Leaves or Withdrawals

A leave of absence is granted only by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies on the recommendation of the department chair and only to graduate students in good standing with the university. Students must obtain approval for a leave before the academic semester in question. These requests, approved by the department, must be received in the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies prior to the first day of classes.

Leaves are not granted after students register for courses or after the registration period passes. Normally, students may take a leave of absence for no more than two consecutive semesters. The semesters that a student is on leave do not count against the time to candidacy or the time to defense. They do, however, count against the time to degree. Students must pay a reinstatement fee of $100 on their return from an official leave.

A leave of absence request form may be found here.

Short-Term Medical and Parental Leave

If a graduate student cannot fulfill the duties of his or her appointment due to a medical emergency or the adoption or birth of a child, enrollment and stipend support may be continued for up to six weeks or until the appointment expires (whichever occurs first). Complete guidelines for obtaining a short term or parental leave are available here.

A short-term medical and parental leave form form may be found here .

Withdrawal

Students who wish to withdraw from Rice during the semester, for any reason, are to notify the chair of their academic department  in writing . Failure to register for any period without a leave of absence granted by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies constitutes a de facto withdrawal.

A withdrawal form may be found here .

The university may insist on a student’s involuntary withdrawal if, in the judgment of the dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies, the student

• Poses a threat to the lives or safety of him/herself or other members of the Rice community
• Has a medical or psychological problem that cannot be properly treated in the university setting
• Has a medical condition or demonstrates behavior that seriously interferes with the education of other members of the Rice community

Readmission

Students who later wish to resume study, whether after voluntary or involuntary withdrawal, must reapply to the university. Readmission requires the recommendation of the department chair and the approval of the dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies. Accepted students must pay a readmission fee of $325.

Students who withdraw for medical reasons must meet certain conditions when applying for readmission. They must submit a written petition for readmission to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at least one month before the start of the semester in which they wish to resume their work at Rice. They also must provide evidence from a health professional that they have resolved the problems leading to their withdrawal. Some cases may require an interview with the director of the Rice Counseling Center, the director of Student Health Services, or their designees.
Nonenrollment—Students may not do degree work at Rice or work involving Rice faculty or facilities during any period of nonenrollment, except during the period following successful oral defense prior to submission of the final thesis.