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If GEPA did not receive a FRF for a student by the deadline (ie the last Friday of the quarter), then the student will be eligible for a degree the FOLLOWING quarter. “Receive” is defined as follows: the FRF has been signed by the Department/Program Chair (or their staff designee), which sends the form into the GEPA queue for review/approval/processing. 

If there is a need for the student to have their degree conferred in a previous quarter, then the department may submit an exception request for a retroactive degree. See below for specific information to be included in the request.

Examples of extenuating circumstances: 

• PhD student suddenly decides to leave the PhD program with a terminal master’s degree.

• Student notified the department of their intent to graduate this quarter, but the department did not submit the FRF on time, due to an administrative error. Include documentation, such as a copy of the email from the student to the department, dated prior to the deadline.  

• The Graduate Coordinator submitted the FRF on time, but the Department/Program Chair /Designee did not sign it by midnight on the deadline date. Note: Graduate Coordinator is responsible for monitoring forms and reminding Dept/Program Chair to sign any forms that are outstanding, by the deadline.

FEES:

• If the student is not registered in the quarter in which their degree will be conferred, a filing fee in lieu of registration will be assessed when the degree is processed. This is true even if the student was on a Leave of Absence (LOA) in their graduation quarter.

• In addition to the above, if the student was not registered (or on an LOA) in the quarter just before their graduation quarter, a readmit fee will be assessed, in addition to the filing fee.

• Please be sure the student is aware of these fees and check the appropriate box(es) on the FRF:

Process to submit a Plan II (comp exam) late/retro FRF, as an exception: 

1. Submit FRF in DocuSign.

2. Send an EMAIL request to the appropriate GEPA advisor, cc'd to your Department/Program Chair. This alerts us to the fact that this FRF is in DocuSign, waiting for us, as it is likely separated from the other FRF's for that quarter. Be sure to cc to the Department/Program Chair as this serves as their signature for the request. In this email:

   • Provide an explanation of the extenuating circumstances that led to the FRF not being received by GEPA by the deadline date.

   • In the event of an administrative error, include what the dept department will do in the future to resolve this problem/avoid similar situations.

   • Explain why the student needs their degree processed retroactively and how the student will be adversely impacted by waiting until the following quarter for the degree to be processed. Ex. they are starting a job in a few weeks; they are applying to medical school, etc.

   • Attach back up documentation as necessary.

3. The request will be reviewed by the Senior Associate Dean at our weekly meetings, and if approved, the FRF will be reviewed & processed in the normal manner.

Process to submit a Plan I/III (thesis) late/retro FRF, as an exception

This process is more complicated as the student must also have completed the following on/before the deadline:

• Defended the thesis

• Completed a preliminary thesis review appointment with a Grad Academic Affairs Advisor

• Uploaded the final version of the thesis to ProQuest

Please contact the appropriate GEPA Academic Affairs Advisor should this situation arise. At minimum, the 3 steps listed under the Plan II instructions would also need to be followed. 

You will need to follow the usual APPC process (described in the uAchieve section). However, when submitting a master's degree APPC for a PhD student, always check to see if the student has already earned a master’s degree. (This is true whether it is a master's along the way or a terminating master's).  

Does the student have a previous MA or MS degree? 

 NO - Proceed with the APPC submission 

 YES -Submit a Duplicate Master’s Degree Approval Form, via DocuSign. Complete either section A or B 

Section A: The student has a previous master's degree that is not from UCSD and the previous degree is in a fundamentally different discipline from the current UCSD discipline/degree. This form provides department approval for the second master's.  
Section B: The student has a previous master’s degree from UCSD or the previous master's degree is in the same/similar discipline as the current discipline/degree. This form requests GEPA approval for the second master’s.
 Senate policy:  https://senate.ucsd.edu/media/656855/gc-revision-to-the-policy-on-the-duplication-of-advanced-degrees.pdf

If there is an error in the encoding, the dept should contact the appropriate GEPA Academic Affairs Advisor first so we can update our internal curriculum notes (if needed). The Grad Academic Affairs Advisor will submit a ticket to uAchieve.

If changes are being made to what is in the catalog, then the dept needs to submit a catalog update first; at that point, we would wait for the update to be approved, then we contact uAchieve to make necessary updates.

Ken Keziah (from the Registrar’s office) offers one-on-one training, and there is also a general uAchieve training website and info on our Collab page.

When submitting a master's degree APPC for a PhD student, always check to see if the student has already earned a master’s degree. (This is true whether it is a master's along the way or a terminating master's).  

Does the student have a previous MA or MS degree?

NO - Proceed with the APPC submission

YES -Submit a Duplicate Master’s Degree Approval Form, via DocuSign. Complete either section A or B 

• Section A: The student has a previous master's degree that is not from UCSD and the previous degree is in a fundamentally different discipline from the current UCSD discipline/degree. This form provides department approval for the second master's.  

• Section B: The student has a previous master’s degree from UCSD or the previous master's degree is in the same/similar discipline as the current discipline/degree. This form requests GEPA approval for the second master’s.

Senate policy:  https://senate.ucsd.edu/media/656855/gc-revision-to-the-policy-on-the-duplication-of-advanced-degrees.pdf