Mar 19, 2024  
Graduate Record 2015-2016 
    
Graduate Record 2015-2016 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences


About Academic Rules   Programs    Courses   Faculty  

Contact Information

Office of Admissions
PO Box 400775
1605 Jefferson Park Avenue
583 New Cabell Hall
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4775
434-924-6740


Office of Enrolled Students
PO Box 400773
1605 Jefferson Park Avenue
585 New Cabell Hall
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4773
434-924-6741

History

Although Thomas Jefferson’s original plan for the University contemplated graduate instruction, the first such department in the modern sense was not instituted until 1859-60 by Professor Basil Gildersleeve in the School of Greek. Shortly after the Civil War, a similar department was announced for the School of Latin. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was offered initially by the University as early as 1880 and was first awarded in 1885. No formal departmental organization for graduate study existed, however, until 1904. In that year, the Graduate School was established under regulations corresponding to the requirements of the Association of American Universities, in which the University of Virginia was the first southern university to hold membership. There are currently 967 members of the graduate faculty and 29 programs in the arts and sciences granting graduate degrees.

Administration

The administrative offices of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are located on the fifth floor of New Cabell Hall. Students who have a question regarding the following degree requirements and policies should consult their directors of graduate study. Should clarification or an exception be required, the director of graduate study will raise the issue with the assistant dean for graduate programs. For serious matters that cannot be resolved in this fashion, students have recourse to a formal appeal and grievance procedure outlined below.

Faculty

Tenured and tenure-track faculty members of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are eligible to offer graduate-numbered courses, advise doctoral dissertations, serve on dissertation committees, and participate generally in the faculty governance of the Graduate School.  Also eligible to participate in these roles are tenured and tenure-track faculty who hold primary or secondary appointments in participating departments of the biomedical sciences graduate programs; tenured and tenure-track faculty in the School of Nursing; faculty in the graduate program in public health as determined by the chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences and the associate dean for graduate programs; and tenured or tenure-track faculty in other schools at the University who hold a Ph.D. and who have been extended secondary appointments by departments in the Arts and Sciences that enumerate such responsibilities.  Others who do not meet these criteria may be nominated to the associate dean for graduate programs by the chair of a department in the Arts and Sciences for the purpose of offering a graduate-numbered course or serving on a dissertation committee.


The Graduate School of Arts and Science’s website, http://gsas.virginia.edu/, contains a wealth of current information pertinent to the topics covered in this section.