Welcome to the Office of Student Life (Grads)

For these instructions courses are defined as one credit classes you register for that meet regularly with faculty instruction. You will receive a grade of A – F for these courses.

If you are being supported by the department in the form of a fellowship, teaching assistantship or research assistantship, you must be registered full-time, or 3-4 units. If you need to be registered full-time and will not be registering for courses, you should register for one of the graduate school general registrations. This is typically used during summers or once you've completed your course requirements. These registrations do not count toward your residency requirement of 8 quarters of full time graduate coursework, including 590 Research. They simply allow you to maintain full-time status and use university facilities at a reduced tuition level.

Students registering for TGS 500, TGS 512, or TGS 513 should use CAESAR, the online registration system. Current students unable to register on-line may do so by e-mailing his or her TGS Student Services representative (See TGS Staff to find your assigned representative). Please cc: Adam Cebulski on all requests regarding registration issues. Students may register for TGS 500 and non-required courses. However if you are in TGS 500 status and will be doing more than two courses, please do not register for TGS 500 and just register for the 3+ classes. Information about deadlines and procedures for registration is available at The Graduate School office or on the IEMS calendar.

Residency
A student pursuing a doctoral degree must complete eight quarters of residency consecutively over two years, including summers (see the PhD Timeline for Completion). Any alterations in the residency timeline can be managed through Leave of Absence requests.  Per the continuous registration policy, all doctoral students must be registered at Northwestern University in each of the fall, winter and spring terms until all degree requirements have been completed, including dissertation submission to The Graduate School.

Residency and Transfer Credit
No residency credit will be awarded by The Graduate School for work completed in a graduate program outside of The Graduate School. Individual programs may waive course requirements based on work completed at another institution (either prior to or after enrollment at Northwestern), but all students must complete nine graded courses in The Graduate School and maintain a B average (3.0 GPA). Students may register for 590 Research within their programs to maintain full‐time registration during quarters in which they are not enrolled full time in graded coursework.

IEMS 590 Research
Department courses identified as 590 Research, which apply toward residency, may be taken for one, two, three, or four course units per quarter. Generally, this registration is not available to students until a core of basic courses has been completed. (This is not a TGS class)

Continuous Registration (TGS 512)

All active students in The Graduate School must be registered at Northwestern University in each of the fall, winter and spring terms until all degree requirements have been completed, including dissertation submission to The Graduate School. Students in the following categories are in compliance with this requirement for continuous registration:

• Students who are registered for at least one Graduate School course, including courses for zero credit and courses numbered 590.

• Students who are registered for TGS 500.

• Students who are registered as CIC Traveling Scholars.

Any student not satisfying one of these conditions during a fall, winter or spring quarter must register for TGS 512 if the student has not reached his/her degree deadline.  Any student beyond his/her degree deadline must register for TGS 513.  This policy applies to all students who are continuing in their degree programs, including students away from campus or on leave for any reason (medical, family, research, etc.) and students who are unfunded (without any stipend or tuition scholarship).  Students in terminal master's degree programs and PhD students who have not yet reached candidacy must meet with their advisor or DGS before registering for TGS 512.

Registration in TGS 512 confers the following benefits:

• Continuation of the student’s Net ID and email account,

• access to university facilities such as libraries, labs, and sports facilities,

• maintenance of one's visa status,

• the ability to defer student loans,

• the right to take additional cost-of-living loans (federal and alternative) as determined by their financial state, and
  

• the right to buy into the Northwestern health insurance policy (but not to qualify for the subsidy).

All doctoral students receiving any form of financial aid from or through the University must register full time for eight quarters of registration within their programs.  Once the eight-quarter residency requirement has been met, students must register for TGS 500 while receiving aid.  Students in TGS 512 will not be allowed to register for any additional courses.

Students who miss one or more quarters of registration (excluding summer) will be withdrawn from the University.  Students who fall into this category and who wish to return to the university must submit the Application for Readmission form to TGS, and will be retroactively registered for TGS 512 in each quarter (excluding summer) that the student was not registered.  Any missed tuition for a given quarter and retroactive registration fees must be paid to the University in order to gain readmission and restore good academic standing.  Students will be notified via E-News of the above policy requirements and thus be reminded of the need to maintain this continuing student status.  The tuition cost for 512 will rise in alignment with university-wide tuition increases.

TGS 513 Advanced Continuous Registration - Effective Fall 2008
PhD students are expected to complete the degree before the end of the ninth year from the date of matriculation (and must be continuously registered from the time of matriculation to the time of completion). Master's students are expected to complete the degree before the end of the fifth year from the date of matriculation. Students who have not finished by these times may continue to work towards completion but effective Fall 2008 will be required to register in each of Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarter for TGS 513 and pay the corresponding tuition ($1000 per quarter).