Minimum Satisfactory Progress of a PhD Student in the FSU CS Department

Students entering with an MS degree

by the end of Year 1:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses

by the end of Year 2:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses
  • pass the PhD Portfolio (qualifying) exam or make significant progress on research

by the end of Year 3:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses
  • pass the PhD Portfolio exam
  • complete all required courses
  • have a major advisor
  • pass the area (preliminary) exam or have a published/accepted paper as the primary (e.g., first) author

by the end of Year 4:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses
  • pass the PhD Portfolio exam
  • complete all required courses
  • have a major advisor
  • pass the area (preliminary) exam
  • pass prospectus or have a published/accepted paper as the primary (e.g., first) author

by the end of Year 5:

  • defend the dissertation and have a published/accepted paper as the primary (e.g., first) author in a conference or journal that is ranked B or higher by the Computing Research and Education Association (CORE) [http://www.core.edu.au]

Students entering without an MS degree

by the end of Year 1:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses

by the end of Year 2:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses

by the end of Year 3:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses
  • pass the PhD Portfolio (qualifying) exam
  • have a major advisor

by the end of Year 4:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses
  • pass the PhD Portfolio exam
  • complete all required courses
  • have a major advisor
  • pass the area (preliminary) exam or have a published/accepted paper as the primary (e.g., first) author

by the end of Year 5:

  • maintain 3.5 GPA and no U’s in nongraded courses
  • pass the PhD Portfolio exam
  • complete all required courses
  • pass the area (preliminary) exam
  • have a major advisor
  • pass prospectus or have a published/accepted paper as the primary (e.g., first) author

by the end of Year 6:

  • defend the dissertation and have a published/accepted paper as the primary (e.g., first) author in a conference or journal that is ranked B or higher by the Computing Research and Education Association (CORE) [http://www.core.edu.au]

Time Limits for Dismissals