SU23 Enrollment Guidelines
Be enrolled for SU23 by April 21, 2023
We are asking that all students funded by a GRA or Fellowship be properly enrolled for his/her funding type by Friday, April 21. If you cannot meet this deadline, inform Mark Cooper(.73) and Mei Wang(.235) and explain your situation.
All students may still enroll and make online changes to their schedules through the first Friday of SU23, 5/12. See also the semester add / drop dates below.
Please note: No MATSCEN or WELDENG graded lecture courses or labs are scheduled to be offered during SU23.
Funded student enrollment levels
Funded students (i.e., GRA or Fellow): A student's status relative to passing the Candidacy Exam and type of funding dictate the minimum number of credits required to activate funding. Please refer to this SU23 Enrollment Guide (pdf) to understand minimum enrollment and how to determine funding type.
Minimum credits to activate funding in SU23— n e v e r drop below these credits after the 1st Friday:
- Post-candidacy (GRA or Fellowship-funded) = 3 credits
- Pre-candidacy or MS and GRA-funded = 4 credits
- Pre-Candidacy or MS fellowship-funded = 6 credits
If your credits drop below the minimum needed to activate your funding, the fees will revert to you and you will be responsible for the cost of enrollment (YIKES!).
Do not enroll in more than the required number of credits without your advisor's prior approval. The cost of additional credits may be billed to the student.
GRA or Fellowship funding?
How to determine your funding type? Page 2 of the SU23 Enrollment Guide (pdf) describes how to determine your present funding type using OSU's Find People system. If you are a fellowship-funded student who may be changing over to GRA funding, or vice versa, please check with your advisor to confirm your status in SU23.
Self-funded student enrollment levels
Examples include Distance Learning, GEACE, company-funded, etc.
Self-funded Master's degree and pre-Candidacy Ph.D. students
Master's degree students or Ph.D.-seeking students who have not yet passed the Candidacy Exam may enroll as needed; you are not required enroll.*
Self-funded Ph.D. students who have passed the Candidacy Exam
Self-funded Ph.D. students who have passed the Candidacy Exam are not required to enroll during Summer term (ref. Sec 7.7.3 of the Graduate School Handbook).
Any self-funded student applying to receive a degree in SU23
If you will graduate in SU23--MS or PhD--you must enroll in at least 3 graduate credits.
Fee payment for self-funded students
- SU23 credits must be paid on or before May 2. Failure to pay by May 2 will cause a late payment fee to be applied to your account. If you find it impossible to pay by 5/2, please email Mark Cooper(.73).
- OSU offers the Tuition Option Payment Plan (TOPP) which allows students to divide the cost of tuition, housing, and fees into three installment payments during summer term. The first payment will be due 5/2.
* International self-funded students--different visa types may require minimum or maximum levels of enrollment to maintain the visa status. Please consult OSU's Office of International Affairs (OIA) for guidance.
Need permission to enroll in a course?
If you are unable to enroll in a course due to prerequisite issues, please make use of the process and form provided on this page:
Add / Drop dates and other important SU23 dates
OSU students are responsible to adhere to the university’s schedule for the adding and dropping of courses.
Please see also the University Registrar Important Fees and Dates
The key dates to keep in mind are:
April 21—Be properly enrolled for your funding type per the enrollment guide.
[May 2—Fee payment date for self or company-funded students.]
[May 9--Start of SU23.]
May 12 (1st Friday of SU23)
- Last day student may make online enrollment changes in BuckeyeLink. Add and drop credits on-line through the 1st Friday of a term (5/12).
- After the 1st Friday, DO NOT DROP ANY CREDITS ONLINE, SERIOUSLY! Talk to Mark first.
Please use the process described on the Add/Drop Graduate Course page if you need to make adjustments to your schedule.
- After the 1st Friday, DO NOT DROP ANY CREDITS ONLINE, SERIOUSLY! Talk to Mark first.
- 100% refund deadline for any full-term credits which are dropped.
May 19 (4:30 p.m., i.e., through the 2nd Friday)
- A course may be added through the 2nd Friday by using the process described on the Add/Drop Graduate Course page.
- 75% refund deadline for any full-term credits which are dropped.
Dropping credits (withdrawing from a course)—be sure when dropping credits to not fall below the minimum needed to activate your funding (see above).
June 2—the 4th Friday of the term…
- drops on or before this date will not be reflected on the transcript.
- If dropping a course between the 1st and 4th Fridays (5/12 through 6/2), please use the process described on the Add/Drop Graduate Course page.
- By asking to drop credits the student is aware of any negative effect the drop will have on funding.
- 50% refund of fees--Credits dropped between 5/20 through 6/2 will receive a 50% refund of fees (NO refund of fees after 6/2).
Mark will forward your request to the Grad School to ask that they remove you from the course.
June 3 through July 14—July 14 is the 10th Friday of the term.
- Dropping credits after the 4th Friday and on or before 4:30 p.m. on the 10th Friday (6/3-7/14) will cause a “W” to appear as the grade for the course. A "W" does not have a negative effect on your GPA.
- To drop a course during this period, please use the process described on the Add/Drop Graduate Course page.
- By asking to drop credits the student is aware of any negative effect the drop will have on funding.
- Credits dropped between 6/3 through 7/14 will receive no refund of fees.
July 15 - 28—After the 10th Friday (7/14) a student cannot withdraw from a class.
[July 28--Last day of SU23 classes.]
View the Registrar's complete list of relevant SU23 dates (pdf)
Candidacy Exams are typically not held during Summer term. However, if the members of the student's Candidacy Exam Committee are willing to meet during the term (5/9-8/21/23), an exam can be held.
After the student discusses the matter with the advisor, the student should review the relevant Candidacy Exam information and submit a Request to take Candidacy Exam form on or before Tuesday, May 16.
Request to hold a Dissertation Overview in SU23
By 8:00 a.m. Friday, 5/12/23--please complete the Dissertation Overview Request form
The Dissertation Overview (DO) is an exercise to aid the student in developing and focusing the Dissertation. The DO is to be held at least six months before graduation.
During the Overview the student gives a public presentation of the state of his/her research. The DO is not an examination, but rather a detailed status report describing the state of the student's research and writing. It allows the Dissertation Committee a chance to review progress and provide the student with feedback and direction. It is for this reason that the DO is not to occur in the term of graduation, but rather at least six months before graduation providing the student sufficient time to act on the committee's input.
The MSE and WE Dissertation Overviews
There are subtle differences between the two programs and their Overviews. These are described in detail at the links below.
- View MSE Dissertation Overview information--MSE students are required to enroll in MATSCEN 8000 in the term in which the Overview will be held. Completing the DO Request form will prompt Mark Cooper to enroll the student in MSE 8000. In other words, the MSE student's enrollment for the term would be 3 credits total: typically 1 cr MSE 8000 + 2 cr MSE 8999.
- View the WE Dissertation Overview information--Welding Engineering students are not required to enroll in any special credits during the term the Overview is held. However, WE students are to detail for their DO committee the status of the Presentation/Publication requirement. Enrollment for WE students is typically 1 cr WE 7895 + 2 cr 8999; WE does not have an 8000 "course" in which to enroll.
The effective dissemination of research results is an important skill for all students that write a thesis or dissertation. To this end, evidence of having done so in the form of a conference presentation (MS) and/or an article published in a recognized journal (MS or PhD) will be a requirement of the Welding Engineering degrees.
Welding Engineering MS with Thesis and PhD-track students are required to meet a Publication/Presentation Requirement as part of the degree requirements. This requirement is not part of the MS Non-Thesis degree.
Congratulations! You have worked hard for your degree! There are a few items to address, both academic and administrative, in order to secure your degree.
Basic steps in the term of graduation:
- Before the term of graduation, request a Graduation Review using the form at the link below.
- Mark Cooper will review your status and, if ready to graduate, provide further details and deadlines needed to receive your degree.
- Student submits an Application to Graduate on GradForms.osu.edu before third Friday of term.
- Student completes the degree requirements (typically the presentation and defense of a research document). There are two sets of deadlines (detailed at the link below):
- Commencement--Deadlines that must be met in order to attend Commencement for that term.
- End-of-Semester (EoS)--If all requirements are met by the last business day of a term the student may receive the degree at or after Commencement in the following term. No enrollment in that following term is required.
Minimum enrollment
The university requires that students graduating in a given term be registered for at least 3 graduate credits (ex. grad course, X999, etc.) in that term. However, if a student is funded (GRA/Fellow) Summer enrollment must meet the minimum required to activate that funding, per the enrollment minimums section above.
- Funded students (GRA/Fellow)--register for the minimum credits needed to activate your funding, per above.
- Self/company/government-funded students--register for at least 3 graduate credits in SU23 if you plan to complete your degree in SU23.
View MSE-WE Graduation information
Includes Graduation Review Request form, general deadlines, degree-specific deadlines, Grad School Graduation Calendar, and more.
Misc. Information
Need permission to enroll in a course?
If you are unable to enroll in a course due to prerequisite issues, please complete the Add / Drop graduate course form.
Help! There’s a hold on my account!
Did you click through the Financial Responsibility Statement (FRS) to release the hold?
The link for this will be on the right side of your Student Center home page, under either the “Holds” or the “To Do” section. View instructions (pdf)
If the FRS is not the issue, check the "To Do" section of your Student Center account. If this doesn't address the issue, please email Mark Cooper(.73) and include your OSU BuckID number.
Dates & Deadlines
Review the SU23 Enrollment Guide (pdf)
Faculty advisor for guidance on which courses to take.
Mark Cooper for questions about credit levels, deadlines, and general bureaucracy
SU23 Deadline Summary
| Requirement | Deadline |
| Enroll in SU23 by | 4/21 |
| Fee payment deadline | 5/2 |
| (SP23 EoS completion deadline) | 5/9 |
| SU23 start | 5/9 |
| Request graduation review | 5/12 |
| Apply to Graduate | 5/26 |
| 4th Friday | 6/2 |
| (SP23 Incomplete grades due) | 6/17 |
| 10th Friday | 7/14 |
| Written exam & Oral portion of exam approved |
7/14 |
| Thesis / dissertation approved by committee |
7/21 |
| Last day of classes | 7/28 |
| Commencement | 8/6 |
| End-of-term deadline | 8/21 |
| AU23 starts | 8/22 |
SU23 Holidays:
- 5/29 Memorial Day
- 6/19 Juneteenth
- 7/4 Independence Day