The Graduate School is pleased to announce the Agenda for their upcoming Graduate Education Summit being held October 11 from 9:00 – 10:30 am in the Popp Martin Student Union 340.
Topics covered include,
and much more. Download a copy of the planned Agenda, and be sure to RSVP via your Google Calendar invite. For questions please contact Christi Skerlak, Executive Assistant to the Dean.
Dr. Katherine Hall-Hertel ran across this informative article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. How to Create a Syllabus. From the Chronicle of Higher Education, this recent advice guide helps faculty create a syllabus worth reading.
Distance Education, Co-op, Student Interns, and Student Teaching students are eligible to enroll in Student Blue health insurance
Distance Education, Co-op, Student Interns & Student Teaching students can now enroll in Student Blue. Special Instructions on how to enroll for this group of student, are on the Student Health Center’s insurance website under the link Distant Education & Co-op Students. The deadline to enroll in Student Blue is September 10, 2018 for the fall semester and January 31, 2019 for the spring semester. If you have students who fall into these categories, please let them know of this opportunity.
Last Saturday, the Graduate School and the Center for Graduate Life at UNC Charlotte welcomed over 700 incoming graduate students at Graduate Student Orientation. Associate Dean Katherine Hall-Hertel launched this year’s Orientation by providing impactful advice for thriving in, rather than merely surviving graduate school. Incoming students also learned about opportunities in the Center for Graduate Life where they can build vital skills in professional development, leadership, communication, and collaboration. Panels composed of UNC Charlotte faculty, students and Graduate School staff followed with discussions and insightful information critical to academic success.
Following the Orientation, the incoming class experienced first-hand, the ease of transportation to UNC Charlotte’s Center City campus and the uptown Charlotte area, via the new light rail service where they attended a welcome reception. Students had the opportunity to meet Provost Joan Lorden, and a host of campus offices and staff were on hand to provide information about their services and support. These included the University Career Center, the Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement, Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Jamil Niner Student Pantry. Student enjoyed good music, food, games and the opportunity to connect with each other. Afterwards, many went to a handful of designated restaurants, parks, and coffee shops to explore uptown Charlotte, meet with current graduate students, and begin their graduate journeys.
Student outreach, engagement and development offered through the Graduate School’s Center for Graduate Life, provides the support and sense of community students need to meet the challenges they will face throughout their graduate experience. Through the Center for Graduate Life, well-educated students become well-rounded graduates with the leadership, cultural and communication skills to enable them to quickly assume productive roles on the job, whether their career sights are set on business or academia.
As we begin a new semester, it’s a good time to review the information on your Program Dashboard. Many of you experienced a website migration over the summer, which caused your program’s web link to change. You can also update contact information or your program description. Here are some helpful instructions. Note: Because it can be confusing to the reader, it’s best not to use your Graduate Catalog page feed for this particular purpose, but instead direct students to a page within your program/department/college website. From those pages you can link to the Catalog.
Remember, the information found on your Program Dashboard, is pushed to the Graduate Admissions website for prospective student use. Should you have any questions, please use the Comment box below, or contact us in Graduate School Communications.
Earlier this year, important cancer research findings were retracted and the lead researcher was forced out of his job at Ohio State University after an investigation discovered evidence of falsified data in eight papers spanning as many years.*
At UNC Charlotte we have solid policies governing the conduct of researchers and an educational program to ensure research teams understand those policies. We also have instituted a Research Integrity Office to coordinate investigations into cases of possible research misconduct.
Headed by Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Tom Reynolds, the Office is responsible for investigating allegations of plagiarism, falsification, and fabrication of research materials.
“Fortunately, we see few cases of suspected misconduct,” Reynolds said. “And the ones we investigate we often can resolve without damaging the reputation of our researchers or hampering progress of the research. Still, we must be vigilant to avoid even the appearance of misconduct.”
Information on how to safely and confidentially raise questions or report possible research misconduct is located on the Graduate School’s website.
* https://news.osu.edu/news/2018/03/30/misconduct-investigation/
The Office of International Programs recently sent a reminder to international teaching assistants calling attention to the requirement to attend an English language assessment and to complete an I-9 form that is available from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
This reminder went out to those whose assistantships are already listed in Banner. Please share this information with any newly hired ITAs in your department whose names are not yet in Banner in order for them to set up their assessment. OIP will also continue to send out notices directly to ITAs as their names appear in Banner.
Your past help with ITA compliance has been extremely valuable, and OIP thanks you in advance for your help with Fall’s efforts. Please contact ITASupport@uncc.edu for a list of available dates and times.
Are you thinking a Google advertising campaign might be right for your program? Want to be on the top of the list in a prospective student’s search? A recent analysis from Collegis Education details what it might cost you. Download the report Most-Expensive-Degree-Programs-Google-AdWords.
If you have questions about marketing with Google, please feel free to contact the Graduate School’s communications team or your college communicator.
UNC Charlotte initiated a new tradition for commencement 2018 with the first-ever doctoral hooding ceremony. This event, held Thursday, May 10, was the first time that doctoral students were recognized with a separate ceremony from the main Commencement exercises. Students’ faculty advisors also participated in the ceremony.
This novel doctoral hooding ceremony underscores the growth of UNC Charlotte as a research institution.
“Since awarding its first doctoral degree in 1997 in electrical engineering, the University has grown to host 23 doctoral programs enrolling more than 850 students each year,” said Chancellor Philip L. Dubois.
For 2018, 75 doctorates are being awarded in 17 different disciplines. Since 1997, the University has awarded 1,326 doctoral degrees. View a slideshow on the University’s Flickr account.
Dr. Jill S. Huerta joins UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School July 2 as Director of the Center for Graduate Life (CGL). Jill will assume overall responsibility for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the CGL.
The Center for Graduate Life provides professional development, support and sense of community to help prepare 5,000 graduate students for productive roles on the job, whether their career plans involve business or academia.
“To be successful in their careers, graduate students must have not only excellent academic preparation, but also the opportunity to think, to explore, and to do their best work,” said Tom Reynolds, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. “The CGL provides that opportunity. We’re excited to have Jill join that effort.”
Huerta joins the Graduate School from the University of Michigan where for the past five years she has served as the associate director of the MBA program for the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She has also served as instructor for Eastern Michigan University, Adrian College, Mott Community College and for Michigan State. Huerta received her Ph.D. in History from Michigan State University.
Huerta will assume her new role in July, in time to oversee orientation for new graduate students in August. Among her initial top priorities will be reaching out to campus partners to establish collaborative opportunities to support student success.
Members of the Graduate School’s funding department hosted an online webinar March 1st, to discuss the array of graduate student funding opportunities and use of the eGA, the Electronic Graduate Assistantship Application portal. Funding Director Julie Goodliffe, and Specialists Tequilla Bennett and Melissa Peterson, walked the over 20 attendees through the online portal, clarifying each step required to hire a teaching or research assistant, and nominate them for funding.
”We understand that most users of eGA use it once or twice per year, which makes it difficult to remember where to find things and how to use each box and button, explains the Graduate School’s Director of Funding Dr. Julie Goodliffe. “Due to periodic enhancements, the system and funding details change year to year, so the screens and information that the user is accustomed to, are often different from the last time they logged in.”
Graduate program directors, business officers, and departmental administrators, benefited by viewing the interactive workshop going through each step of eGA. The system uses a variety of screens to communicate with an integrated audience to ultimately ensure a graduate assistant is paid in a timely manner. With easy “drop-down” menu tabs, and step-by-step processes, eGA users can efficiently get this task done.
The Graduate School continues to add modifications to the current system, and many of the day’s participants suggested ideas. Additionally, the Graduate School will hold these webinars on a quarterly basis so informal feedback can be collected and shared.
For a copy of the recorded webinar, visit GPDNet or contact Julie Goodliffe.
eGA information, along with 2018-2019 funding programs, can be found on the Graduate School’s website, or for specific questions email gradassist@uncc.edu.
The Center for Graduate Life is calling for nominations for the 2017-2018 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, one at the Doctoral level and one at the Master’s Level.
This faculty-nominated award is open to all GTAs who meet the following criteria:
Faculty supervisors of GTAs have been notified about the award as well. If there are any outstanding GTAs you’d like to see recognized, please submit a nomination, even if you are not the supervisor.
Nominations should be emailed to Judith Krauss at jkrauss@uncc.edu. Nomination emails require only the nominee’s name, ID 800 number, email address, degree, and program. Dr. Krauss will contact the nominees directly and guide them through the rest of the application and submission process.
The Graduate School Fellowship are currently seeking qualified nominations and applicants. To help faculty, staff and students easily understand the various Award criteria and application procedures, the Graduate School has created a Quick Guide. 
As a reminder, the deadline to nominate and/or apply directly for the majority of the Awards is March 15, 2018.
For award information and eligibility criteria, please visit the Graduate School’s website or contact Julie Green, Doctoral Student Services and Fellowship Specialist. Note: Three Awards require Graduate Program Director nomination. Download instructions on nominating your graduate students for these lucrative awards.
Ventureprise Inc. is now accepting applications from UNC Charlotte teams for the spring 2018 I-Corps cohort. The program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), helps participants bridge academic and entrepreneurial knowledge.
The eight-week curriculum focuses on customer discovery and business model generation. Among the support services offered are infrastructure (workspace in PORTAL), commercialization advice, training and funding. Teams are eligible for grants up to $3,000, with the opportunity to pursue additional funding opportunities in excess of $1 million.
Eligible teams must have an idea or research in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) field.
Each team must contain an academic (faculty) lead and an entrepreneurial lead, which should be a student or staff member interested in innovation and entrepreneurship with knowledge of the team’s research or technology. The student can be undergraduate, graduate or post-doctoral, and teams can include multiple entrepreneurial leads.
Entrepreneurial leads will be required to participate in two hours of programming each week and complete approximately 30 customer interviews during the course of the program.
Applications for the spring 2018 cohort are accepted on a rolling basis until all spots are filled. Visit entrepreneurship.uncc.edu to download the application or learn more about the program.
Below is a statement from the Provost we are pleased to share:
Department Chairs/Directors and Graduate Program Directors:
Last spring we launched an effort to streamline the content of undergraduate program requirements and courses currently maintained on departmental websites by developing a direct, automatic link to the catalog (see History and Management as examples). The integration with the new catalog system (Acalog), makes this process seamless and requires little effort on behalf of the department web content managers; links to the programs in the catalog will update automatically each year the new catalog is released. We are now expanding this effort to include graduate program information.
The purpose of this initiative is to enhance the use of departmental websites by providing clear, consistent and up-to-date information for students, making it easier for them to navigate their curriculum through direct use of the catalog. In the coming months, the project team will be reaching out to the web content managers in each department to provide the details needed for the graduate program roll-out.
Our goal is to make the catalog the single authoritative source for degree requirements regardless of the site from which they are accessed.
Thanks for your assistance with this effort.
Joan
As a reminder, the correct weblink for UNC Charlotte Graduate Admissions is http://gradadmissions.uncc.edu; and for the application portal aka Apply Now https://mygradschool.uncc.edu.
This report will be made available to anyone who wishes to have it by subscription only. Just send an email to Janet Morse with the email address where the report should be sent as well as the program(s) to be included. You will receive one report for each program you request. At this time, reports will be pushed out on a monthly basis. If you find that receiving it more frequently would be helpful, please let Janet know.
Through a new incentive program developed by the Graduate School, UNC Charlotte’s doctoral students may earn money by submitting fellowship applications. The Fellowship Application Incentive Program or FAIP runs through May 31, 2018 and requires registration. Details can be found on the Graduate School’s Funding webpage or by contacting Dr. Julie Goodliffe, Director of Funding, the Graduate School.
The Graduate School has created some handy FAQ’s to help guide GPDs and Faculty through the graduation process and timelines. Using the University’s FAQ system, users can search by topic or browse by popularity. Students also have access to these important questions. Visit the Graduation and Commencement Pages.
GRAD courses offered by the Graduate School are an excellent way for your students to enhance their professional skills outside their academic discipline. For the Spring 2018 semester, we are offering seven unique credit-bearing courses for the graduate student. From academic writing to leadership development, expert faculty deliver interactive content designed to help round-out graduate student skills, regardless of career path.
“Research shows many graduate students lack the soft-skill basics employers want and need when they graduate,” says Tom Reynolds, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. “Through the Center for Graduate Life, its Faculty Associates, and our partnerships with various campus departments, colleges and the Charlotte community, we are pleased to offer a large selection of courses designed to help meet this need.”
For Spring 2018, we add to the offerings with three new courses:
We encourage you to share this weblink http://gradlife.uncc.edu/what-we-offer/academic-courses with your students, their advisors, faculty and within your department. Registration opens October 30th and students can do so via my.uncc.edu
Welcome to GPDNet, an effort to cultivate a richer, more collaborative communications environment among Graduate School staff and Graduate Program Directors, who we view as our most important allies in delivering excellence in graduate education at UNC Charlotte.
Over the summer, we consolidated all the news, information and tools GPDs need into one online portal (integrated into the eGEM platform) that is accessible only to approved faculty and staff.
GPDNet is actually an expansion of the existing eGEM system and allows us to provide information for GPDs in a password-protected place (integrated into the eGEM platform) that is accessible only to approved faculty and staff. It is part of an overall initiative to improve the effectiveness of the Graduate School’s communications.
While the site is still under development, when fully deployed you will be able to select the topics of greatest interest and those will automatically arrive in your email box as soon as the site is updated.
A special thanks to GPDs who responded to our survey earlier this summer. That feedback helped us shape the topics for information updates as well as how we designed the overall portal. We will be counting on your feedback to continuously improve the information we provide and how we provide it.
