Academic Planning: Ph.D. Information Science

In order to be considered a registered student by the university, a student must:

1. Settle all financial accounts, including current semester tuition;
2. Clear any holds, whether these are from the Bursar’s Office, Cornell Health, the Judicial Administrator, or the Graduate School; and
3. Satisfy New York state health requirements.

Enrollment in courses does not constitute or imply university registration.

Non-registered status means a student hasn’t met the requirements for registration or is on a leave of absence or withdrawn.

Checking your registration status: 

Students can check their registration status at the beginning of the semester using Student Essentials. If you are registered, your registration status will state “Registered” with a green checkmark. The absence of a green checkmark means there is a hold preventing your registration.

There are several different types of holds — some are informational and must be completed for graduation, and some are immediate and prevent current semester registration. Your holds are listed at the top right of the page. Click on “more information” for complete details, including steps to resolve a hold.

Students who are not registered by the deadline risk being withdrawn from the university. When withdrawn, they will be dropped from classes, and services such as (but not limited to) library access, housing, dining, building access, Canvas, and bus service will be terminated. Any funding such as fellowships, TA or GRA appointments will be terminated, and potentially a student may be asked to repay back part of their stipend. 

Summer registration:

Students must register for the summer session if, during the summer, they will receive financial aid, fellowships, loans, assistantships, travel grants, or tuition awards. You also must register in order to use campus facilities during the summer. If you are not on campus, but meet any of the previous conditions, you must register for the summer.

Summer registration is automatically granted to all students who enroll in a non-credit summer graduate research course through their Student Center. Enrollment opens in mid-April. There is no tuition charge for summer registration and enrollment in the graduate research course, although students requesting a registration unit for summer study do pay tuition.

Changing your registration status:

You must submit a form if you wish to withdraw, take a leave of absence, or otherwise cease to be registered. All Graduate School forms are located on the Graduate School’s website, along with the deadlines and procedures to submit each form.

The Field of Information Science guarantees five (5) academic years of full support as long as students are in good standing within the field, and the University, and maintain full time registration status. This support will be in the form of a Teaching Assistantship, or a Graduate Research Assistantship, or a Fellowship (either internal or external). Students may not hold multiple full-time positions, nor may students work at a full-time job within or outside the University. With the exception of Employee Degree students. 

Full academic year support is defined as: 

• Full Tuition
• Full Student Health Insurance premium coverage (vision and dental are not included)
• Full semester stipend at the current going rate

Being in good standing is defined as:

• Making satisfactory progress towards your degree as determined during the SPR review meeting held during the spring or summer term.
• Being current with all Graduate School milestones
•  Having no Judicial or Misconduct issues

Appointment periods for assistantships:

• Fall:  Aug 21 – Jan 5
• Spring: Jan 6 – May 20
• Summer*: May 21 – Aug 20

*The department does not guarantee summer support for any student, this is dependent upon the student’s advisor. The majority of our students have outside internships over the summer to cover summer funding. In rare cases, the Summer Session Office has openings for summer TA or instructor positions. Students who wish to teach a summer course should contact that office for open positions.

For Ithaca-based Courses:

1. Advisors are surveyed to determine how they plan to support their advisees.
   1. Fall – April-May
   2. Spring – October-November
   3. Summer – end of April
2. Once the semester courses are finalized, a survey is sent to Ph.D. students
3. The GFA and DGS start matching students to the TA slots
4. Students and instructors are notified of the TA assignments
   1. End of December of spring assignments
   2. Mid-July for fall assignments

*All effort is made to match students with their first-choice class, but not all students may get their top preference. Students are asked to select 3 courses on the survey. Also, students may be assigned to a course that is not exactly in their skill set. Students need to be prepared to expand their knowledge with a willingness to work and learn with the instructor of the class to be an effective TA. 

For Tech-based Courses:

Students who are located on the Tech campus are assigned TA positions through a similar TA survey process. This process is administered by the Student Service Office at the Tech campus.  Questions about this process should be directed to jk886 [at] cornell.edu (Jackie Klein) for detailed explanation and the timeline of their process. 

There are several opportunities for students to apply for funding to enhance their research.  Students are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities and to work with their advisor for help with travel costs associated with travel to Cornell Tech or the Ithaca campus, professional conferences, and research travel. 

Travel grant criteria: 

• Ph.D. student travels from one campus to another to network with prospective faculty advisors or committee members.
• Ph.D. student with an advisor based at the other campus traveling to meet with their advisor/group.
• Ph.D. student is enrolled in a Distance Learning core course and would like to attend a lecture at the other campus in person.
• Ph.D. student traveling to the opposite campus for an academic related event hosted by a CIS faculty member.

The funding available to support Ph.D. travel is limited. The travel grant is being provided to help offset the cost of transportation, lodging and food while they are traveling and while they are staying at the opposite campus. The grant is a flat rate of $600 per trip; the limit for any one traveler is two (2) trips per academic year. Subject to these limits, all travel in the above categories will be supported if funding is available. If funds for a particular semester run low, support for Ph.D. travel will be prioritized with preference to travelers who have not already been supported in that semester.

Visit the graduate school for more opportunities. 

Applying for travel funding: 

Step 1: Fill out the Travel Support Application, obtain the host signature and email the completed form to Nicole Roy at  nsr1 [at] cornell.edu at least two (2) weeks prior to your planned travel date. Students will receive a decision, via email, shortly after the request is received. Please use the subject line: C2C Travel Grant Request. An email confirmation from the host is also acceptable.  Please attach this to the application in one PDF before submitting the application. 

Step 2: Within five (5) business days after your return to your home campus, email the faculty host — copying is-phd [at] cornell.edu (is-phd[at]cornell[dot]edu) — asking the host to confirm your visit during the time you indicated on the form. Please use the subject line: C2C Travel Grant Host Confirmation.

Once the host confirmation email is received, students will receive an email acknowledgement and should expect the grant to be posted to their student Bursar account a few days after receiving this email. Please be sure to enroll in the Bursar direct deposit to receive the grant promptly. 

The Information Science Ph.D. degree is one department that spans both the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campus located in NYC. The degree requirements, University policies, and Graduate School milestones are the same for both campuses to graduate from the degree program. The GFA and DGS work with the Student Service staff at Tech along with the Information Science faculty liaison to advise and keep students on track to successfully complete the program on time. 

Students are required to be in residence at the same campus as their Chairperson for the majority of their Ph.D. career. Students are expected to relocate to the campus where their Chairperson is located. If this requires changing campuses, for example, if the student switches their Chairperson, The DGS and GFA should be informed that this type of move is being considered at least 3 months from the expected date of the move.

Students are encouraged and welcome to visit the Ithaca and Tech campuses as appropriate for their research and cohort building. It is common for students to have members of their committee at the other campus from where the student is in residence. Students are encouraged to meet in person with these faculty and may use the Information Science Inter-Campus Travel fund to help with the travel costs.

Extended visit to Cornell Tech or Ithaca campus 

Students may spend a semester at either campus if there is a faculty person who is willing to act as a temporary advisor for the duration of the stay. The main Chairperson is financially responsible for the student while they are at the temporary campus, unless the student is on fellowship. Students wishing to make a move are required to inform the DGS and GFA at least 3 months prior to the move. Students should not assume the request will be approved and should not move to either campus until approval has been given. 

Students are expected to meet the field’s minimal requirements. If this is not possible, the student and their Chairperson should propose an alternative solution directed to the attention of the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in writing. The DGS may consult with the current Graduate Committee, Chair of the Department and/or the GFA before making a final decision. All exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis. And all decisions are final. 

The Graduate Field Assistant, GFA, is also a resource for students to consult with for advice on academic and student life issues. The GFA is the liaison with the Graduate School and works with the Student Service Staff at the Tech campus to guide students through the Ph.D. program.  The GFA’s office hours and link to schedule advising appointments can be found on the Staff page.

In extreme circumstances, students may petition to extend the time to meet a specific milestone. Students should not expect petitions to be approved and should only use a petition as the last resort. Petitions are considered on a case by case basis and must have the approval of the entire committee and the DGS before they are submitted to the Graduate School Dean for final consideration. Petition forms are online and can be found on the forms page on the Graduate Schools website. The full explanation about the process can be found in the Code of Legislation of the Graduate Faculty. 

Students who are coming up on a milestone deadline will receive notices from the Graduate School approximately 2 months prior to the due date of the milestone. Students should not wait for these notices; instead, it is expected that they will be proactive with completing milestones on time.

Student progression toward an advanced degree is determined not only by the quality of work completed (through faculty evaluations and formal exams), but also the length of time spent in the pursuit of the degree. For research degrees, the Graduate School measures this progress in terms of registered semesters. Ph.D. candidates are required to obtain a minimum of six registered semesters. Two of these six semesters are required after the A exam. At least one-half of the registered semesters earned toward the above requirements must be earned from full-time, academic-year study on the Ithaca or Tech campus.

The special committee chair shall provide qualitative feedback on student progress, from the first year through the completion of the degree, using the Student Progress Review (SPR) form. Students, in consultation with the committee chair, are required to complete a self-assessment, reflect on progress towards established academic goals, report on professional development activities, and identify future plans and timelines. The SPR will be completed by Information Science Ph.D. students sometime in the spring semester, each year, of their graduate career.

All requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within seven years of the first registration in the Graduate School (see Time-to-Degree Limits policy). 

A Ph.D. student may petition to study in another graduate degree program at Cornell or study in another graduate school, which would count toward the registration requirement. Upon recommendation of the special committee and approval of the Dean, a maximum of two semesters of advanced standing towards the Ph.D. requirements may be awarded for a master’s degree completed at Cornell or at another university. Requests will not be formally considered until the student is registered as a Ph.D. student in the Graduate School.

Students are required to take two examinations: a comprehensive admission to candidacy examination (the “A Exam”) after the student has earned at least two residence units, and a final examination after completion of the dissertation (the “B Exam”). Students must complete a dissertation.