Academic Planning: Ph.D. in 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Non-registered status means a student hasn’t met the requirements for registration or is on a leave of absence or withdrawn.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Students who are not registered by the deadline risk being withdrawn from the university. When withdrawn, they will be dropped from classes, and services such as (but not limited to) library access, housing, dining, building access, Canvas, and bus service will be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. 

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

All new to Cornell first year Information Science Ph.D. students are allowed a reimbursement for up to $1,500 USD toward the purchase of a laptop computer. This is a one-time reimbursement and cannot be used towards any other expenses. Students are eligible to request a reimbursement only after they have matriculated, registered and enrolled in classes, which is typically at the end of August. Students have up to one year from the response deadline of April 15 to purchase a laptop computer and request a reimbursement. After this date the reimbursement offer is voided.

Purchase Details
If the computer equipment total is less than $1,500 you will not be given the balance, and for equipment that is more than $1,500 you will be responsible for the amount over the $1,500 cap. All equipment must be purchased at one time, and the receipt(s) submitted all together. Receipts must be in English and if the item(s) are purchased using foreign currency, please convert the amount to US currency.  

Eligible Equipment
For reference, our students in the past have received a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (1.4GHz quadcore Intel Core i5 processor; 256GB SSD storage). This is just a suggestion on the type of laptop you may want to consider purchasing. Students should consult with their advisors if they have doubts on what specifications will be needed to support their research. We expect students to use this money to purchase equipment such as the items listed below:

• Laptop computer
• Desktop computer
• iPad Pro
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Web Cam
• Monitor for a computer
• External Hard Drive
• Noise Canceling Headphones

Items that we will not reimburse for are listed below, but this is not limited to this list. 
Again, please contact us if you are unsure before purchasing anything. 

• Parts to build your own computer
• Warranties
• Service
• Replacement of a stolen or broken piece of technology
• Service contracts (e.g., AppleCare)

Submission
A receipt with the total cost of the approved equipment and the laptop policy form need to be submitted to Seamus Buxton, skb84 [at] cornell.edu, and the receipt(s) must be in English.

Note: Students who are currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Cornell and are admitted through the Change of Program petition process are not eligible for this reimbursement.  Students should work with their advisor for any equipment purchases that are needed. 

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

• End of December of spring assignments
• 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. 

We want to create an environment where members of the IS department are encouraged to take advantage of the academic opportunities at our two locations in Ithaca and at Cornell Tech. To encourage such interactions, academic-focused travel by Ph.D. students and faculty between the two campuses may be financially supported whenever there is a clear business purpose. This grant is intended for short term travel, i.e. 1–5 days, not for long term visits. These guidelines are in effect Aug 1, 2025–June 30, 2026.
 

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 1 trip per academic year (July 1 - June 30). Subject to these limits, all travel in the above categories will be supported if funding is available.

Grants are not intended for:

• Moving expenses
• Non-Cornell hosted conference travel
• Recreation
   

Applying for travel funding: 

To ensure smooth and convenient travel, and to ensure funds are still available, arrangements/approval for trips should be made 2 weeks in advance. Trips taken without prior approval may be denied if funding has run low.

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. 

2. Within five (5) business days after your return to your home campus email the faculty host copying is-phd [at] cornell.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.

3. 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. 
    

ID Card Access

Ithaca Students Going to Tech:
Your Ithaca student ID cards do not work at the Tech campus. The faculty person you are meeting with at Tech, must arrange with the Security Office at the Tech Campus for you to have access during your time at Tech.

You will need to coordinate this with the faculty person you are visiting at least 2 weeks in advance.

Long period access is only granted to students who change their campus location for at least a semester or longer. In this case, your Ithaca card will be collected at Tech and you will receive a Tech Campus ID card if you are switching campuses.

Tech Students Going to Ithaca:
Tech Student’s current ID cards should have been activated, to be used both in Ithaca and at Tech, when you were matriculated.

In Ithaca this access allows you to gain entry to Gates Hall after hours.  You also will have access to the PhD labs, offices and experiment rooms that are located on the 2nd floor.  There are hoteling desks reserved for visiting Tech Students in Gates 235 for your use while here. Or please check with your host to see if they have space in their lab area to use desk space.  Please note, hoteling space is subject to change after the AY 2025 in Ithaca. 

If you arrive on campus and find your card is not working, please email is-phd [at] cornell.edu (is-phd[at]cornell[dot]edu) to alert us your card is not working. We will submit a trouble ticket to have this resolved. 

Please note card access request take 24 – 48 hours to be completed and are only dealt with on Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm.  If you arrive on a Saturday, you may not have the issue resolved until the following Monday or Tuesday.

In emergencies, a temporary card may be borrowed from the Main office in 236 Gates Hall, Monday to Friday from 8am – 4:30 pm.

If you have any questions, please email these to is-phd [at] cornell.edu (is-phd[at]cornell[dot]edu).

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 cost.

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. 

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 on line 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 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.