Academic Planning
ACADEMIC ADVISING
For academic advising, first year students should make an appointment with the Program Director, Dr. Sandra Whitehead. By the time a student has completed 21 credit hours, they should identify a faculty mentor. The faculty mentor’s role is to foster and encourage the student’s academic and professional development. Ideally, the faculty mentor’s professional and research interests will align with the student’s interest and together the student and mentor will determine an appropriate topic for the student’s capstone project. Students are expected to obtain the faculty member’s consent and email their selection to the Program Director copying the faculty mentor.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR
The academic calendar can be found at https://www.gwu.edu/academic-calendar.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
To review GW's Code of Academic Integrity, visit the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (SRR) at https://studentconduct.gwu.edu/.
GRADING
For information on GW's grading system, visit the Office of the Registrar at https://registrar.gwu.edu/grading.
STUDENT POLICIES & PROCEDURES
A complete list of student policies and procedures can be found at https://www.cps.gwu.edu/student-policies-procedures.
PROGRAM PLAN
48 credit hours are required for Master's student, whereas 18 credit hours are required for students seeking a Graduate Certificate. Students connect with the Program Director (PD) to develop individualized areas of interest using coursework offered by SUP and other departments across the university. In order to register for a class outside the SUP curriculum, students need the written permission of the PD. Students should send an email to the PD detailing the course (with syllabus if possible) and its relationship to their goals.
The suggested Program Plans (Masters & Graduate Certificate) spreadsheet below provides a potential path towards graduation over a 2-3 year track.
DEGREE MAP
DegreeMAP is a tool that students and advisors can use to (M)easure (A)cademic (P)rogress toward completion of a student's degree or certificate program. The tool will display the requirements for the student’s program of study and apply their coursework (also known as academic history) to those requirements. Some programs may also contain non-course requirements needed for graduation, such as required exams, papers, dissertation, colloquium and more. DegreeMAP can include in-progress and preregistered courses to show how currently-enrolled classes will apply to requirements.
DegreeMAP is accessed via GWeb: https://it.gwu.edu/gweb
REGISTRATION
Students register for classes each semester online via GWeb. We recommend that you sign up as soon as your registration period opens to ensure you get into all of the classes you are hoping to take (our courses can fill up quickly).
How to Register for Classes: https://registrar.gwu.edu/how-register
TYPICAL REGISTRATION TIMELINE*
Fall Semester: registration begins in mid-April
Spring Semester: registration begins in mid-November
Summer Semester: registration begins in mid-March
*subject to change since these dates are set by the Registrar's Office
WITHDRAWING FROM CLASSES
Withdrawals are handled by the Office of the Registrar, visit https://registrar.gwu.edu/withdrawals-refunds.
GRADUATION
In your second to last semester at GW, you will be required to apply for graduation. You can find the graduation application opening and deadline dates for each semester on the Registrar's website: https://registrar.gwu.edu/application-deadlines
GW holds commencement ceremonies each Spring (typically in mid-May). Students who graduate the preceding Fall semester, current Spring semester or plan to graduate the following Summer semester are eligible to participate. (i.e. Commencement in May 2023 celebrated Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Summer 2023 graduates).
There are two commencement ceremonies for SUP students to participate in: one specific to the College of Professional Studies and one for university-wide celebration (held on the National Mall). Both ceremonies are usually held in the same weekend.