Although, as students of the Graduate School, all arrangements for grad students leaving UT - either temporarily or permanently - have to be processed by the Graduate School, we in the ELP grad office (SZB 3.308) strongly urge you to come speak with us, i.e. Graduate Coordinator and/or Graduate Adviser, if you decide for whatever reason that you won't be enrolling in the next long semester (for any reason other than graduation). It's very helpful for us to know what's happening with you, and we can also counsel you on the best course of action. Please see below for more info.
Leaves of Absence
All graduate students are entitled to long two semesters (consecutive or non-consecutive) of leave. This is automatically granted, but you must submit the necessary form (MED and Doctoral Student Form; Doctoral Candidate Student Form) with both your signature and the Graduate Advisor's signature by the day before classes start in the semester for which you are taking leave.
You do have to re-apply to return back to school once your semester(s) of leave has/have finished (please contact the Graduate Coordinator about re-admission), but you are guaranteed to be re-admitted. As such, an official leave of absence holds your spot in your program. If you leave UT without obtaining a leave of absence, your re-admission is at the discretion of the faculty.
*Please note: leaves of absence are not typically granted to doctoral students in candidacy.
Withdrawal
Withdrawal means registering and paying, but then dropping your entire course load, for ex., if you register for 9 credits and then drop all 9 credits without adding any other courses. Under certain circumstances, it may be possible to withdraw and then be granted leave for that same semester. If your withdrawal is necessitated by health issues, please contact University Health Services.
Self-termination
If you decide to leave UT and are sure that you will not be returning back, please send an email explaining this to the Graduate Advisor and Graduate Coordinator. It is very important that we communicate this to the Graduate School, so they can close your file as a student.