Graduate Student Handbook
Find the information you need for graduate study
Find the departmental policies, procedures and resources you need throughout your graduate studies at the University at Buffalo. Whether you're pursuing a master's degree or a PhD, this handbook provides guidance on advising, research, degree completion, financial assistance and academic responsibilities.
On this page:
All graduate students and faculty are also responsible for becoming familiar with the Graduate School Policy Library. Departmental requirements may differ from the Graduate School's minimum requirements. When they do, the departmental requirements take precedence.
Select your degree below to explore program-specific procedures. Additional policies and resources that apply to all Department of Geography graduate students appear after the degree sections.
PhD degree requirements
Refer to the official Graduate Course Catalog for required courses, electives, credit hours and other curriculum requirements.
Doctoral examinations and defenses
Successful completion of the PhD program requires steps as follows:
This examination is normally taken before the end of the second year of full-time residency.
The scope and contents of the Preliminary Examination are to be determined in advance by the Supervisory Committee in consultation with the student. The Exam focuses on the general areas of specialization in which the student is conducting their graduate studies. It consists of written responses to questions set by the Committee and an oral examination by the Committee.
The Preliminary Exam for students who begin their graduate work at the University at Buffalo in the PhD program must normally be held before the end of the second year of the PhD program. Students who fall more than one semester behind this time schedule will be placed on probation and will be allowed four weeks to take the Preliminary Exam. Failure to meet the condition of probation will result in a declaration by the Graduate Committee that the student is not in good standing.
A student taking the Preliminary Exam will be awarded one of three grades by the Supervisory Committee as determined by a majority vote of the Committee, all of whom must be present (in-person or virtual) for the entire oral examination:
- Pass. The Supervisory Committee will pass the student if the Committee believes that the student is eligible to prepare a Dissertation Proposal upon completion of course work.
- Conditional Pass. The Supervisory Committee may prescribe taking formal courses and/or doing specialized tutorial work with faculty members as condition(s) for passing the exam. Conditions will be supervised by the Committee Chair and monitored through Annual Review. The Preliminary Exam will not be retaken.
- Fail. If the Supervisory Committee believes that the student exhibited significant weaknesses, the student will fail the exam. For example, the student may have exhibited the following deficiencies: (i) a poor understanding of fundamental facts and theories required to answer either their written questions or supplementary oral questions during the exam, or (ii) a poor ability to apply those fundamental facts and theories to other situations.
Failure on the Preliminary Exam will be rectified by re-examination after a minimum interval of three months but no later than by the end of the semester following the one in which the student first took the Exam. The Supervisory Committee may set conditions including taking formal courses or doing specialized tutorial work with faculty members prior to retaking the Preliminary Exam.
A student may take the Preliminary Exam only twice. Failure of the second attempt of the Preliminary Exam will result in loss of funding and removal from the PhD program.
Within seven days of the Preliminary Exam, the Committee Chair must inform the student in writing of the grade achieved and the nature of any prescribed remedial work and/or reexamination if required. A copy of this correspondence will also be sent to the Graduate Secretary and placed in the student’s file.
All students initially admitted to a PhD program are required to document successful completion of "Responsible Conduct of Research" (RCR) training when they submit their Application to Candidacy (ATC) for their PhD degree.
This training requirement may be fulfilled by either (1) enrolling in and passing PHI 640 Graduate Research Ethics or RPN 541 Ethics and Conduct of Research or (2) completing the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) online Responsible Conduct of Research course with an average score of 80% or higher.
Students opting to complete the CITI online course must supply documentation of its successful completion with their Application to Candidacy.
The Dissertation Proposal is written as well as oral. The written version of the Proposal is to be made available for the Department to inspect one week prior to the oral presentation. The oral presentation is made to the Supervisory Committee and is open to the Department. The proposal must receive a favorable vote from a majority of the Supervisory Committee to be considered acceptable.
The student is to be informed of the outcome of the vote by the Committee Chairperson immediately following the oral presentation.
Upon completion of the dissertation, the PhD candidate must give an oral public defense of their findings. The outside reader will be selected by the Chair of The Committee and be knowledgeable in the student’s area of specialization, be familiar with the nature of university research, and have had previous experience in directing or supervising research.
Following the presentation, the members of the Supervisory Committee will rule on the acceptability of the dissertation and the defense. The defense is acceptable if a majority of the Committee, including the Chairperson, so state by signing the appropriate Graduate School M form.
The student is to be notified of the ruling by the Committee Chairperson immediately following the defense and the Committee’s deliberation.
Once complete, a permanent copy of the dissertation must be presented to the Department.
Students must submit a bound hard copy following their defense.
Required form
PhD Supervisory Committee
The Supervisory Committee evaluates the student’s performance on all examinations. A pass or fail mark on all examinations is determined by a majority vote of the Committee.
Each PhD student is required to have a Supervisory Committee as follows:
- A Faculty member or adjunct member of the Department of Geography who serves as the student’s advisor and as Chair of the Committee.
- Two additional members of the UB Graduate faculty, at least one of whom must be a member or adjunct member of the Department of Geography.
- Additional faculty members as appropriate (optional).
In addition, each PhD student is required to have an outside reader who has a faculty affiliation and whose primary appointment is outside the Department of Geography. Adjunct Faculty of the Department of Geography may serve as a student’s outside reader provided they are not serving as one of the three core members of that student’s Supervisory Committee. The role of the outside reader will be determined by the Supervisory Committee Chair and can be from another academic institution.
All geography faculty are welcome to attend all PhD oral examinations, proposals, and defenses, and may take part in the oral questioning; however, only members of the students’ Supervisory Committees may vote. In addition, students are welcome to attend the oral presentations of dissertation proposals and the public defenses of completed dissertations.
All doctoral examinations and defenses are to be scheduled by the Chairpersons of the Supervisory Committee and announced in advance to the Department.
All PhD students and PhD candidates will be reviewed annually in May:
- All students and advisors are required to complete the Geography PhD Annual Review Form. Advisors will meet with their students to discuss the content of their review before submitting their forms to the Graduate Secretary.
- Faculty who serve as instructors of PhD students and/or serve on PhD committees will complete a Faculty Annual Review form for these students.
- If the student’s committee is constituted, an annual committee meeting to discuss the student’s review is strongly recommended. Students before candidacy should be assessed at an annual meeting of the subfield faculty. Upon candidacy, either the Chair or the DGS will assess students. All students will receive written feedback following assessment, at a minimum, an acknowledgment of good standing. The Chair may adjust the Department assessment process.
Review departmental policies that apply to graduate students across all degree programs.
It is the responsibility of every Geography graduate student to develop and obtain approval for their graduate program. The graduate program identifies all courses, independent study, project, and any other activities that are to be counted toward the fulfillment of the degree requirements.
The Director of Graduate Studies shall appoint a temporary advisor for all entering students, which will become the permanent advisor if no action is taken. If a student desires to change his/her advisor, the student should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies.
COURSE SELECTION AND APPROVAL
It is the responsibility of each graduate student to consult with their advisor at the beginning of each semester to determine the appropriate set of courses. If, for any reason, the advisor is unavailable, the student should see the Director of Graduate Studies.
In addition, at the beginning of each semester every Master’s must submit the Graduate Student Advisement Form.
Final approval of the specific courses that may be applied toward a student’s degree is reserved for the student's major professor in consultation with the student's committee.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
The Graduate School requires all graduate students to submit an Application to Candidacy for review and approval. This form is completed by the student, reviewed and approved by the student’s advisor, committee member(s) and the Director of Graduate Studies.
For Masters students, an approved Application to Candidacy must be filed with the Graduate School during the semester prior to the semester in which the student expects to graduate. Doctoral students must file an approved Application to Candidacy two semesters prior to graduation.
All forms for students can be found on the Graduate School website.
Understand your funding responsibilities and options
The Department of Geography provides financial assistance to eligible graduate students through assistantships and fellowships. This section outlines departmental policies governing financial assistance, including eligibility, work requirements, continued support and appeals.
Looking for scholarships, fellowships or other ways to fund your education? Explore available opportunities, eligibility requirements and university funding resources.
Departmental Financial Assistance Policies
The following policies govern departmental financial assistance for graduate students.
ELIGIBILITY
Any Geography graduate student may request to be considered for financial assistance. Decisions on financial awards are made by the Department as a whole with recommendation from the Graduate Committee. The student’s composite academic record and previous assistantship performance, if any, will be used for the evaluation. Candidates for university-wide fellowships are also evaluated by a university committee.
Granting of financial assistance is for the term specified in the offer letter and does not imply financial assistance for any other term.
Current students wishing to be considered for funding may submit a Departmental funding application. Deadlines will be announced internally.
Criteria for evaluating applications for financial assistance are as follows:
- Academic performance: academic work at other institutions, past and current work at UB, and evaluations by referees.
- Student’s skills and previous experience to fit Department need
- International Students – TOEFL and SPEAK scores.
WORK REQUIREMENTS
The normal workload of graduate assistants should not exceed 20 hours per week. The type of work is determined by either the faculty member to whom the assistant is assigned or by the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair.
Normally, students assist in assembling bibliographies, grading, proctoring examinations, conducting laboratory sections, maintaining Department laboratory facilities, and assisting faculty in research. In addition, doctoral students are required to gain experience through classroom instruction.
After initial assignment by the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair, the faculty supervisor is responsible for defining the duties to be performed, scheduling the hours to be worked, and evaluating the student’s performance.
All TA/GA positions are responsible for occasional proctoring.
Other faculty shall not give direct assignments to student assistants but shall make their requirements known to the Director of Graduate Studies or the Department Chair, who shall make any necessary reassignments.
If the faculty supervisor is dissatisfied with the assistant’s performance, or if the student feels that the work he/she has been assigned is inappropriate or excessive, appeal may be made to the Director of Graduate Studies for review.
Students are required to record their duties and hours of worktime and submit a log sheet due at the end of the semester.
CRITERIA FOR CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY
A student will be considered as having received financial support from the Department if he/she is awarded a graduate assistantship or fellowship from moneys allocated to the Department by the Dean of the Graduate School. Support moneys awarded for summer sessions and funds made available from research grants do not affect the eligibility of a student for funding during the regular academic year.
Students may not receive departmental support while they are receiving support from research grants.
All assistantships funded from research grant moneys are awarded by the principal investigator of the grant. All conditions of work are to be handled by the principal investigator and the student. The departmental rules and regulations regarding assistantship support do not apply to grant moneys, with the exception that student workload shall not exceed 20 hours per week and shall not hinder the student's progress toward their degree.
The duration of the financial award will be clearly stated in the student’s offer letter. The granting of financial assistance to a student for a certain period of time in no way guarantees the student further financial assistance after the period of the award has terminated.
Tuition waivers associated with TA/GA stipends are limited to 72 credit hours. Time limits may include all assistantship appointments at UB from date of entrance to the Graduate School.
Beyond these limits, students may receive assistantships funded from research grants; however, tuition scholarships for such appointments must be approved by the Graduate School. Students are cautioned that financial exigencies may limit the use of tuition scholarships.
In addition, Master’s students who are conditionally accepted as doctoral students during the first year of their graduate study may receive funding during the second year of residence. (Such conditional acceptance would occur when MA students are granted permission to enter the PhD program pending completion of their MA degrees).
Special requests for additional financial support may be made by any PhD student before February 1st of their fourth year of support. To request an additional year of financial assistance, a PhD student must submit to the Director of Graduate Studies the following information:
- Evidence that an application for external (i.e., to funding sources other than the Department) support moneys has been made and subsequently rejected.
- Written statements from the Chairperson of the Student’s Supervisory Committee assessing the progress being made by the student toward completion of the degree program and explaining why an extension of financial assistance for an additional year is necessary.
Upon receipt of this information, the Director of Graduate Studies must present the request to the Department faculty. An additional year of financial assistance may be extended to a PhD student if a majority of the voting faculty is convinced that adequate efforts have been made by the student to secure outside funding, that the student is making satisfactory progress toward the completion of degree, that an additional year of financial support is necessary to complete the program, and that the moneys allocated to the Department for student support are sufficient to fund the request.
Once funded, a student may apply for renewal subject to the normal time limits as set forth in this document if:
- The student’s advisor indicates in writing that he/she is making satisfactory progress toward completion of the degree in the student’s Annual Review (see Phd Annual Review, Section IV);
- The faculty member to whom the student has been assigned as a teaching assistance does not submit any objection in writing to the student’s renewal; and
- The amount of moneys available to the Department for assistantship of fellowship awards remains adequate.
TERMINATION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Any financial assistance awarded to a graduate student from moneys allocated to the Department by the Dean or the Graduate School may be terminated at any time if the student’s job performance is not satisfactory.
In such a case the student’s supervisor will notify the Director of Graduate Studies that the student’s performance is unsatisfactory and will indicate why the performance is unsatisfactory. The Director of Graduate studies shall notify the student in writing that their performance is unsatisfactory.
The Director of Graduate Studies will consult with the student and may:
- Continue assistance upon reaching a satisfactory understanding between the student and their supervisor.
- Assign the student other duties and a new supervisor; or
- Terminate the student’s appointment after receiving support for such action by a majority vote of the faculty.
The Director of Graduate Studies shall issue a written statement to the student and their supervisor reporting the decision.
If the student has been terminated, he/she may file an appeal by forwarding a letter to the Director of Graduate Studies within fourteen days of their receipt of the notice of termination. The Director of Graduate Studies shall present the case to the faculty as a whole for adjudication. The student’s assistantship or fellowship can be reinstated by a majority of the voting faculty.
All graduate teaching assistants and regular graduate assistants may register for one or both of the following courses when assistantship assignments so warrant:
Supervised Teaching (GEO 601). This course may be taken by all TA/GAs who have full or partial responsibilities for teaching a course or laboratory section. Each TA/GA will be assigned to a faculty member who will regularly oversee the teaching activities of the graduate student.
In cases where students and faculty generate joint publications, the order of authorship is to be worked out by the respective persons involved.
It is the policy of the Department to include students as co-authors in every case where the student has made a substantial contribution to the publication.
Any student has the right to appeal any action taken pursuant to this document. Appeals shall be made first to the Department as a whole and a majority of the voting faculty will determine the Department’s decision. Further appeal shall be in accordance with the University’s procedures.
Department Forms
Access commonly used forms for advising, course waivers, internships, research projects and degree completion.
While generative AI tools can be used responsibly and ethically in dissertations, theses and capstones, inappropriate use of these tools may prevent graduate students from gaining domain knowledge, thinking critically, and developing disciplinary skills, all of which are important parts of graduate training. This policy aims to guide students on the proper use of generative AI in dissertations, theses and capstones.
- Students are permitted to use generative AI tools in the following ways:
- Evaluating research ideas from students
- Grammar checking / minor language improvements
- Obtaining further information about methods based on initial ideas from students
- Generating initial code for data processing, which is then verified and revised by the student
- Other appropriate use approved by the primary advisor. If in doubt whether a particular use is allowed, please ask.
- Students are not permitted to use generative AI tools in the following ways:
- Using generative AI to directly generate research questions used in dissertations, theses and capstones
- Incorporating large paragraphs of texts substantially generated by AI into dissertations, theses and capstones
- Using generative AI to fabricate results, citations, and references
- Submitting confidential or sensitive research data to external generative AI for analysis
- Other inappropriate use listed by the primary advisor. When in doubt, please ask.
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT:
Students are required to fully declare and disclose their use of generative AI in dissertations, theses and capstones. The disclosure statement should be in a separate section, and it should start with “I attest that any use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of this document has been fully disclosed. All substantive ideas, analyses, interpretations, and conclusions are my own unless otherwise cited.”
Then, the statement should provide information about: (1) which generative AI tool(s) was used; (2) how the AI tool(s) was used; (3) whether the student has reviewed and verified the AI-generated content.
The statement should end with “I take full responsibility for all the content in this dissertation/thesis/capstone.”
An example statement can look like this:
“I attest that any use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of this document has been fully disclosed. All substantive ideas, analyses, interpretations, and conclusions are my own unless otherwise cited. During the preparation of this dissertation, I used ChatGPT for editing grammar of some sentences and generating example code for processing data. I reviewed and verified all AI-generated content, and revised a majority of such content. I take full responsibility for all the content in this dissertation.”
Students may also choose to include the details of using generative AI tools (e.g., prompts used) in the appendix of the dissertation, thesis, and capstone, upon discussion and agreement with their primary advisor.
Failure to follow the generative AI use policy constitutes a violation of academic integrity and may result in corresponding sanctions as explained in UB’s academic integrity policies.
Students should also get familiar with UB’s policies related to AI use and academic integrity.
Graduate School policies and student resources
Use the links below to access official Graduate School policies, scholarships and fellowships, international student guidance and degree-specific deadlines.
