Student Review and Progress

Annual Student Review

The Graduate School requires that each graduate student be evaluated by their Program at least once a year. The CB program evaluation is a form filled out by the student and signed by their advisor(s). For CB students, the purpose of this annual review is two-fold:1) to document the accomplishments of the graduate students in the program and 2) to identify students who may not be making adequate progress towards their degrees. The completed forms are reviewed by the DGS. A compilation of accomplishments is included in reports and proposals to the Graduate School .

Download Review Form

Outstanding Conservation Biology Graduate Student

Based on review of annual accomplishments of all students, up to 5% of the students will be given "Outstanding Conservation Biology Graduate Student" awards. These awards will honor truly superb performance in research fundraising, research publication, teaching, and/or outreach. These awards will be announced the following fall at the first Conservation Biology seminar of the year. Students can receive these awards more than once. Accomplishments of MS and PhD students will be evaluated separately, using criteria appropriate to their degree programs.

Academic Performance and Student Progress

Students are expected to receive grades of B or better, for an overall GPA of at least 3.0. In very rare cases students have problems with a course. Do not wait until the course is finished to inform the advisor/DGS of a poor grade; often they can help before it is too late. An instructor may give an 'incomplete' when in the instructor's opinion there is a reasonable expectation that the student can successfully complete the work of the course. An incomplete remains on the transcript until the instructor replaces it with a final A-F or S-N grade. Course instructors may, at their discretion, establish a time limit for the removal of incomplete grades. CB students cannot carry more than 5 credits of incomplete grades at a time. If a student has more than 5 credits of incomplete grades for a semester, a hold can be placed on student's registration.

A student not making adequate progress can be one who has not maintained minimum academic performance, who has not filed a degree program form and/or not met with their SAC, who does not have an advisor, and/or who has not completed preliminary or final examinations within accepted time-frames. Students found not to be making adequate progress towards their degree will receive a written warning from the DGS articulating the expectations that must be met by the end of the next semester or as otherwise indicated by the DGS. If those expectations are not met, a second warning letter will be sent to the student the following semester identifying the consequences to their financial support and continuation in the program. If expectations are still not met by the end of the next semester, a hold is placed on the student's registration and they receive a third and final warning identifying the expectations that must be met before the student is allowed to continue in the program. The advisor receives copies of all correspondence between the DGS and student.