Regulations
A master’s degree program represents the equivalent of at least one year of full-time study beyond the baccalaureate (or its equivalent). The Health Care Genetics program requires a minimum of 33 credits. Ordinarily, the master’s degree should be completed within three years, however part-time options for working professionals are available.
The Health Care Genetics Master’s degree is a non-thesis plan requiring no fewer than 33 credits of advanced coursework and a final examination. The advisory committee may require the student to take other courses with or without graduate credit, depending on the student’s objectives and previous preparation.

Final Exam
The Health Care Genetics field of study requires that candidates complete a final examination as part of the master’s degree. The final examination must be completed no later than one year after completion of coursework, research, directed study or internship. The student may not take the final examination before Regular graduate status has been granted. The examination must be completed by the published deadlines for the appropriate conferral period for the degree to be granted with that conferral date.
The contents of the final examination are under the jurisdiction of the advisory committee. The advisory committee has discretion to determine whether the examination shall be written, oral, or both. Invitation to participate in an oral examination is issued by the advisory committee, although members of the faculty may attend. The examination may center on the candidate’s research/internship and its relation to the field of study as a whole, but may have a wider scope or can be comprehensive and designed to assess the candidate’s mastery of the field and ability to integrate the knowledge acquired.
The decision as to whether a student has passed or failed the examination rests solely with the advisory committee, which shall take into account the opinions of other participating faculty members. The vote of the advisory committee must be unanimous. Following the examination, the major advisor shall communicate the results to the student and send a report on the official form to the Office of the Registrar. If the student has failed the examination or if the advisory committee considers the result of the examination inconclusive, the committee has the option of requiring the student to retake it. In such cases, the recommendation must reach the Office of the Registrar promptly, and any re-examination must take place within 12 months from the date of the original examination.

Conferral
Degree conferral requires that all requirements for the degree have been completed satisfactorily by the deadline specified in the Academic Calendar. Degrees are conferred three times each year: August, December, and May. However, graduate commencement ceremonies are only held once per year (in May). Students who qualify for degree conferral receive their diplomas by mail, normally within three months following conferral.

Application for the Degree
Formal application for a degree to be conferred must be filed online by the degree candidate using the Student Administration System within the first four weeks of the student’s final semester. This application may be withdrawn at any time by the applicant. Information and instructions can be found on the Office of the Registrar’s website under the section titled Graduation. If all required paperwork and submissions needed for conferral are not received by the Office of the Registrar by the deadlines published in the Academic Calendar, conferral is delayed to the next conferral period, even though all other degree requirements may have been completed on time.

Commencement
Graduate commencement ceremonies are held once each year at the end of the spring semester. The following students may participate in the commencement ceremonies: (1) students who are candidates for conferral of a May degree, (2) students who anticipate completing all degree requirements and being conferred their degree in August of that year, (3) students who were conferred their degree in December of the previous year, and (4) students who were conferred their degree in August of the previous year and did not participate in the Commencement ceremony the previous year. Academic regalia appropriate for the University of Connecticut degree being conferred is strictly required for all who participate in the ceremonies. Information concerning the commencement ceremony, including academic regalia and guest tickets, is made available by the mid-spring semester and can be found on The Graduate School’s website.

Academic Dismissal
A graduate student’s progress in a degree program must be monitored regularly by the student’s advisory committee. If at any time, a student’s academic performance, progress in a graduate degree program, or professional development and/or suitability is judged by the advisory committee to be unsatisfactory to the degree that dismissal is warranted, the advisory committee must submit its written recommendation that the student be dismissed on such grounds. A student may be dismissed for:
1. Failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average required by The Graduate School (3.0);
2. Receiving a grade of “D+,” “D,” “D-,” “F,” or “U” in any course;
3. Failure of a required final examination for the master’s doctoral degree; or
4. Failure to satisfy any other requirement of the student’s graduate degree program.
The major advisor submits the written recommendation for academic dismissal to The Graduate School on behalf of the entire advisory committee, indicating the specific judgment on which the advisory committee’s recommendation is based. For a student who does not have an established advisory committee, the major advisor alone submits the recommendation. Whenever a student is dismissed on academic grounds, the student receives notice from The Graduate School. The student may appeal the dismissal under the provisions outlined in Complaint, Appeal, and Hearing Procedures.