Academic Advisement
Upon admission to the Ph.D. in Nursing program, students are assigned to a faculty adviser. Every attempt is made to identify an adviser with similar research interests as the student. Each semester, before registering for classes, students should arrange to meet with their adviser for a progress review on their plan of study. Students should also meet with the Ph.D. program director each year to review progress toward their degree and dissertation research.
It is expected that nursing Ph.D. students will have the same faculty adviser until the Dissertation Committee is formed. It is anticipated that the original faculty adviser will become the Dissertation Committee Chair, but that is not always the case. Once the Dissertation Committee is formed, the Dissertation Committee Chair assumes the role of the adviser. Before registering for any cognate courses or dissertation research credits prior approval must be obtained from the adviser.
Once a Dissertation Committee is formed and a chair/adviser is finalized, the student can not initiate a change in chair/adviser. If the chair leaves the School of Nursing or the chair recommends a change in writing, then a change in chair will occur and the chair will be replaced by another faculty member.
Academic Policies
A full-time course load is defined as 9 or more credits for the fall and spring, and a course load of 18 credits or more per semester requires the approval of the director of the Ph.D. program.
A student registered for 8 credits or less for a fall or spring semester has part-time status.
Students must be registered every regular semester (spring and fall). Those students who interrupt their studies must register for Matriculation Continued by contacting the Ph.D. program director. With the approval of the director of the Ph.D. program, students may register for Matriculation Continued for up to two semesters, in total, during the pursuit of their Ph.D. degree. In the event of extenuating life circumstances, students may request permission to register for additional Matriculation Continued status. This request, however, will need to be approved by the Ph.D. program director and Rutgers University-Newark Graduate School. Students receiving funding based on maintaining full-time status must contact the Graduate School-Newark dean's office to register for full-time Matriculation Continued.
When a student applies for admission, the requirements for the degree at the time of admission become the student's program of study. Full-time students must complete all degree requirements within seven years of matriculation; part-time students must complete all degree requirements within an eight-year time frame from matriculation. Should extenuating circumstances necessitate prolonging the time limit, the student's record is reviewed. Extensions are only granted to those students who have a history of satisfactory performance and who can document a timetable and plan to complete the requirements within a reasonable period of time. A written request for such an extension is made by the student to the director of the Ph.D. in Nursing program. The director of the Ph.D. in nursing program reviews the request, timetable, plan, and the student's record and forwards their recommendation and documentation to the associate dean of nursing science and the associate dean of the Graduate School-Newark. The final decision to approve or disapprove the request for extension rests with the associate dean of nursing science.
In keeping with the policies of Graduate School-Newark, up to 40 percent of coursework, not research credits, may be transferred from other graduate degree-granting institutions. For further information on the transfer of credits from other degree programs and other institutions, see Transfer of Credit in the Academic Policies and Procedures section of this catalog.
Students are expected to earn grades B or better in their coursework. No more than 6 credits with a grade of C or C- may be used in meeting the requirements for a Ph.D. in nursing degree. An overall grade of B average is required for graduation.
The Graduate School-Newark requires that all students maintain a minimum cumulative B or better average during each semester of study in order to remain enrolled. Failure to maintain the minimum cumulative average may result in academic dismissal.
The grade of incomplete (IN) may be granted when a student has not completed the assigned work in a course because of illness or other reasons satisfactory to the instructor. The grade of IN is issued at the discretion of the instructor. If the incomplete (IN) grade is a prerequisite for a subsequent course, the student will not be allowed to register for that course and, if already registered, will need to drop/withdraw from the subsequent course. The student must complete all required course assignments within one (1) academic year to convert the IN to a letter grade (example: All course requirements for an IN grade issued for a fall semester course must be satisfied and the IN converted to a letter grade by the end of the fall semester of the following academic year). After one academic year, the IN cannot be removed from the student's transcripts and cannot be converted to a letter grade.
Grade Complaints
The nursing program has procedures to ensure that all parties get due process when a grade complaint arises. Any complaints by students about their grades should be handled within the graduate program. The program's procedures give the student a chance to determine if an error was made in assigning the grade. On the other hand, they enable the instructor to explain why the grade was given. Complaints about grading practices of individual instructors are handled in the following manner:
Programs, Faculty, and Courses 
