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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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Q. What is the new policy on registration eligibility and limits?
A. Announced in October 2007 and beginning in Fall 2008, students who are beyond their 9th year of registration in their PhD program in the Arts and Sciences should not register again until they are ready to distribute their dissertation for defense. The details of the policy are here, including information about the transition policy for students in their 8th and 9th year in 2007- 08. (If you are an international student, please contact ISSO for information about registration requirements as it relates to your visa status.)
Q. If I'm not registered, what will I need in order to use the library resources?
A.Are you a Columbia alum? Students who are beyond the 9-year registration limit but who need access to the Columbia Libraries may use these resources using their Columbia alumni privileges (as an undergraduate, MA, and/or MPhil graduate of Columbia). Students should visit Butler Library information desk (to the left as you enter Butler) and request an alumni library card. (There is a $5 fee for the card.) You may use all Columbia libraries on-site. You also have remote access to the five largest electronic databases (for example, from your home or other location with internet). If you need use of other e-databases, contact Jan Allen ( ja2310@columbia.edu), and the library will work with their database vendors to grant you access to other databases for one semester or one year. This additional access is granted based on your making satisfactory progress each semester to the completion of your degree and must be approved by your department and GSAS. In addition, if you wish to use circulation services of the CU Libraries, there is a $30 per month fee, payable to the CU Libraries.
Q. Do I need to register again if I distribute my dissertation one semester and defend in the subsequent semester?
A.No, you need to be registered only for the semester you distribute your dissertation, not the semester you defend if those are two different semesters. (International students: Please check with ISSO.) Once you distribute your dissertation, you do not register again. If the outcome of your dissertation defense is not a Pass but an Incomplete (acceptable but subject to major revisions) and you must make extensive revisions before the defense outcome is changed to a Pass, then contact the GSAS dissertation office to request an extension of your library privileges.
It is each student's responsibility to know and follow the terms of the CU libraries' policy on returning books once the student is no longer registered, whether due to degree completion or being beyond registration eligibility, and has moved to alumni status.
Q. What if I want to continue to register as a student so I can continue to defer my student loans?
A. We cannot permit students to register for the purpose of deferring student loans.
Q. Once I am beyond my nine years of registration
eligibility, what do I need to do to register again for the purpose of
distributing my dissertation?
A. Just have your advisor send an
e-mail to the Associate Dean for PhD Programs or to the Dissertation
Office reporting that he/she has approved your dissertation as ready
for distribution. Then we will unblock you to register for your final
semester.
Q. I have reached the end of my 9th year of registration. Is there a way to keep my Columbia e-mail account and to continue to use the Columbia Libraries?
A. Yes, this way: After nine years of registration in your GSAS PhD program in the Arts and Sciences, (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/sub/finaid/finance/9yr-policy/), you may continue to work on your dissertation as an unregistered student. (You have one final semester of remaining registration eligibility to use once you distribute the defense copy of your dissertation to your committee http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/sub/bulletin/degree/dissertation/completing.html). Although you will no longer be eligible for many of the services that you were as a registered student, you may use your status as a GSAS alumni (with your Columbia MA and/or MPhil degree) to retain e-mail and use of the libraries. Check the GSAS Alumni web site for information about your options. Check the Columbia Libraries web site for information about alumni privileges. And one more: If you need access to specialized electronic databases (the five largest are included in the alumni privileges), send an e-mail to ja2310@columbia.edu listing the databases you need. The Libraries staff will contact the vendor for each database and request access for you for one year (currently without a fee).
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