master’s degree that are completed prior to filing a program of studies, or credits that are 10 years or older. Course work applied toward a previous doctoral degree will not be accepted. No graduate credits will be accepted as transfer credits unless earned at an institution fully accredited to offer graduate work in the field of the student’s major; nor should the student expect any graduate credits to be transferred unless the graduate committee evaluates the quality and suitability and determines that they are equal to or superior to offerings available at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A grade of B- or higher is required for any courses to transfer as part of a doctoral program.
Grading Systems
- Letter grades with point value:
- A+ (4.0), A (4.0), A- (3.67)
- B+ (3.33), B (3.0), B- (2.67)
- C+ (2.33), C (2.0), C- (1.67)
- D+ (1.33), D (1.0), D- (0.67)
- F (0)
- Grades without point value:
- W (dropped/withdrew)
- I (incomplete), IP (in progress), XP (no progress)
- P (pass/C or better), N (no pass)
Grade Requirements
For students within TLTE, a minimum grade of B is required for 800-level courses with 400 or lower counterparts. Courses graded B- or lower, or pass/no-pass (P/N), cannot be used on a Memorandum of Courses (master's) or Program of Study (doctoral).
For 900-level courses, 800-level courses without 400 or lower counterparts, or courses in a minor, a minimum grade of C or P (pass) required. Courses graded C- or lower cannot be used on a Memorandum or Program. The comprehensive exam for the minor may be waived only if all grades in the minor are at least a B or P (pass).
A student failing to receive high enough grades in all graduate-level courses may not continue their program of studies without permission of the supervisory committee (at the doctoral level) or the advisor and graduate chair (at the Master’s level), which may require a plan to address academic weaknesses or a special examination to determine the student’s qualifications for further work.
Incompletes
Students should consult the syllabi of each course regarding policies for incompletes. Normally, an incomplete will not be awarded unless a student has completed two-thirds of the requirements for a course. Although the University does not have a time limit for graduate students to remove an incomplete, TLTE has a policy that a student may have a maximum of 3 hours of Incompletes at any given time. It is recommended that the student develop a plan identifying when outstanding requirements will be completed and ask the instructor to indicate acceptance of the plan and to identify when the work will be evaluated and a grade posted.
Doctoral supervisory committees will check programs of study for incomplete coursework prior to approving the comprehensive exam timeline. Doctoral supervisory committees will not approve any more than 3 credit hours of incomplete coursework in order for doctoral student to proceed to comprehensive exam milestone.
Academic Leave of Absence
See the Graduate Studies Catalog for more information:
https://catalog.unl.edu/graduate-professional/graduate/registration/leave/
Students should contact Graduate Studies to both get an academic leave of absence started or to end it.
Probation and Termination Procedures
Probation or termination recommendations for master’s degree students are made by the advisor and approved by the TLTE Graduate Committee. Probation or termination recommendations for doctoral degree students are made by the advisor for approval by the student’s Supervisory Committee and then forwarded for approval to the TLTE Graduate Committee. For all graduate students in TLTE, probation or termination recommendations may be made under the following conditions:
- Violations of the “Student Code of Conduct” listed in the Graduate Student Catalog;
- Failure to satisfy scholastic grade requirements established by the Department or University. A student who does not receive a grade of “C“ or higher in all courses will be placed on probation. As per the Graduate Student Catalog, a student failing to receive a “C” may not continue his/her program of studies without permission of the departmental graduate committee concerned, which may require a special examination to determine the student’s qualifications for further work;
- Failure in qualifying examinations, preliminary examinations, comprehensive examinations or final degree examinations;
- Failure to master the methodology and content of one’s field in a manner that is sufficient to complete a successful thesis or dissertation; or
- In fields leading to licensure or certification, ethical misconduct or lack of professional promise in the professional field.
A termination recommendation will automatically be made if a student fails to satisfy conditions required for removal of probationary status or provisional admission. Should students experience educational or professional difficulties that interrupt satisfactory progress as outlined above, the student should work with their advisor or the advisor and the supervisory committee to create and implement a plan to address the difficulties and return the student to satisfactory standing within the department. Should the student be unable to fulfill the expectations set forth in their academic plan with their advisor, procedures may be initiated to place the student on probation or recommend to the Dean of Graduate Studies that the student be dismissed from their academic program. The following procedures have been developed to ensure that the rights of the student and the integrity of the program are protected.
Probation Procedure
Should the TLTE Graduate Committee approve the recommendation that a student be placed on probation, the advisor (master’s degree student) or advisor and supervisory committee (doctoral degree student) shall meet with the student and clearly describe the following information in person and in writing:
- A description of unsatisfactory progress towards the degree.
- A plan to return the student to satisfactory standing within the department, with clear criteria for ending the probationary status.
- A timeline for meeting these criteria.
Four weeks prior to the end of the probationary period the advisor will meet with the student to review the terms of probation and discuss any additional information needed to return the student to satisfactory standing within the department.
At the end of the probationary period the advisor (master’s degree student) or advisor and supervisory committee (doctoral degree student) will evaluate progress towards completion of the plan and inform the student in writing of the following:
- Return to full graduate status
- Continuation of probation (with the existing or a revised plan) or
- Recommendation to the Graduate Committee that the student’s program be terminated.
Termination Procedure
Once the Graduate Committee has approved a recommendation for dismissal, the Department Chair will inform the student in writing that a recommendation for termination is being forwarded to the Office of Graduate Studies. The notice of recommendation to terminate will include the following information: A description of the specific reason(s) resulting in the recommendation for termination of the student’s academic program, and a summary of options available to the student, including student appeal.
The Graduate Student Appeals Process outlined in the Graduate Studies Catalog shall be followed in all termination appeals.