National service is defined as activities which address urgent national need (e.g. active military service) or humanitarian service (e.g. disaster relief). Graduate students in good academic standing, seeking to take a temporary leave from their graduate study, for national service in their country of citizenship, should complete the following steps:
- Submit a General Petition Form in DocuSign
- In the petition request section, clarify the following:
- Type of national service that will be undertaken;
- Length of time expected for leave (up to one year or twelve months allowed for initial request);
- Future academic plans for degree completion upon return from the leave;
- Any financial commitments (e.g. research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and/or fellowships) that the department has made to the student with regard to the return from leave.
- Obtain signatures from the department graduate officer and thesis advisor.
The Office of Graduate Education will review and process the petition and provide a signed copy to the graduate student and department. The OGE will forward the petition to the Registrar, who will make note of the leave for national service with a code in their database.
Graduate students may submit paperwork for a renewal after the initial 12-month leave for national service has expired, following the same procedure above.
For more information on legal aspects related to US National Leaves of Service, please see US federal statute “20 UNITED STATES CODE 1091C – READMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICEMEMBERS“.
