Received by the Graduate Council—May 5, 2008
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
Seventh Meeting/2007-08 Academic Year
April 14, 2008
SECTION D – Items reported for inclusion in the Graduate Catalog by another standing
committee of the Graduate Council
p. 1 of 4
Graduate Council Standards Committee, March 17, 2008
Page 14, 2007-08 Graduate Catalog
Admission to Graduate Study
Application for Admission
In order to pursue a graduate degree, one must apply and be admitted to the Graduate School, as well as be
accepted for admission by the faculty of the particular program he or she one wishes to pursue.
Students who wish to take graduate course work but not pursue a degree program should refer to the section
“Enrollment for Graduate Study as a Student-at-Large” in this catalog.
Applications are available online at www.grad.niu.edu/apply.htm. To obtain an “Application for Admission to the
Graduate School,” applicants may call, e-mail, or write to the Graduate School. The application form may also be
printed from www.grad.niu.edu, and an online version is available at www.grad.niu.edu/apply.htm. Graduate
School and program deadlines for the completion of the application dossier are available online at
http://www.grad.niu.edu/apply/application_deadlines.pdf. The completed application form … … … For any of
these dates occurring on a Saturday, Sunday, or university holiday, the deadline becomes the next day on which
university offices are open.
The above deadlines are Graduate School deadlines and represent the dates by which all application materials must
be received by the Graduate School in order for an application to be processed for a given academic term.
However, an individual department’s admission procedures may involve committee meetings, interviews, or other
activities that only occur at certain times, which may be well before the Graduate School ’s final application
deadline for a given term. Applicants are therefore advised to contact the department or program in which they are
interested in order to ascertain any such special deadlines, and to refer to the departmental sections of this catalog
for additional information. (The instructions on the application form include all such departmental deadlines of
which the Graduate School was aware at the time of printing.)
Payment for the application fee indicated on the application form, or indication that the applicant is exempt from
the fee for one of the reasons described below, must accompany the submission of the application, unless the
applicant is exempt from the fee. , the official date of receipt of the application is considered to be the date upon
which the application form is submitted complete and with the fee; an incomplete application, or an application
form submitted without the fee, will be returned, unprocessed, to the applicant. The following individuals are
exempt from payment of the application fee: NIU operating and supportive professional staff, employed and retired
NIU faculty, individuals who received a GRE fee waiver, McNair Scholars, and qualified veterans under the
Illinois Veterans’ Grant (IVG) Program. Also exempt are students who have been enrolled in NIU graduate
programs within two one years prior to the start of the term for which they are seeking admission. Exempt
applicants should contact the Graduate School to learn how to receive a fee-waiver code. A person who qualifies
Received by the Graduate Council—May 5, 2008
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
Seventh Meeting/2007-08 Academic Year
April 14, 2008
SECTION D – Items reported for inclusion in the Graduate Catalog by another standing
committee of the Graduate Council
p. 2 of 4
for the GRE fee waiver is exempt and include a copy of the fee-waiver form in lieu of the application fee.
Employed and retired NIU faculty, Operating staff, and supportive professional staff are also exempt and must
indicate their faculty or staff affiliation when submitting the application form, which will be accepted subject to
verification of exempt status. Qualified veterans under the Illinois Veterans’ Grant (IVG) Program will be
exempted upon presenting a valid copy of their IVG Notice of Eligibility. A McNair Scholar will be exempted if
documentation is submitted with the application form.
↓
Page 17, 2007-08 Graduate Catalog
Admission to Graduate Study
Termination of Admission; Retention
↓
A student previously enrolled in a graduate degree program at NIU who did not graduate from that program, and
who has not been enrolled for 24 12 consecutive months, will have that admission canceled. See
“Readmission/Reentry.”
Page 18, 2007-08 Graduate Catalog
Admission to Graduate Study
Readmission/Reentry
A student who earns a graduate degree at NIU retains the status of “graduate student” thereafter, unless
academically dismissed from the Graduate School. Such a student may enroll in further course work as a graduate
student (rather than as a student-at large) if further course work is desired.
If a student who was previously enrolled in a graduate degree program at NIU but whose admission has been
canceled still wishes to undertake a graduate resume study in the same degree program (the same or a different
one), she or he must apply for admission to the Graduate School to pursue the desired degree program . submit a
reentry application to the Graduate School and secure permission from the program to re-enter. A previously
enrolled degree-seeking student who wishes to change programs must submit an application for admission.
A degree-seeking student who does not register for course work in a 12-month period must submit a reentry
application and a new program of courses, as well as obtain permission from the program to reenter. If the student
no longer wishes to pursue a degree , and did not previously complete a graduate degree at NIU, but does wish to
undertake further graduate course work, she or he should apply for permission to register as a student-at-large.
All other graduate students and Students-at-large who interrupt their studies for 12 consecutive months than ten
consecutive years must submit a reentry application to the Graduate School prior to registration. notify the
Received by the Graduate Council—May 5, 2008
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
Seventh Meeting/2007-08 Academic Year
April 14, 2008
SECTION D – Items reported for inclusion in the Graduate Catalog by another standing
committee of the Graduate Council
p. 3 of 4
Graduate School of their intentions to reenter the university by submitting a completed application for reentry prior
to registration, or supplying the necessary information during telephone registration. The reentry application serves
as a notice of the student’s intention to resume registration, so that institutional records can be brought up to date.
Graduate students and students-at-large who have been academically dismissed are not eligible for admission or
reentry; they should see the section entitled “Academic Reinstatement” elsewhere in this catalog.
Page 22, 2007-08 Graduate Catalog
General Regulations
Auditors
With permission of the instructor, a student may enroll in a class as an auditor. In order to have a satisfactory audit
(grade of O) recorded on the transcript, the student must satisfy audit requirements as determined in advance
between the student and the course instructor. A student who registers to audit a course and fails to meet such
requirements may be assigned an unsatisfactory audit (grade of OW) at the discretion of the instructor. A student
who enrolls as an auditor cannot expect to submit assignments to be graded by the instructor unless those
assignments are part of the audit requirements established when permission to audit was granted. A student
enrolled for credit who wishes to change that enrollment from credit to audit after the drop deadline must do so
prior to the withdrawal deadline specified on the Graduate School website, in the Schedule of Classes, and must
have the approval of the instructor, the department, and the office of the dean of the Graduate School.
Page 29, 2007-08 Graduate Catalog
General Regulations
Graduation
A student who intends to graduate at the end of a particular term must have submitted to the Graduate School a
completed graduation application, including the receipt for payment in the Bursar’s Office of the graduation fee, by
the graduation-application deadline for that term. This deadline is available online at
http://www.grad.niu.edu/audience/current_students.shtml published in the Graduate School Calendar and in the
Schedule of Classes for each term. The application form must be submitted and the fee paid only once for each
degree earned; each application is specific to a particular degree program.
All requirements for a graduate degree must be completed according to the schedule listed at the above website. no
later than the date of Commencement of a particular term in order for the student’s degree to be conferred as of that
graduation date. There are earlier deadlines for meeting some degree requirements; these are given in the Graduate
School Calendar. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of these deadlines.
If a student applies for graduation in a particular term and fails to graduate at the end of that term, the student must
submit a “Reactivation of Application for Degree Form” available at
Received by the Graduate Council—May 5, 2008
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
Seventh Meeting/2007-08 Academic Year
April 14, 2008
SECTION D – Items reported for inclusion in the Graduate Catalog by another standing
committee of the Graduate Council
p. 4 of 4
http://www.grad.niu.edu/audience/reactivate.pdf. That form must be received in the Graduate School at least three
months prior to the commencement date. application will automatically be transferred once, to the next academic
term. If the student also fails to graduate at the end of that next term, no further automatic transfer of application
will occur. Thereafter, the student must notify the Graduate School , in writing, in order to reactivate his or her
application for the anticipated graduation date, and must do so by the graduation-application deadline for the
expected term of graduation in order to graduate at the end of that term.
After a student has applied for graduation and it has been verified that all degree requirements have been
completed, an official “certificate of completion” can be issued by the Graduate School to the student or to another
party designated in writing by the student. Such a certificate is commonly accepted as proof of completion in
advance of issuance of the diploma and degree transcript.