Evaluation of Student Progress

Annual Portfolio Review

The Program Director will notify students of the date of the spring semester review meetings, so the student can prepare his or her portfolio and turn it into faculty members one week before the meeting date. The meetings usually occur during the last week of the spring semester.

The student and his or her advisor will meet in the fall and prior to the spring review meeting to discuss the student's progress in the program.  Specific criteria areas include the following:

• progress in completion of required course work
• progress in completion of required practica
• progress in completion of research and comprehensive examinations (normal progress is presenting the Ed.S. Equivalency prospectus by the end of the second year, completing the Ed.S. Equivalency project by the end of the third year, and successfully completing comprehensive examinations by the end of the fourth year)
• achievement in course work (minimum grade-point average of 3.0 across all courses; see The University of Iowa General Catalog)
• achievement in practica
• achievement in related areas (e.g., presenting a paper at a convention,
  obtaining a graduate assistantship)
• when appropriate, meeting contract specifications

The advisor will present a summary of the student's progress at the review meeting.  If the student so desires, he or she may meet to discuss his or her progress with the core faculty, contingent upon prior notification to the Program Director.

The faculty will discuss the student's progress and development in academic and nonacademic (e.g., professionalism and relationships with peers/faculty) areas. The student will be present during this discussion, if he or she has chosen to meet with the core faculty.

In the student's absence, the faculty will decide on a rating of the student's progress.  While the faculty may discuss their rationale for this rating, no new information will be added at this time.  A final rating, decided by majority vote, will be given.

• Excellent:
  The student is making excellent progress through the program; in addition to progressing at the normal rate through the courses, and completing research and comprehensive examinations at the normal rate, the student is excelling in practice or research.

• Satisfactory:
  The student is making satisfactory progress through the program; the student has completed the normal requirements for that semester and is achieving at a satisfactory level in research, course work, and practica.

• Unsatisfactory:
  The student's progress is unsatisfactory; the student has not completed the normal requirements for the semester or is not achieving at a desired level in course work and/or practicum or is not behaving in a professional or ethical manner within the practicum setting.

• Probation:
  The student is on formal probation.

1) The Graduate College may put a student on probation if his or her grade-point average falls below the necessary minimum.  The School Psychology faculty may place a student on probation if he or she receives a designation of unsatisfactory progress for two sequential semesters.

2) When a student is put on probation, he or she receives a letter which clearly specifies the nature of the deficiencies, the criteria for removing or addressing the deficiencies, and the length of time of the probationary period.

3) If the end of the probationary period does not coincide with a semester review meeting, the faculty will review the student at the first regularly scheduled faculty meeting after the close of the probationary period.

4) At this meeting, the advisor—with the student if the student so chooses—will document the degree to which the student has fulfilled the stipulations. 

5) In the student's absence, if the student has met with the faculty, the faculty by majority vote will decide to do one
of the following

• The student will be removed from probationary status.
• The student will receive an extension of the probationary period (only one extension allowed).
• The student will be terminated from the program.

• Termination:
  A student may be terminated from the program without a probationary period for reasons that are both extremely serious and unusual in nature (e.g., serious violation of ethical codes). In this case, the faculty would hold a formal review of the student prior to the termination action that would follow the guidelines presented in Section I, parts C, D, and E.  Termination requires a majority vote of program faculty.

At the end of the spring semester evaluation, the advisor and Program Director will write each student to relay the progress rating and to summarize the faculty discussion of progress.

A student may disagree with the faculty evaluation.  He or she may address the faculty—through the Program Director—in writing, with regard to the points of disagreement.  The Director will then inform the faculty of the student's disagreement at the next regularly scheduled meeting (i.e., each month during the fall and spring semesters).  The student has the option of requesting, through his or her advisor, a special faculty meeting to discuss the points of disagreement.

The letter to the student—and the student's points of disagreement, if there are any—will be kept in the student's permanent file.

All information written or discussed about the student will remain confidential, except in those cases that involve disciplinary action affecting the student.  In such situations, appropriate University officials will be informed of the faculty's decisions and the implications for the student.

Supplementary Review Procedures

Before registering each semester, each student will meet with his or her advisor.  Together they will review the student's progress of the previous semester and discuss plans for the upcoming semester.  The advisor must approve all course work and endorse all extra course work experiences.  Unless the core program faculty members confirm an alternative arrangement in writing (see Waivers), students must register on a full-time or on a half-time basis—excluding summer semesters—for the first three years.  (Full time is 9-12 semester hours; half time is 6 semester hours.)

A student, his or her advisor, or any faculty member has the option of calling for a special review meeting at any time during the academic year.  This request must be in writing and submitted to the Program Director.  The format for such a meeting is the same as that of the semester review.

Graduation Contracting

Students not completing the School Psychology program by the end of their sixth year (excluding any approved leaves of absence) shall file a written plan for completion with the Program Director.  This plan will include both tasks and timeline for completion, and will be approved and signed by the student's advisor prior to submission.

The core faculty will review the plan.

Plans will be updated by student and advisor, and reviewed by the faculty on a semester basis.  The faculty may request a meeting with any student who is not meeting the timelines in the approved plan.

To maintain satisfactory progress in the program, students must meet the timelines in their approved plan.

After they have filed their fifth-year plan, students may request a leave of absence of no more than one year.  During this time, they are not required to work towards completion of their degree.  The faculty will approve only one such leave for each student.

Procedures for graduation contracting are as follows:

• Plans will be filed by each current sixth- and seventh-year student and are subsequently reviewed by the faculty for approval.

• During the semester review, the faculty will review updated plans.  At this time, the faculty also will review initial plans of current fifth-year students who will not graduate by August of the fifth year.

• After the initial phase-in year, the written plans are to be submitted immediately before the spring semester review (normally in April), with formal updates submitted on December 1 of each year.

• As well as the tasks to be completed, the plan must specify the process (i.e., correspondence and regular meetings) to be used in implementing the plan.

• Continuous Registration -Students are required to register each semester after passing the doctoral comprehensive examination until the degree is awarded. If a student fails to register, he or she may not be readmitted to doctoral candidacy unless the readmission is approved by the advisor, the department executive, and the Graduate College dean. Doctoral Continuous Registration requires a 2 s. h. tuition and fees payment. This policy was implemented the fall of 2003.