Graduate Student Forms

Independent Study Form Process

Students interested in an independent study are required to discuss their proposed independent study with a computer science faculty member prior to applying for an independent study with that faculty member. An outside faculty member may only be added as a secondary evaluator. Once approved to engage in the independent study with your faculty member, complete the Graduate Independent Study Form, which can be found here.

We recommend you submit your independent study application three business days before the add/drop deadline. Please note: if the independent study form is submitted after the add/drop deadline, it may take up to 10 days to be enrolled. 

Check out the Independent Study FAQ created for MS students by PhD students with help and input from MS Advising and the graduate programs office. 

Add/Drop a Course

The deadlines to add/drop a course, including late drop, can be found here, while the add/drop form can be found here. Students will need to fill out and obtain a faculty instructor signature on this form, then email the form to the Graduate School at gradrec [at] grad [dot] umass [dot] edu (gradrec[at]grad[dot]umass[dot]edu). If you have any questions, please contact the Graduate Programs Assistant Kyle Skemer at ehamel [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (k)kskemer [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (skemer[at]cs[dot]umass[dot]edu).

Dissertation Credits

Enrollment in dissertation credits is by permission only. During the fall and spring semesters, doctoral students should request enrollment. Students do not need to request more than 18 dissertation credits throughout their program. Your grade will automatically be recorded by the Graduate School as "IP" until you successfully defend your thesis, then it will change to SAT. A doctoral candidate must spend the equivalent of at least one continuous academic year of full-time graduate work (nine credits per semester) in residence at the university. The residency year must be either in a Fall/Spring or Spring/Fall sequence; during this year, the student must spend some part of each week physically on campus. 

Waiver of Core Requirements

Students who have taken courses that are nearly identical to those used to satisfy core requirements may request waivers of those core requirements using this form. The minimum grade required for a core waiver is a B in the course previously taken. Download and complete the PDF form below. Complete a form for each waiver request. If you are making multiple requests at the same time, the form must reflect the other requests. Once all sections of this form have been completed, present it to a faculty member who typically teaches the course corresponding to the core(s) you wish to have waived.

• Waiver of Core Requirements Form

Master's Project and/or Synthesis Proposal

For a stand-alone Master's Project, a stand-alone Synthesis Proposal, or a combined Master's Project and Synthesis Proposal, please submit this online form.

Portfolio Report (MS/PhD or PhD only)

If you are submitting your portfolio, you will need to submit this document as part of your portfolio.

Travel Grant Application

Funds may be awarded to students only if they are presenting work done at UMass at a conference or meeting. "Presenting" refers to either delivering an oral presentation or serving as the primary presenter of a poster for a full paper (not an extended abstract or workshop paper) at a conference. Merely attending, even as a co-author, does not qualify for funding. The amount of funding varies from year to year and there is no guarantee of funding. The program director determines the amount of each travel grant.

Decisions are sent to the student, the grant administrator for the student's faculty advisor, and the CICS accountant via email with instructions on how to receive the award. Requests will not be processed for doctoral students without confirmation from the student's research advisor that they are aware and otherwise unable to support the travel. It is normally expected that grant-funded research has travel paid from the grant. Requests from master's students will be reviewed by the MPD only.

Completed applications are to be submitted to the graduate programs assistant Kyle Skemer at kskemer [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (subject: Travel%20Grant%20Application) (kskemer[at]cs[dot]umass[dot]edu) prior to travel. Forms can be submitted electronically and must include an employee ID number (if you have one).

If a travel grant is approved, the student must also receive authorization for any travel outside of the state or for overnight travel. This is done by the grants administrator of the student's faculty advisor or by the college accountant for master's students.

Students arrange travel themselves and save all receipts and boarding passes for reimbursement. Students may also need a visa to travel outside the U.S. Please allow extra time for visa processing. All receipts should be submitted to the research advisor's grant administrator for reimbursement. Once reimbursements are processed, the funds are added to a paycheck and deposited into a bank account on file.

• Travel Grant Application Form

Transfer Course Credit Form

Submit the transfer of credit form to kskemer [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (subject: Travel%20Grant%20Application) (kskemer[at]cs[dot]umass[dot]edu) at any time after the start of a graduate program, but not less than 60 days prior to submitting an eligibility form to graduate.

1. Please select the form that is appropriate for the transfer. If the student is transferring course credit from outside the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the form must be signed off by the Registrar at the appropriate institution prior to submitting to CICS.
2. If the student is transferring courses from the computer science program or other UMass Amherst program, they need to contact their undergraduate program manager to save the courses PRIOR to graduation.
3. Fill in the course(s) on the form and email the completed form to the graduate programs assistant Kyle Skemer at kskemer [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (subject: Travel%20Grant%20Application) (kskemer[at]cs[dot]umass[dot]edu) for CICS to obtain approvals.
4. Please allow up to three weeks for the form to be circulated for signatures and sent to the University Registrar.

UMass Amherst undergraduates may transfer a graduate course into the master's program if it was not applied to the undergraduate degree. Undergraduates must contact the undergraduate program manager prior to the end of the last semester in order to request the course(s) be set aside for transfer. An UMass Amherst undergraduate may transfer such a graduate course assigned a "pass" if the underlying grade is a C or better.