Graduate Forms

 Submit this form as one piece of the required Appeal for a Late Withdrawal procedure. After the instructor has signed the form, students must upload the signed document to the SCI Policy Waiver Request online form. If you need to withdraw from a course offered by a different School at the University, you must send the instructor-signed form to that School's Office of the Dean. The Dean's signature will remain blank until the SCI Policy Waiver Request for Graduate Students form, Appeal Form, and any supporting documentation has been received.  Refer to the Student Appeals website for more information.

A graduate student may choose to change their advisor by filling out the Change of Advisor form.  Students should get approval from the advisor they wish to switch to prior to filing the form.  Please note that if you are choosing a new specialization, you will need to submit a Graduate Academic Plan Change form.

This Grade Option/Audit Form is for GRADUATE courses offered in the School of Computing and Information. It will not be processed if the information is incomplete or inaccurate. It is up to the discretion of the instructor to approve or deny the grade option request.

You should discuss the requirements for S/NC with your department administrator or advisor if they are counting towards your major requirements. Audit grade options should be discussed and approved with the instructor before launching this form. The student and the instructor must sign the Grade Option/Audit Form no later than four weeks after the start of the term.  Once a grade is changed to S/NC or Audit, this cannot be undone.

The Grade Option/Audit Request form for undergraduate courses can be found at the Undergraduate forms page.

If a graduate student wishes to make changes within their current degree they must fill out the Graduate Academic Plan (Degree/Specialization) Change Form. The form will be reviewed by the Department of your current program.  Please note that CS-MS students MUST complete this form to switch from Project to Thesis.

Receipt of the corrected DocuSign form is confirmation the Department/Program has reviewed and determined to ACCEPT or DENY your request.  Requests to discontinue your program will not be denied.  For questions regarding the status of your request, please contact the Department or Program Administrator.

(This form is not for students who want to change their program. Students who want to change their graduate degree entirely, e.g. from a Computer Science Masters to an Information Science Masters must apply for the new degree through GradCAS). 

Under special conditions, Graduate students may be granted one Leave of Absence. A maximum leave of two years may be granted to Doctoral students or one year to Master’s students. The length and rationale for the leave of absence must be stated in the form, recommended and approved by the Department or Program .  If granted approval by the Department, a student is ensured that the time of the leave shall not count against the degree’s statute of limitations, the student’s transfer credits, and previously authorized exemptions will be accepted as previously approved. If a student petitioned the faculty and received permission to enroll in an external institution during their LOA for transfer credit in advance of their LOA, the credits may still transfer upon the student’s return.

Note that completion of this form will not alter your course enrollment; if you are currently enrolled and plan to take a leave this term, you must adjust your enrollment either by resigning from the term  or by dropping your classes  Removing classes from your schedule requires different processes depending on different point in the semester, refer to the Payments page for more information.

Application for Admission to Candidacy

After completion of the overview/proposal, the student needs to file the Application to Admission to Candidacy form for the Doctor of Philosophy degree.  This form should be filed in consultation with the student’s Advisor. Students are informed of admission to candidacy by written notification from the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and students must be enrolled in the term in which they are completing the overview for candidacy.  Please refer to the catalog or speak to your Advisor for additional information about Admission to Candidacy.

Committee Approval

Committee Approval forms must be submitted prior to scheduling the defense. Rules pertaining to doctoral committee composition are published in the University Catalog in the School’s PhD Degree Requirements section. If an active researcher with an appointment outside of the University is recommended as a member of the committee, the researcher's CV must accompany the Committee Approval form.

Contact your department representative to initiate this form.

Defense Announcement

The Defense Scheduling and Announcement form must be submitted AT LEAST FOUR WEEKS PRIOR to the scheduled defense. When determining a date for the examination, students should consider the ETD processing deadlines and promptly discuss with their department, allowing themselves sufficient time between final oral examination and ETD deadline to revise their dissertation and gather the related paperwork. Students may initiate the defense scheduling and University Times announcement by submitting this form. It will be forwarded to the committee chair, the appropriate department administrator, and the Dean's Office.

Proposal/Dissertation Abstract Template

Using the Proposal/Dissertation Abstract Template lays out the specific format required for submitting your proposal or dissertation defense document.  For specific questions about your proposal, reach out to your advisor or department representative.

After the add/drop period has ended, you may withdraw from a course by completing a Monitored Withdrawal Request form.  Submit this form for all SCI courses no later than the monitored withdrawal deadline published in the University’s Academic Calendar for the term. All forms must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  

NOTICE: Starting in the Fall 2025 term, withdrawals from a course now count as an official attempt. This means that they count towards the number of repeats you have when taking a course.  Students can only repeat a course twice, for a total of three attempts.  You can see the policy update here: https://www.provost.pitt.edu/course-repeat.  For questions about the impact of a Withdrawal on your record, please reach out to your advisor.

To withdraw as a Master of Data Science Student, fill out this form.

To withdraw from SCI courses (courses with CMPINF, CS, INFSCI, ISSP, LIS, TELCOM), fill out this form

For All Other Pitt subject codes, fill out this form.  

Graduate students can cross-register for courses through the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education (PCHE) program.  Students can be cross registered between their home school and another participating school to take courses not offered at their home institution.  Students who are interested in enrolling in a course at a PCHE institution must submit the advisor signed PCHE Cross Registration Form to SCI Academic Records by the deadline determined by the University of Pittsburgh Registrar's office.  Once the form is submitted, Academic Records will obtain the required Dean’s signature and route to the Registrar’s Office for final processing.  

If you have additional questions after your form is submitted, please reach out to pche@pitt.edu.  

A Permission Number is a code used to override an enrollment restriction on a course. This code is issued by the school or department offering the course. More information on submitting a Permission Number Request can be found in the Pitt SCI Permission Numbers Instructions. Please read and follow the instructions on the Permission Number Application carefully. Approval for requests can only be granted approval if all requirements are met.

Policy Waiver Requests are a petition initiated to allow a student to request to waive a policy.  This form will require the student to identify the policy that would need to be waived. 

The (University's Graduate Catalog) is the repository for all University, School, and department, major, or program policies. Each Catalog is published annually; changes made to the policies published in the Catalog impact students according to when they were admitted to the University. 

Policy Waiver Requests will be routed to the appropriate office for review upon submission of this form. Additional materials may be requested.  Students requesting a policy waiver are encouraged to first speak with their academic advisor.  Please refer to the Student Appeals page for more information on appeals requiring policy waiver requests.

Academic Records automatically submits the Registrar’s Course Repeat Form for students who have repeated the exact same course (i.e., repeating INFSCI 2100). However, any student who is replacing a course with a cross listed one, must submit a Course Repeat Form to their Department Admin PRIOR  to enrollment. The advisor will review course repeat policies with the student and submit the form to Records on behalf of the student at the end of the term.

If you are requesting to transfer courses from another institution, please reach out to your department to get the course evaluated.