Terminology:

"in writing/written" - refers to both paper and electronic communication
"fall incomplete" - grade of I recorded for a fall semester research course
      (6995 or 7000)
"spring incomplete" - grade of I recorded for a spring semester research course
      (6995 or 7000)

POLICY: Removal of Incompletes for Research Project Requirement (6995)

1. The standard operating procedure will be that the incomplete should be
removed in the next regular academic semester (i.e. spring for a fall
incomplete and fall for a spring incomplete).  The normal deadlines will be as
follows:

April 1 for removal of a fall incomplete
December 1 for removal of a spring incomplete

This deadline can be changed initially through a written request from the
student's research advisor to the DGS (to either make the deadline earlier or 
later).  The deadlines for the written request will be the following:

January 15 for a fall incomplete
September 15 for a spring incomplete

Lack of communication with the DGS means the default deadlines will be used.

2. If a student is in danger of not meeting the deadline, a written appeal can
be made by the student's research advisor to the DGS.  If the DGS approves the
appeal, then the new deadline will be set.  If the DGS denies the appeal, it
will automatically be referred to the entire Graduate Faculty for a vote.  A
vote to deny the appeal means the student will be terminated from the
program.  All deadline changes must be communicated electronically to both the
student and the advisor.

3. Grandfather clause.  All students currently enrolled in the program who
registered for their research project during Spring Semester 2003 or earlier
must complete their work by April 1, 2004.  The procedures for changing this
deadline as outlined above will also be available for these students (so an
advisor would need to request an alternative deadline by January 15).