Academic Leave of Absence (ALA) Accommodation for Graduate Students

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) Graduate School’s Academic Leave of Absence (ALA) policy allows graduate students to temporarily suspend pursuit of their degree goals in order to take care of certain life events. The policy may be most useful for dissertators subject to the continuous registration requirement, but it can stop the clock on time limit to degree for all students in doctoral, master’s, and certificate programs. The main goal of the ALA policy is to facilitate retention to graduation, without unduly prolonging time to degree. 

Students may request ALA as early as six months prior to the semester the leave is to start. A leave may be granted to students for illness (either physical or mental) or injury, to enable them to provide care or assistance for child, family or dependents, for military leave, or for other personal reasons. Based on the reasons, there are five different types of ALA. 

• Medical: For illness or injury. 
• Parental: Birth, foster or adoption of a child. 
• Family: In accordance with State of Wisconsin guidelines, family includes spouses, domestic partners, minor children, adult children with disabilities that require care, parents, parents-in-law, and domestic parents-in-law. 
• Military: to accommodate members of the military called to active duty or other service. 
• Personal: Personal needs not covered by the above four types, such as other family or financial crises, or special unusual circumstances. 

Students who are on an approved ALA suspend their active study for a semester or more, during which they do not make progress toward their degree. During an approved ALA, the student is considered to meet the Graduate School’s continuous enrollment requirement, and the Graduate School’s and the respective program’s minimum credit requirements for the semester. For doctoral students in coursework, an ALA will not be counted as an interruption of continuous residency. 

Students are expected to return from an ALA. They do not need to be re-admitted and they are not charged a fee to return to active status. However, they must complete a simple re-entry process to request a return to active status. Students return from an ALA with the same academic standing as they started their ALA. Their time limit to doctoral milestones and their time limit to degree will be extended by the length of their ALA. 

Students with prior funding commitments from UWM, such as Research Assistants or Teaching Assistants, should discuss with their programs whether their funding will continue upon return. During a student’s ALA programs are encouraged to pause the clock on any time limits related to the period of funding. After a student’s ALA programs are encouraged to continue funding at the same level whenever possible. 

When a student is on ALA, they will not pay segregated fees. As a result, UWM may limit their access to facilities supported by segregated fees, such as recreational facilities, child care services, and Norris Health Center. 

UWM also may limit access to non-public areas of other UWM buildings, research laboratories, or libraries. However, the student will have access to basic services such as email privileges in order to remain connected to their program. 

Process to Request an Academic Leave of Absence

Students should ask and plan for an academic leave of absence as early as possible. The graduate program must be involved in the planning process. Students are required to meet with the respective graduate program representative or their designee to plan for a leave of absence. The student and the graduate program representative should discuss possible alternatives to a leave of absence. The program will issue a positive or negative recommendation for approving the ALA through a procedure designed and maintained by the Graduate School. 

Once a student decides that they need to take a leave and has received a recommendation from their graduate program, the student submits a formal request to the Graduate School using the standard Request for Exception form and process. The request must specify the type of leave and the period of the leave. The request for leave must contain the following supporting documents appropriate to the type of leave requested, collected and evaluated by the program before it issues its approval: 

• Medical: A recommendation from a licensed health professional. 
• Parental: Basic information/documentation about the child and childcare responsibilities. 
• Family: Basic information/documentation about the affected family member and care responsibilities. 
• Military: Official documentation of call to active duty or other service. 
• Personal: A brief documentation of the need. 

International students must also submit a written recommendation from the Center for International Education’s International Student and Scholar Services office (ISSS). Students with a UWM issued F-1 or J-1 visa must consult with ISSS to determine how immigration regulations may impact their ability to take a leave of absence. International students are strongly encouraged to discuss their return to UWM with CIE before beginning an ALA. 

A student may switch their type of leave if the need changes. In this event, the student may contact their program and the Graduate School to update the terms of their leave by submitting a new request form. 

• Student: A request for an ALA is initiated by the graduate student. Students are required to meet with the graduate program representative or their designee to plan for a leave of absence. Whenever possible, students must discuss tentative plans for re-entry prior to requesting the leave. Students are responsible for understanding the implications of taking an ALA, and for carefully considering the possible impact on non-academic matters such as financial aid, visa status, health insurance, or campus employment. Students are responsible for compiling the documents and submitting first to the program and then to the Graduate School. 
• Faculty Advisor: The student’s faculty advisor will assist the student in requesting an ALA. The advisor also will assist with planning for re-entry. Other advisors, such as the Principal Investigator of a project employing a Research Assistant seeking an ALA, also may be involved. 
• Graduate Program Representative or designee: The graduate program representative or designee is responsible for making recommendations to the Graduate School regarding the student’s requested ALA. 
• Dean of Graduate School or designee: The Dean of the Graduate School has final authority on the approval of the requested ALA. The Dean or designee reviews the supplemental information and the recommendation from the program in making this decision. Decisions will be made in a timely way, normally within two weeks. 

Students are not eligible to request an ALA until they have completed one semester of study in their program. A newly admitted student who has registered may seek an admissions deferral, rather than a leave of absence, if the request and approval occur before the end of the third week of classes in the initial semester of the program. 

Leaves should be requested for the shortest time needed to ensure progress to degree. The time limits for the different types of leaves are as follows (only academic year semesters are counted). 

• Medical: A maximum of two consecutive semesters to be granted at a time, including the semester in which the leave begins. 
• Parental: A maximum of two consecutive semesters to be granted at a time, including the semester in which the leave begins. 
• Family: A maximum of two consecutive semesters to be granted at a time, including the semester in which the leave begins. 
• Military: The duration of the active duty assignment. 
• Personal: A maximum of two consecutive semesters to be granted at a time, including the semester in which the leave begins. 

Students who have extreme situations may request an extension for additional semesters during an ALA by submitting a second request form to the Graduate School after program approval. If the duration of leave extends beyond three consecutive academic year semesters, the students will be discontinued and required to apply for readmission when they return. 

Prior to requesting an ALA in the middle of a semester, students should be encouraged to explore options with their graduate program to remain registered for the current semester. If it is not possible for students to remain registered, students may request to begin an ALA in the middle of a semester. 

In order to begin an ALA in the middle of a semester, students may need to withdraw from their courses for the semester. Withdrawing from a semester may have implications on a student’s visa status, tuition payments, loans, fellowships, employment and benefits. Please consult appropriate campus units and staff regarding these implications. A student who requests an ALA mid-semester may also request Incomplete grades in each course if they have done satisfactory work in a substantial fraction of the course requirements. Such requests are not granted automatically, and the decision lies with each course instructor. 

Return from an ALA 

Students are expected to remain in contact with their programs while on leave and resume their studies as soon as possible. Prior to return, students must notify the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School at gradschool-staff@uwm.edu of their intent to return at least 4 weeks prior to the start of the semester. In the case of medical leave, the program or the Graduate School may request a recommendation from a licensed health professional. 

Students on F-1 or J-1 visa must consult CIE’s International Student and Scholar Services and get their authorization prior to returning. 

• Appendix 1 - Other Considerations for Students Requesting Academic Leave of Absence (ALA)