The GAPG is concerned with the academic performance of graduate students. Its key functions include the following:
End of Term Academic Review
The GAPG reviews the academic performance of all graduate students at the conclusion of the fall and spring terms, the Independent Activities Period, and the summer session, and takes appropriate actions. End of term actions include imposition of Academic Warning for the following term or, in rare cases, a Denial of Further Registration.
Degree Candidate Review
In September, February, and May of each year, the GAPG recommends to the Faculty candidates to be awarded advanced degrees who have been approved by academic departments and programs.
Recommendations to the Committee on Graduate Programs
The GAPG reports annually to the CGP with recommendations for collaborating with graduate program leadership to maintain and communicate consistent academic performance and progress standards for their students, and to support improvement plans for students who do not meet these standards.
GAPG Charge
The Graduate Academic Performance Group (GAPG) is a permanent subcommittee of the Committee on Graduate Programs (CGP), a standing committee of the MIT faculty. The GAPG is composed of faculty, graduate students, and staff, including ex officio members who may provide relevant information but do not vote on academic action decisions. Of the nine voting members, three are faculty, three are staff members, and three are graduate students.
The GAPG monitors minimum academic standards for graduate students and special students in accordance with the rules and regulations of the faculty. The GAPG operates with the authority of the CGP to evaluate academic performance of graduate students, and to recommend to the Faculty, at the conclusion of the two regular terms and at the end of the summer session, candidates for advanced degrees.
At the conclusion of each regular term (fall and spring), Independent Activities Period (IAP), and the summer session, the GAPG meets with representatives of the academic departments, in order to review the academic records of graduate students and to vote on appropriate actions. These include issuing formal warnings and denials of further registration, or votes of “no action” and recommendation that the student’s unsatisfactory academic performance is addressed with a warning letter from their graduate program. The GAPG can make recommendations to a department on actions they may wish to take for students whose academic performance or progress is considerably below the Institute standards for continued registration.
Students are informed of GAPG actions through letters from the GAPG faculty chair, Communication regarding these actions is sent to individual students in the form of letters from the GAPG faculty chair. Throughout the process, the GradSupport team in the Office of Graduate Education is available to support individual students and the perspective of the impacted student is considered.
The GAPG provides regular reports to the CGP on trends in graduate student academic performance, and opportunities for improvement in departmental practices.
