Leaves of Absence are sometimes necessary, especially during the Doctoral Student Exam-Dissertation Sequence when the milestones take longer than 8 weeks to complete. Or you may have a family, employment, or medical circumstance that requires you to step away from your studies for one or more semesters. It is important to fill out the Leave of Absence form if you will not register for a full Fall or Spring semester.

Withdrawing vs. Leave of Absence

If you originally enrolled in a course and need to withdraw from all courses for a given term, you need to fill out Course Withdrawal form. If you elect to fully withdraw from your program, fill out the Program Withdrawal form.

Leave of Absence Form

• Prior to the start of the semester, email Dr. Francis with an explanation of your leave of absence plan
• Fill out the Leave of Absence Form and indicate kstucki as the netID of the person who will review your request

Leave of Absence Duration

• You can be on a leave of absence for one full Fall or Spring semester without losing access to your @illinois.edu email address and other related resources, such as the UIUC library.
• If you need to be on a leave of absence for two consecutive Fall/Spring semesters or more, you will need to be approved for a departmental sponsorship to retain your NetID (email, library, etc.)
• Email the LDL Program advisor to request a sponsorship, which is processed by the College of Education and Technology Services
• Note: It is not necessary to complete a leave of absence form during the Summer semester.

Note that the Graduate College’s overall graduation timeline is 6 years from admission term. (See the Graduate College Handbook)

While on Leave of Absence (LOA)

You can continue to work on a course without registering.  This is especially important if you need to finish up an incomplete course and/or you would like to work ahead or catch up on anything related to the Exam-Dissertation Sequence.

If you need to extend your leave to more than one Fall/Spring semester, email Dr. Francis to ask for a department sponsorship. There is no cost associated with this sponsorship.

Resuming your Studies

Once you are ready to officially register, you must first complete the form and be authorized to register (you will be prompted to log-in).  Be sure to follow the process to be reinstated.

If you do not have an active netID, when you are ready to resume your studies, you will first need to create an account before you can fill out a Graduate Student petition.