Plant Science (PLSC)

ATTENTION: Please use the forms found in the "Deadlines & Plant Science Graduate Forms" tab as these are the latest versions. Thanks!

The PLSC Graduate Program Handbook was approved by the PSLA faculty.  It contains important policies and useful information for students whose first semester of enrollment is spring 2016 or after.  Policies specified by the previous versions of the PLSC Graduate Program Handbook are still applicable to graduate students who joined the PLSC program before spring 2016.

Topics covered in the PLSC Graduate Program Handbook are as follow:

• PLSC Graduate Program Overview
• Facilities and Special Resources
• Admission to the Plant Science Graduate Program
• Financial Aid
• Advisement and appointment of Advisory Committee
• Specific Responsibilities of the Major Professor and Advisory Committee
• Review of Student Progress and Accomplishments
• Requirements for Degree of Master of Science (thesis option) and Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
• Student Benchmarks
• Deadlines for Graduate Students
• Course Registration Policies
• PLSC Forms and General Forms from the Graduate School (see note above)
• Department Contacts

Downloadable Graduate Handbook

If you have any questions please email pslagradadvising@umd.edu.

Mentoring

For more information on mentoring, please see our Statement of Mutual Expectations for Mentoring document. 

Advising

All of our students have a mandatory advising block.

In order for this to be lifted, please email pslagradadvising@umd.edu following the guidance given below.

Before registering for classes you must meet with your faculty advisor to confirm your progress towards completing your degree. You must provide a written confirmation from your advisor that you are cleared to register for the next semester.

Below is an example of a statement: 

With this email, I confirm that I have met with my faculty advisor and/or committee, [INSERT NAME] who is included in this email. My faculty advisor has approved that I register for courses for the upcoming semester. My name is [INSERT NAME] and my UID number is [INSERT UID #].

• Always CC your faculty advisor when emailing regarding lifting advising blocks.
• Always include your UID number.
• If applicable, attached an updated Plan of Study.
  • Only do so if any modifications have been made to your Plan of Study. It is of the utmost importance that your Plan of Study is updated, as these changes will be made into uachieve.umd.edu, which is used by the Graduate School at the time of your graduation. 

Important

PLSC Director — Dr. Nidhi Rawat (nidhirwt@umd.edu)

Chair of the Admissions & Examination Committee — Dr. Shirley Micallef (smicall@umd.edu)

• It is recommended that you take the two required courses (PLSC608 and PLSC618) in your first year.  We offer PLSC608 in the fall and PLSC618 in the spring. Please sign up for these in your first and second semester, depending on your enrollment date.
• Please remember that it is your responsibility to keep track and understand the deadlines and implications of not meeting them. There are financial implications when the deadlines are not met.
  • Academic Deadlines
  • Explanation of Schedule Adjustment Period
    • It is important to read through this page. Modifying your schedule may result in financial penalties that become your responsibility.
      • We would like to avoid you getting charged for modifying your schedule after the first day of classes. Graduate students do get a financial charge if they drop and add courses on different days and that do not equal in credit hours.
        • You must drop before classes begin or make adjustments according to the policy.
        • During the Schedule Adjustment substitutions must occur on the same day, and
        • Substitutes must be equivalent in credits.
        • For more information, please see heading Graduate Students - Refund Schedule for Drops.

REMINDER: It is the responsibility of the student to comply with the various deadlines. Please confirm with your advisor as well. In many cases, exceptions will not be granted.

Departmental Contacts

Signatures are required on all forms. If they are not signed by all required people they are not complete.

• PLSC Graduate Director: Dr. Nidhi Rawat, nidhirwt@umd.edu
• PLSC Chair of the Admissions and Examination Committee: Dr. Shirley Micallef, smicall@umd.edu 

Departmental Deadlines & Forms

The following table summarizes student benchmarks for both PLSC M.S. and Ph.D. students. PLSC forms are internal only and do not need to be submitted to the Graduate School. 

IMPORTANT: The system will ask for faculty names and UMD emails once you have submitted the initial part of the form. You must list the names in the exact order you put them initially. Suggestion: Take a screenshot each step to make sure it lines up.

The Graduate School Forms & Deadlines:

Graduate School Forms. When submitting forms to the Graduate School, please copy the PLSC Graduate Director, Dr. Nidhi Rawat, your graduate advisor, and pslagradadvising@umd.edu. Graduate School forms include: Fellowship and Financial Forms, Petitions, Requests, and Waivers, Thesis and Dissertation Forms, Approved Program Forms (M.S. only), Graduation Forms, General Forms (GA, TA, and RA Statement of Mutual Expectations), Faculty and Staff Forms, and others. To access these, please visit the Forms page. 

Graduate School Deadlines. Deadlines for admissions, class registration, fellowship and award, thesis, dissertation and graduation can be found on the following page: Deadlines | The Graduate School (umd.edu).  

Registration Deadlines. University academic deadlines (drop/add, credit level changes, withdrawal, etc.) can be found on the Office of the Registrar's Calendars page.                         

Please remember that it is your responsibility to keep track and understand the deadlines and implications of not meeting them. There are financial implications when the deadlines are not met. 

Schedule Adjustment Period for Graduate Students

Calendars:

Check out the main university calendar as well as other university calendars below:

• Academic Calendar
• Alumni Events
• Athletics Schedules
• Main University calendar

The instructional section numbers will be required when you register for the following classes:

• PLSC399 Special Problems in Plant Science
• PLSC799 Master's Thesis Research
• PLSC898 Pre-Candidacy Research
• PLSC899 Doctoral Dissertation Research

If you have questions or concerns, we encourage you, especially those in their first year in the program, to set up a meeting with our PLSC Director, Dr. Nidhi Rawat, and the Chair of the Admissions & Examination Committee, Dr. Shirley Micallef, to check-in. If you have any questions or concerns we want to let you know that we are here to provide support and be an outlet for students. You may also want to meet with our Department Chair, Dr. John Erwin. Other support you have in the department and on campus include:

• Plant Science & Landscape Architecture Graduate Student Association
• Graduate School Support Services: Ombuds Office
• Did you know? You should meet with your major professor to fill the Statement of Mutual Expectations form at least once a year.