A. Policy Statement

The College recognizes that some graduate students start or expand families during their time in our graduate programs. This policy recognizes the need for graduate students to modify their research duties during a semester in which a child is born, adopted, or placed in foster care.

B. Scope

This policy applies to all CNS graduate students in good academic standing who are appointed as Graduate Research Assistants for 20 hours/week or more during a long-semester or summer session, and who have previously been appointed to a 20-hour/week graduate student position for at least 4.5 months.

C. Eligibility Requirements

Graduate students who may apply for modified research/academic duties are those who are a parent of a newborn child or of a recently adopted child under age three.

D. Application Requirements

The graduate student must submit a written request for a modification of research/academic duties to their Graduate Adviser and GSC chair. Whenever possible, the request should be submitted prior to the semester in which the modification is needed. The request must include the following, with a signature of approval from the faculty member serving as the student’s research supervisor:

a) A statement explaining the need for modified research responsibilities; and

b) A proposal describing the work to be done in place of the applicant’s standard research responsibilities. This work may involve scholarly research and literature compilations, data processing and analysis, scientific writing (manuscript or thesis writing, manuscript preparation), or the preparation of other scientific communication materials (e.g., lectures or poster presentations). The proposal must describe the work in detail, define a work product, and include a method for evaluation of the work by the research supervisor during the period where modified duties are granted. The research supervisor will be responsible for verifying that the proposed duties are within the scope of work outlined in the grant that funds the graduate student’s appointment.

E. Application Review

The Graduate Adviser and GSC chair review the request for modified duties to determine that:

a) The graduate student is eligible to apply for modified research /academic duties;

b) The request contains a sufficiently detailed description of the work to be done in place of the applicant’s normal research responsibilities, that it defines a reasonable work product, and that it states an adequate method for evaluation of the work by the research supervisor and Graduate Adviser during the leave period.

F. Period and Scope of Modification

Modifications to research/academic duties shall be for the period of one semester. Graduate students whose requests for modified research/academic duties are granted will continue to be funded through their GRA appointment throughout the duration of the designated time frame.