Additional Requirements for FSU-Funded Students

Graduate students pursuing the PhD degree who have financial assistance from FSU in the form of a TA, RA, or Fellowship are expected to make timely progress toward the degree in order to retain eligibility for continued financial support. 

The following describes the timely progress for a student who enters the program in Summer or Fall. The Director will make small individual adjustments for students starting in Spring.

SUPPORT FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS

All FSU-funded students in good standing and with a minimum of 3.0 GPA receive financial support for the first four semesters (two years). A student with GPA lower than 3.0 is placed on probation (Graduate Bulletin: Suspension, Dismissal, and Reinstatement), and may lose funding. Continuing support beyond two years depends on students' progress in passing qualifiers and the Doctoral Candidacy Exam.

SUPPORT FOR THE THIRD YEAR: 5TH AND 6TH SEMESTERS

No later than the 4th semester, the progress of each FSU-funded student is evaluated by the Directors' Committee, and the decision whether to fund for the 5th semester is made. The expectation is that the student, by the fourth semester, will have

		passed all their qualifiers (see Scenario A below)

OR

		passed one full qualifier exam (or, two half-qualifier exams), and
		passed a half-qualifier, or, if the student is taking a sequence of courses for which a half-qualifier is not available, written a satisfactory final exam from the first course (the final exam will be evaluated by the qualifier committee), and
		obtained an intended major professor and started exploring research ideas for the dissertation.

During the 5th semester, the progress of each FSU-funded student is re-evaluated. The expectation is that by the 5th semester, the student will have

		passed both qualifier exams by this time, and
		started working on their Doctoral Candidacy Exam with an intended major professor.

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The following sample schedules are examples that follow the timely progress milestones.

In this schedule, the student takes a full qualifier sequence during the first year, and passes the qualifier exam in Summer 1. Also, during Summer 1, the students takes PDE 1, and passes a half-qualifier on PDE 1 at the end of Summer 1. The student then takes Numerical PDE in Fall 2, and passes a half-qualifier based on it. Since PDE 1 and Numerical PDE qualifiers can be combined for a full qualifier, this schedule completes the qualifier requirement by Spring 2.

The student passes the Doctoral Candidacy exam in Fall 3 - this schedule assumes the student has an intended major professor by the end of Spring 2, and prepares for the Doctoral Candidacy exam in Summer 2 and part of Fall 3.

Fall 1	Spring 1	Summer 1	Fall 2	Winter 2	Spring 2	Summer 2	Fall 3
Qual Course I-A	Qual Course I-B	Take PDE I _______ Pass full qualifier based on Qual Course I Pass half-qual based on PDE I	Numerical PDE <looking for a major prof>	Pass half-qual based on Numerical PDE	<looking for a major prof>	Working with the major prof for the candidacy exam	Pass Doctoral Candidacy exam

This schedule has a slower pace than the previous one, and possibly different choices for qualifiers. In the first year the student takes a full qualifier sequence, and passes the qualifier exam in Summer 1. In the second year, the student takes another full qualifier sequence, for example, Measure I and II. Since a half-qualifier exam is not available, the final exam in Measure I is evaluated by the Qualifier Committee. The decision for funding for the 5th semester depends on the recommendation of the Qualifier Committee. The student passes the qualifier exam on Measure I & II in Summer 2, and starts working for the Doctoral Candidacy exam in Fall 3 - this assures funding for Spring 3 (the 6th semester). The student passes the Doctoral Candidacy exam in the 6th semester.

Fall 1	Spring 1	Summer 1	Fall 2	Spring 2	Summer 2	Fall 3	Spring 3
Qual Course I-A	Qual Course I-B	Pass full qualifier based on Qual Course I	Qual Course II-A <looking for a major prof>	Qual Course II-B <looking for a major prof>	Pass full qualifier based on Qual Course II	Working with the major prof for the candidacy exam	Pass Doctoral Candidacy exam