Student Progress Assessments and Reports

Overview

The Student Progress Assessment (SPA) is an online tool that communicates and documents an evaluation of a graduate student’s progress in their degree program.  The tool promotes productive discussions and the setting of clear goals and expectations for graduate students.

Process

  1. The Graduate Program Coordinator will send an email to the student, PI, and academic advisor notifying them that the SPA has been initiated.
  2. The student completes their self-evaluation first, which is sent to the PI for review and comments; the PI may bounce the SPA back to the student for further elaboration.
  3. Once the PI approves the SPA, it is sent to the student's advisor for review and approval; the advisor may similarly bump the SPA back to the PI or the student for clarification.
  4. When the advisor and PI have both signed off on the SPA, the student is asked to formally acknowledge the outcome of the SPA (Satisfactory, Marginal, Unsatisfactory).
  5. Students whose SPAs are Unsatisfactory will receive a follow-up letter from the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, detailing the steps that are necessary to achieve good academic progress. 

Timeline

The annual SPA is required for all students and completed in Spring Quarter. 

  • On or around April 1st of every academic year, students and faculty in the program will receive an email about the SPA process.
  • BMCDB has an internal deadline of Thursday, June 18th, 2026 to complete SPAs and all of their requirements (see next section).
  • UC Davis' campuswide deadline for SPA submission is June 30th of every academic year. 

An interim SPA can be completed anytime from July 1st through March 31st, and is usually requested by a PI or a student to document updated expectations. Please contact your Graduate Program Coordinator to launch an interim SPA.

BMCDB Requirements for Annual SPA

  • The Mentor-Mentee Plan (for first-year students)
  • The Individual Development Plan (for all students)
    • This document must have a one-half to three-page Annual Research Progress Summary attached. Example included on the IDP webpage.
  • The Dissertation Committee Report (for students who have advanced to candidacy)
  • Second-year students should have completed or scheduled and submitted a QE Application to Graduate Studies by the time the SPA is due.
    • Students whose QEs are scheduled should note the QE and the date in the “Other outstanding degree requirements” box in the SPA "Degree Requirements" tab.
    • Students who were unable to schedule the QE should email their academic advisor and CC the Chair of Student Affairs and Advising with a brief explanation.
  • Post-QE students must complete the Advancement to Candidacy process in GradSphere. Please note that all degree requirements except the dissertation must be completed before advancing. Please do this as soon as possible, as one of the program funding metrics is time-to-candidacy, and we lose funding when students delay this important step.
  • Not submitting these forms, or reaching these program milestones, by June 30th will result in an unsatisfactory SPA. 

Outcomes

There are three possible outcomes for a SPA:

  • Satisfactory - The student is making adequate progress towards completing their degree.
  • Marginal - The student is making some progress, but there are opportunities for improvement.
    • Marginal SPAs should be very detailed and include specific information on what expectations are not being met, how satisfactory progress can be achieved, and a timeline for action. This content should be developed through discussions between the major professor (PI) and student prior to submitting a Marginal SPA. The finalized recommendations should be emailed to the student, their academic advisor, the Chair of Student Affairs and Advising, and the Graduate Program Coordinator. Comments also need to be entered into the SPA Overall assessment tab in the "faculty comments" box. Note that the maximum length is 2000 characters (about 15 lines of text); if necessary, the SPA comments should be abbreviated while full-length recommendations are provided via email.
    • Marginal SPAs do not have an impact on student standing, i.e., a student who receives a Marginal SPA is neither on probation nor subject to dismissal.
    • A second SPA should be completed one quarter after a Marginal rating to review progress towards satisfactory standing.
  • Unsatisfactory - The student is not making adequate progress towards their degree, and immediate improvements are required. Unsatisfactory SPAs should be very detailed and include specific information on what expectations are not being met, how satisfactory progress can be achieved, and a timeline for action. In cases where the graduate student is registered in 299 units, unsatisfactory progress related to research should be reflected in both the research grade (S/U) and the SPA.
    • Note that students who receive U grades in 299 are put on academic notice and generally not able to return to good standing. It is recommended that faculty use the Grade Change Tool to change a previous U grade to an S, if appropriate conditions are met later on. Two U 299 grades can be grounds for dismissal from the program.
    • No student will be disqualified based on one unsatisfactory progress report. The student must have at least one quarter to remedy whatever is unsatisfactory about their work. A second interim SPA should be completed after an Unsatisfactory rating after the timeframe specified by the recommendations to review progress towards satisfactory standing. To file interim SPAs, please notify the Program Coordinator.
    • Graduate Studies explains more information about outcomes of an Unsatisfactory SPA.

Best Practices for Students

  • Discuss expectations and progress with your PI regularly:  don’t wait until SPA season to begin these conversations. They should be a regular part of your interactions with your mentors.
  • If it is difficult for you to identify your areas of strength and/or improvement, then consult others familiar with your work. That might be your PI, fellow labmates, collaborators, academic advisor, or dissertation committee members.
  • Use your prior IDPs and committee reports to inform this year's progress reports. Where were you a year ago, and how have your goals from that time changed and grown?
  • If you find yourself disagreeing with your PI about your progress, whether it's overall or on a specific milestone, consult with your academic advisor, your dissertation committee members, or other faculty mentors in your network of academic support.

Best Practices for Faculty

  • Discuss expectations and progress with your students often:  don’t wait until SPA season to begin these conversations. They should be a regular part of your interactions with your students.
  • It can be useful to document the results of discussions about ongoing goals and expectations for performance and progress. Regularly, these discussions can be documented through email exchanges between PI and student immediately after the discussion, detailing the important points. If the PI feels that greater visibility is required, even when progress is satisfactory, an Interim SPA can be filed.
  • Be specific in SPAs. Use objective, factual language that clearly evaluates a student’s progress. Provide detailed action items with clear deadlines.
  • Do not assess students on:
    • Personal issues (medical/mental health, pregnancy/family obligations).  Faculty should refer any student who needs support to campus resources.
    • Conduct (plagiarism, behavior). Faculty should report these issues directly to OSSJA.
    • Employment issues with no academic component for the student (such as TA performance).  Faculty should report these issues to UC Davis Graduate Studies' Academic Personnel team.