The information on this web page guides graduate students in the Moores School of Music as they make progress toward their degrees and assists faculty as they advise graduate students. Substantial parts of it clarify important issues and procedures with which graduate students and faculty must deal on a daily basis. This page should not be thought of as an official document but rather as an advising tool, and it does not substitute for the University of Houston Graduate Catalog (available online at www.uh.edu/grad_catalog/). Students should refer to this information for the duration of their degree programs and log progress toward their degrees on the appropriate degree plan forms, available under the appropriate degree program descriptions (Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Music, Certificate in Music Performance; choose one of the links on the left side of the page). Every student is responsible for knowing and satisfying their degree requirements as outlined here and in the University of Houston Graduate Catalog. Advising Students must schedule an advising appointment with the Graduate Advisor (gradmusic at uh.edu) before registering for courses in every semester in which they are enrolled for graduate study. Students must come prepared for advising appointments: students should carefully review their degree requirements, courses they have completed, progress toward their degree, and course offerings in the upcoming semester. Continuous Enrollment and Leaves of Absence All students enrolled in Doctor of Musical Arts degrees are required to be enrolled in consecutive Fall and Spring semesters until they complete their degree program and their degree is awarded. Generally graduate students must be enrolled for at least three credits, unless other regulations apply (as with international students or those with scholarship or assistantship awards, for example). DMA students not in continuous enrollment will not remain in good academic standing and will be required to petition for readmission to the degree program. The petition requires the endorsement of the department and the dean of the college, and the student will be required to meet all the criteria for admission to the program in place at the time the petition for readmission is submitted. In some cases DMA students may apply for a leave of absence, which would allow a student to maintain good academic standing while not enrolled. Leaves will be granted within these general guidelines: (1) reasons for a leave cannot be academic (students cannot request a leave to allow time to study for comprehensive exams, for example); (2) leaves may be granted for financial reasons, but in these cases there must be evidence of severe financial hardship (i.e., leaves cannot be granted in order to save students the cost of enrolling continuously); (3) leaves may be granted for medical emergencies, family emergencies, or significant changes in family circumstances that clearly interfere with a student’s ability to make progress toward their degrees; and (4) leaves may be granted to students who need to be away from campus or the city of Houston for professional or other reasons. In all cases, leaves of absence are temporary: they will be granted for a period of one semester and extended, once, for an additional semester if the situation requiring the leave persists. Because leaves are meant to be temporary solutions to temporary problems, there must be clear evidence that the circumstances requiring the leave are temporary; more permanent situations in which change is not foreseeable do not warrant leaves of absence. To request a leave of absence, students must submit a formal letter of request to the Director of Graduate Studies (email to gradmusic at uh.edu). The request will require approval from the Director of Graduate Studies and from the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Students already on a leave of absence who wish to request an extension must also submit a formal letter of request; these requests will be treated as new requests and are subject to reapproval.

-