Policy on Graduation Requirements and Deadlines

Dated: September 24, 2024
Supersedes: Policy: Graduation Requirements and Deadlines dated August 30, 2022
Last review: September 24, 2024

I. PURPOSE

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBMS) at New York Medical College awards degrees three times a year (May, August, and December) with one formal graduation (“commencement”) ceremony in May. The purpose of this policy is to define guidelines and requirements for the graduate students pursuing Master of Science (M.S.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees at GSBMS.

II. POLICY

It is the policy of New York Medical College that students meet the following requirements and deadlines in order to be eligible to graduate from the GSBMS:

1. Requirements for Graduation. To qualify for graduation, a student:

a. must apply for graduation by the appropriate deadline (see section II.2.)

b. must complete all degree requirements maintaining good academic standing (GPA of 3.0 and above) by the appropriate deadlines (see section II.2.). This includes:

i. core- and program-specific credit requirements (all in-progress courses, if any, must be competed in the term/semester in which the student applies for graduation)

ii. degree milestones (e.g., research rotations, qualifying exam, thesis defense)

iii. submission of M.S. literature review or research thesis approved by the Master’s Literature Review / Research Thesis Committee and program director, or Doctoral dissertation approved by the Dissertation Committee, and ultimate approval (complete or conditional) by the Academic Standards Committee

iv. submission of required approval forms to the GSBMS office

c. must fulfill all financial obligations to the College prior to graduation.

All graduates must be registered in the semester in which they plan to graduate, including the Summer term. Students who are not registered for any class should register for the Maintenance of Matriculation course. According to the Academic Regulations, students who have not been enrolled in courses in consecutive semesters may need to apply for reinstatement before continuing their pursuit of a degree. This is required prior to registering for Maintenance of Matriculation.

2. Deadlines

a. Deadlines specific to Ph.D. Students:

Deadlines *			Action	Notes
To graduate in December	To graduate in May	To graduate in August	Action	Notes
October 1st – November 1st **	November 2nd – December 1st **	March 17th – April 15th **	1. Apply for graduation on the TouroOne portal	· A one-time non-refundable graduation fee will be applied · If the student does not graduate in the intended term, a new application for graduation must be filed for the term of anticipated graduation
October 15th	December 1st	April 15th	1. Submit signed PhD Advisory Committee Membership Form to the GSBMS office 2. Submit signed Dissertation Completion Form to the GSBMS office	· Dissertation Completion Form indicates that the Dissertation Committee agrees that the student is ready to write and defend their dissertation
No later than 2 weeks prior to the scheduled oral defense			1. Submit the penultimate draft of Doctoral dissertation for review to the student’s Dissertation committee 2. Submit Thesis Defense Brochure to the GSBMS office	· Guidelines for preparation and formatting of Doctoral dissertations are available from the GSBMS Office · Penultimate draft takes into account comments and formatting recommendations from the committee members from previous submissions
October 15th	March 15th	the last Friday before May commencement to walk in the commencement in the same year * or the first Friday in June to walk in the commencement the following year *	1. Schedule and conduct an oral defense of an original Doctoral dissertation 2. Upon successful completion of the defense Ph.D. student should submit signed Defense of Thesis Certificate Form to the GSBMS office.	· All MD/Ph.D. students must schedule and conduct an oral defense of their thesis by the deadline in the term that precedes their return to the School of Medicine curriculum
November 1st	April 1st	the third Friday in June	1. Complete all course requirements for the degree, except courses in which the student is currently enrolled 2. Submit final version of Doctoral dissertation with all Dissertation Committee signatures on the Signature Page to the GSBMS office for review by the Academic Standards Committee 3. Submit Health Sciences Library Thesis Permission Form to the GSBMS office	· All MD/Ph.D. students must submit the final version of their Doctoral dissertation by the deadline in the term that precedes their return to the School of Medicine curriculum · Student will be allowed up to 2 weeks to incorporate changes (if any) suggested by the Academic Standard Committee. · The final version of the Doctoral dissertation approved by the Academic Standards Committee needs to be submitted to the GSBMS office. · A pdf version of the final, approved Doctoral dissertation must be deposited by a student to Touro Scholar repository
December 31st	Commencement Day in May **	August 31st	1. Degree is conferred	· Student support will be terminated at the end of the next two-week pay period following the successful dissertation defense** · Student health insurance will be terminated at the end of the month following the successful dissertation defense · Students paid by research grants or non-GSBMS funding should be hired by their departments in post-doctoral or research assistant positions.** · Failure to meet deadlines listed above could result in postponement of graduation until the next term

*, if a deadline falls on a college holiday or weekend, it is extended to the next business day

**, subject to change, check with the Registrar’s Office

***, refer to the Walking at Commencement Policy

****, refer to the GSBMS Ph.D. Financial Support Policyfor information about termination of benefits and stipend

b. Deadlines specific to M.S. Students:

Deadlines *			Action	Notes
To graduate in December	To graduate in May	To graduate in August	Action	Notes
August 1st	October 15th	April 15th	1. Submit signed M.S. Thesis/Literature Review Committee Membership Form to the GSBMS office
October 1st – November 1st **	November 2nd – December 1st **	March 17th – April 15th **	1. Apply for graduation on the TouroOne portal	· A one-time non-refundable graduation fee will be applied · If the student does not graduate in the intended term, a new application for graduation must be filed for the term of anticipated graduation
October 15th	March 15th	the first Friday in June	1. Submit penultimate draft of M.S. literature review or research thesis to the student’s Master’s Literature Review / Research Thesis Committee and program director	· Instructions for the preparation and formatting are available from the GSBMS Office and on the GSBMS website · Penultimate draft takes into account comments and formatting recommendations from the committee members from previous submissions
November 1st	April 1st	the third Friday in June	1. Complete all course requirements for the degree, except courses in which the student is currently enrolled 2. Submit final version of M.S. literature review or research thesis with signed Master’s Literature Review or Thesis Approval Form to the GSBMS office for review by the Academic Standards Committee. 3. Submit Health Sciences Library Thesis Permission Form to the GSBMS office (for M.S. research thesis only)	· Student will be allowed up to 2 weeks to incorporate changes (if any) suggested by the Academic Standard Committee. · The final version of the M.S. literature review or research thesis approved by the Academic Standards Committee needs to be submitted to the GSBMS office. · A public oral defense of M.S. research thesis is program specific. Date for the defense is to be determined by the student’s program director · A pdf version of the final, approved M.S. research thesis must submit by a student to Touro Scholar repository
December 31st	Commencement Day in May **	August 31st	1. Degree is conferred	· Failure to meet deadlines listed above could result in postponement of graduation until the next term

*, if a deadline falls on a college holiday or weekend, it is extended to the next business day

**, subject to change, check with the Registrar’s Office

III. SCOPE

This policy applies to the students enrolled in the M.S. or Ph.D. programs in the GSBMS of New York Medical College who met eligibility requirements for graduation.

IV. PROCEDURE

A. Academic Standards Committee makes a recommendation to the Graduate Faulty Council and the Dean regarding the approval of graduation for the student, based on the review of the student’s full academic record and determination of whether all academic requirements (see section II.1.) have been fulfilled by the student. Degrees are conferred once the student is approved for graduation by the Graduate Faculty Council and the Dean.

B. Conditional approval implies that the student is approved for graduation once they successfully complete the degree requirements (see section II.1.) by the end of the term/semester in which the student applies for graduation, including in-progress coursework while maintaining a GPA of 3.0 and above, and completion of revisions of M.S. literature review or research thesis, or Doctoral dissertation suggested by the Academic Standards Committee.

C. Student who did not satisfy the degree requirements (see section II.1.) will not be approved for graduation in the given term, with the postponement of graduation until the next term once the degree requirements are completed.

V. EFFECTIVE DATE

This policy is effective immediately.

VI. POLICY MANAGEMENT

Executive Stakeholder: Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Oversight Office: Office of the Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences