Termination of Support

Before Terminating Support

If a student has not fulfilled the requirements of their funding contract, programs may initiate termination of support. Prior to requesting termination of support, please follow the steps below:

• Review the student's offer letter to determine whether reasons for termination have been addressed in the contract.
• Provide a verbal warning to the student with explicit expectations to improve performance.
• Consult with the graduate program director and inform them of the performance issues.
• Provide a written warning to the student which clearly states expectations to improve performance. This must include a follow-up plan with a timeline, including a future course of action if expectations are not met.
• Document all interactions and negative behaviors.

Procedure for Termination of Support

In the event that either the student or the program needs to terminate support, and therefore void the funding contract, the following procedure must be followed:

1. An authorized representative from the department should submit a Termination of Support Request Form including the following:
   1. A termination of support memo signed from the chair* or college dean* detailing the reason for the request and whether it is a termination of stipend, tuition, or both.
   2. Written correspondence between the program and the student (including the written warning and any other relevant documentation)
   3. The student's offer letter
2. The assistant dean of the Graduate School will review the form and all documentation and render a decision, normally within five business days.
3. Upon receiving approval from the Graduate School, support may be terminated as follows:
   1. Stipend support: the program may submit a termination EPAF (to terminate the stipend payment through payroll) using Payroll's Bi-Weekly Pay Period Calendar for deadline dates
   2. Tuition support: the Graduate School will remove tuition support, according to the table below. 
4. The student will receive official notification from the Graduate School regarding the termination of support. The student has five business days to appeal the decision in writing to the dean of the Graduate School.

*In the event a student requests termination of funding because they are unable to attend or will be withdrawing from the University, the Graduate Program Director may submit the Termination of Support Request Form and documentation including the student's written correspondence to the Graduate School.

Timeline for Terminating Support

Stipend support

Please consult with the department coordinator or graduate program assistant for payroll (EPAF) deadline dates. Termination EPAF dates must follow Payroll's Bi-Weekly Pay Period Calendar. Requests for termination of stipend support must be sent with sufficient time to consider them before the desired termination date.

Tuition support

Requests to terminate tuition will be prorated using the following timeline. The date of the program’s termination request will be used to determine the proration.

Amending Terms of Support

If a student is going to be supported and there is already an approved EPAF and a signed offer letter, but the terms of the support are changing, the department needs to follow this procedure: 

• Notify the Graduate School Finance and Planning Analyst Heather Harry
• Amend the original letter with the changes
• Notify the signees and collect the signatures before submitting the amended letter to Banweb via the EPAF menu 

The instances when assistantship offer letters can be amended are the following: 

• When the type of assistantship changes, for instance, from GTA to GRA or vice-versa, as long as everything else stays the same (stipend and appointment length). The student needs to be aware of the implications of the change since the scope of the duties will change. 

• When the stipend increases and everything else stays the same. 

• When the dates of the appointment change, as long as the stipend amount did not decrease. 

In any of these cases, the letter of support should be amended and signed by everyone who signed the original letter. The amended letter should be part of the student record and submitted to Banweb via the EPAF (please insert a comment in both EPAFs) menu.

REMINDER: Please insert a comment in the EPAFs stating the change and please update the rate code in TZAGRSP.

If you have questions, please contact the Graduate School.