Recognizing students may need additional time to make payment arrangements for the Fall term, the University has extended the payment deadline to September 1. Students can view their eBill in my.uncc.edu. A Payment Plan can be set up to split the amounts into 4 installments. Additional information and FAQs can be found at NinerCentral.
AUTHOR
Stanchina, Karla
NEW Process to Readmit Students to Fall 2020 after Last Minute Visa Issuance
Consulates in India are granting emergency visa appointments to some students to enroll at UNC Charlotte for the Fall 2020 semester. Because many of these students had already requested their fall admission be deferred to 2021, the ISSO and Graduate Admissions developed the following process for students to follow that includes having written support from Graduate Program Directors to (re)admit students to the Fall 2020 semester. The following information was shared with new international students at the ISSO Town Hall on Monday, August 17th, and via email as requested:
Dear Student,
Thanks for letting us know that you have secured an expedited visa appointment for Fall 2020. In order to be considered for admission to UNC Charlotte for Fall 2020, you must provide copies of the following items to the University:
- A copy of your F-1 visa
- Written support from your academic program director confirming that they support your readmission for Fall 2020 (see our suggested suggested email template for initiating your request)
- Additional proof of funding equal to the UNC Charlotte estimated cost of attendance if your original University funding is no longer available
- Documentation showing that you can arrive on-campus by September 10th
To read more about this process, see the ISSO New Student Town Hall Presentation slides and Recording for an overview of the Fall 2020 readmission process:
- slide 12 – Last minute visa issuance AFTER withdrawing Fall 2020 admission
- slide 13 – What if you obtain a visa but can’t arrive for Fall 2020?
CGL Releases More Onboarding Information
Categories: Student Affairs
The Center for Graduate Life has released the next two sections to the New Graduate Student Onboarding Portal for incoming graduate students.
These sections cover academic essentials such as buying books, key academic policies, and the resources available through Atkins Library, and community essentials such as information about diversity at UNC Charlotte, opportunities for community involvement, and some fun facts about living in the South. Encourage your new students to use the Portal to familiarize themselves with UNC Charlotte.
Admitted Student Survey
Categories: Admissions
On Friday 8/14/2020, Graduate Admissions sent a survey to all newly admitted domestic students to confirm their enrollment plans for the upcoming semester. Students were given the option to confirm their enrollment, withdraw their admission, or indicate if they are undecided. There is also a place for them to include any details that might allow us to better assist them as they start their first semester of graduate school. We requested students complete the survey by August 21st.
Please contact gradcounselor@uncc.edu if you have any questions or concerns. Survey Link.
NCCGS Extends Invite to Annual Meeting
The North Carolina Council of Graduate Schools will be holding their Annual Meeting virtually October 22-23, 2020 and invites all Graduate Program Directors/Coordinators to attend. The sessions are free and hosted virtually on Zoom. Download the Agenda and register to attend via Western Carolina’s Graduate School.
Annual Report from the Graduate Ombudsman - Areas of Concern
Dr. Bruce Taylor serves as the Ombudsman for graduate students. This year he met with 57 graduate students about a variety of concerns. We wanted to give you a sense of what Bruce hears from students and which students seek out his services.
Approximately a third of consultations (32%) were with students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 20% in the College of Computing and Informatics, 18% in the William States Lee College of Engineering, and 9% in the Cato College of Education. The remaining colleges represented fewer than 7% of consultations each. A fairly equal number of international and domestic students scheduled consultations with the Ombuds in 2019-20.
By far students expressed concerns about their relationships with advisors. Evaluative Relationships represented 44% of consultations with the Ombuds. Typically, these are issues between a student and faculty such as a concern with treatment by an advisor, course instructor or program coordinator where there is a power differential between the student and faculty or staff. These also included concerns brought by students about their work on a grant or in a lab, for example. Services and Administrative issues (22%) are those concerns dealing with the application of policies or timeliness of services. Examples include graduate appeals, withdrawal options, and rules regarding changing programs or committees.
These concerns were echoed by the Counseling and Psychological Services office. Counselors reported hearing from graduate students about unrealistic work demands, faculty delaying students from graduating, and advisors texting students at all hours about work. International students reported the most concerns.
No doubt such issues have at least two sides, but these concerns are prevalent enough to warrant attention. The Graduate School is continuing to offer Mentor Training to graduate faculty and Mentee Training for doctoral students is being developed by the CGL. Please encourage faculty to make time for these trainings. In addition, the Graduate School recommends that programs adopt the use of Individual Development Plans (IDP) for doctoral and master’s students. A sample IDP is available on the Graduate School website.
Funding Team Hosts Webinar
Over 50 faculty and staff members attending the Graduate School’s Funding/Assistantship webinar where they reviewed several systems including GPDNet, eGA, eGPS. Director of Funding, Dr. Julie Goodliffe, walked the audience through these online systems used to facilitate graduate student enrollment management. Also covered were recent federal guidelines pertaining to student employment. An online chat session handled specific issues.
View the recorded webinar. Password: .0EL=Nq*
Important Admission Deadlines
Take note of these important deadlines for graduate admission:
- August 15 – Last day certificate and degree applications can be submitted for 2020 fall. Note: Only for domestic students and internationals residing in the US who already have a visa.
- August 28 – Last day GPDs can recommend to admit applicants to 2020 fall.
- September 1 – Last day post-baccalaureate applicants can be submitted for 2020 fall.
SEA Form Deadline Instituted
As the due date for students’ fall term bills is August 26, and as student e-bills have already begun to be sent, the University is instituting a Priority Deadline of August 19 for SEA (Student Educational Award) forms for the fall 2020 term.
Why the deadline?
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There are adverse effects for students when SEA forms are submitted late. This deadline will allow Financial Aid sufficient time to process awards to students’ accounts prior to the first cancellation for nonpayment (Aug. 26).
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The earlier that SEA forms are processed, the better. Students start worrying about balances owed to the University when the first e-bills are issued (July 15).
What this means
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All SEA forms for Fall 2020 term awards should be submitted by Aug. 19. Please communicate this deadline broadly to all in your departments who are involved with issuing student educational awards, including grant-funded participant stipends.
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If SEA forms are not processed by this date, students will be at risk of class cancellation for non-payment for the fall term.
Additional information can be found through NinerCentral.
Pandemic-Driven Course Changes Outlined
Continuing and new undergraduate and graduate students were briefed on changes they will experience when they arrive for classes in the fall.
In a letter, Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Joan Lorden explained that, while face-to-face classroom instruction will continue to be offered, many courses will blend face-to-face with remote instruction and others will be offered completely online. New students also will be required to come equipped with a laptop to access coursework. For more information, please visit Niner Central.
Continuing Ed Offering Free Courses
For a limited time, ed2go and UNC Charlotte Continuing Education have partnered to make relevant career development courses available for free to students, faculty, staff and the community. Visit the Continuing Education/ed2go web page for a complete list.
Keep an Eye on Your Enrollment
As a reminder, the Graduate School posts weekly application and enrollment reports to GPDNet allowing you to analyze and compare activity in your program. This is a helpful tool to guide your program in meeting targeted enrollment goals. You must be signed into your NinerNet account to download the reports. For questions, please contact Johnna Watson about enrollment reports, or Kathy Giddings for application reports.
Graduate School Fellowship Recipients Awarded
Congratulations to the 2020-2021 Graduate School Fellowship recipients:
Wayland H. Cato Jr. First-Year Doctoral Fellowship
Andrew Dunphy, Ph.D. Biology
Hector Samani, Ph.D. Geography
Herschel and Cornelia Everett First-Year Graduate Fellowship ~ Doctoral
Hannah Luce, Ph.D. Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation
Herschel and Cornelia Everett First-Year Graduate Fellowship ~ Master’s
Camille Gossett, M. Public Health
William F. Kennedy Graduate Fellowship
Lauren Roppolo Brazell, Ph.D. Bioinformatics
Joanna R. Baker Memorial Graduate Fellowship
Fahad Mohammed Abdul, MS Electrical Engineering
Dr. Craig R. Brown Graduate Fellowship
Kelsey Smith, MA Counseling
DRReaM Graduate Fellowship
Thelma Achidi, MS Health Informatics and Analytics
Faye Jacques Memorial Graduate Fellowship
Jason Solomon, MS Mechanical Engineering
John Paul Lucas Jr. Scholarship for Educational Leadership
Abby Olive, MA English
Zonta Club Scholarship
Amanda Roberts, MA History
Claudia Reynolds Graduate Fellowship
April Vazquez, MA Spanish
Thomas L. Reynolds Graduate Student Research Award
Tengteng Cai, Ph.D. Public Policy
Morgan Chandler, Ph.D. Nanoscale Science
Abhishek Shibu, Ph.D. Nanoscale Science
Emilie Cobb, MA Anthropology
Mukulika Bose, Ph.D. Biology
Face Covering Advisory
With guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) UNC Charlotte encourages all mandatory employees who must be on campus, to wear a face covering. Those who need one may pick them up at the Popp Martin Student Union or the Facilities Operations and Parking Services (FOPS) building. The FOPS lobby is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Boost Your Marketing with an Online Information Session
Data shows that the prospective student audience, while under stay-at-home orders, are consuming recorded online information sessions at a rapid rate. These are easy to create and record through WebEx or Zoom. We’re encouraging all graduate programs to feature yours on your program landing page and to send your link to Graduate Admissions where we can display them on our new Virtual Open House web page and YouTube channel.
R&ED Hosting Virtual Town Hall
Research Town Hall and Open Forum: Research and Economic Development will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall from 11 am – 12 Noon on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
The session will include a brief update on the status of the university’s research enterprise under the current “stay at home” order and a discussion of several new initiatives we are launching to help faculty respond to recent funding requests targeting the coronavirus. The session will also include an overview of the impact of recent supplemental spending bills, including the CARE Act, on federal support for basic and applied research. R&ED staff will be on hand to answer questions about research operations under COVID-19, including recent guidance from federal agencies on the management of existing awards.
Advanced registration is required: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/upAscOmorj0tufeo6McZsY1zDcMPzwpzvQ
Attendees are encouraged to submit questions in advance using the online form at https://forms.gle/ziMM34LbWqgVJre79
COVID-19 Guidance for Supporting Personnel on Sponsored Awards
Please review this guidance for supporting personnel on sponsored awards from Dr. Richard A. Tankersley, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Download Memorandum
Contingencies for Students Due to COVID-19
Categories: Academic Affairs
Due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, students may face issues when trying to finish the semester due to social distancing guidance and mandated closings (e.g., student teachers, interns, research activity having to be curtailed). Below please find some of the Graduate School’s updates concerning this subject:
Graduation Clearance
While the Graduate School has moved to working remotely, graduation pre-clearance activities continue. 1,439 Graduate students have applied to graduate for spring 2020. Currently, 101 doctoral, 1,017 masters, and 184 certificate students have been pre-cleared to graduate. Overall 93% of the students who applied to graduate have been pre-decisioned by our office. Please remember that we need milestone forms in order to clear students for graduation. Please scan or email the form to Aura Young – doctoral forms or Julie Green – thesis forms.
Placeholder Course
The Graduate School created a non-credit, placeholder course, which may be used by students who were planning to graduate in May but, due to closings, could not complete a course. If they take an incomplete, they may complete the work in the Fall semester, register for GRAD 6777 – no cost- and apply to graduate in December. This course is available by petition to the Graduate School and is only available for the Fall semester.
Dissertation, Thesis Deadlines Extended
Because of the disruption to schedules caused by the nationwide response to COVID-19, the deadlines for dissertations and theses have been extended.
Dissertation and thesis defense deadlines are now May 1. Submission deadline for both dissertations and theses is May 14.
Thesis and Disserations
The Graduate School will be very flexible regarding defenses. Committee chairs and students should agree on the best method for a given defense. ALL committee members must participate in the defense, whether in person or virtually. This flexibility extends to students who need to defend remotely.
It is the chair’s responsibility to ensure that all committee members sign-off on the final defense form. Scanned signatures are allowed and additional time will be extended so that a form can be signed by all members. When this is not possible, we will accept the defense form with the chair’s signature, accompanied by emails from each committee member stating their approval. Read more.
Graduate Admissions Encourages Additional Recruitment Efforts
The coming months may prove difficult in recruiting new graduate students, particularly international students, so Graduate Program Directors are encouraged to review their Graduate Enrollment Management Plans and modify/append efforts as necessary. Here are a few additional efforts our Graduate Admissions team is doing in an effort to enroll new/continuing students:
- With ETS administrations of the TOEFL and IELTS canceled, we are evaluating a new online test to enable international applicants to submit English proficiency scores;
- Anticipating use of ETS’s new online GRE which is expected to be available by the end of March;
- Offering GPDs maximum flexibility to waive GRE, GMAT, and MAT requirements for summer/fall 2020 and 2021 applicants;
- Extending individual outreach to applicants/admits with personalized help;
- Promoting additional virtual admissions information and admitted student sessions, and we encourage programs to offer these virtual sessions as well (contact us!);
- Increasing digital and social marketing, particularly in North Carolina, with the assistance of University Communications;
- “Over-booking” newly funded students in anticipation that individuals from some countries will not be able to obtain their visas and/or travel;
- Exercising more flexibility with deadlines, as appropriate.
Please reach out to our graduate admissions counselors, Maryanne Maree-Sams and Ellie Ivey, if you have any questions.
