Thank you to all who attended the Graduate Education Summit. We encourage you to review the resources from today’s session by viewing the slide deck and reading the additional written announcements and resources from the Graduate School.
AUTHOR
Sam Finley
Photo Session Sign-up: Spotlighting Graduate Niners
Near the end of the Graduate Education Summit, the Graduate School is offering a limited number of photo session spots for graduate education champions, like you!
These professional photos and your spotlight responses will be featured in marketing efforts to celebrate graduate education at UNC Charlotte. A short questionnaire will be sent to you following the Graduate Education Summit.
If you are interested, please sign up for a 15-minute block below and plan to arrive to the Marketing table during the breakout sessions (10:30-11 a.m.) at the end of the Summit.
Pre-Orientation Days on Campus
Are your incoming international students ready for a smooth transition into graduate life? Our Pre-Orientation Days on Campus offers a comprehensive guide to navigating life on campus and in the U.S.
Pre-Orientation Days on Campus
When: July 28 – August 1, 2024
Program Fee: $160 for 4 nights, $195 for 5 nights
This pre-orientation is ideal for incoming international students who have already secured housing or are still looking for a place to live. Please note: all participants must move out by August 1. There is no option to stay longer.
Incoming students stay in on-campus housing and participate in programming that includes:
- Housing Orientation: tours of local apartment complexes, review of landlord/tenant rights, review of lease obligations
- Tutorials on basic financial transactions like opening a bank account, buying auto or rental insurance, setting up and paying for utilities and more.
- Community Building–enjoy a first night dinner and other social hours with other incoming graduate students
- Academic Success coaching–learn about the resources you can use to perform well academically
- Advice on making the most of your graduate degree by engaging with career and wellness resources
- Programming on adjusting to American culture
- Wise safety precautions in the U.S.
Encourage your students to seize this opportunity for a strong start! Share this interest form for them to complete by July 15, 2024.
Graduate Compensation and GASP/MTART: Additional Guidance for Academic Year 2024-2025
This guidance is intended to provide additional information with regard to changes in graduate compensation and support packages for academic year 2024-2025. Please take time to carefully review this guidance including the linked reference materials and policies. Upon review of this guidance, the key contacts listed are available for any additional questions.
Key Contacts:
The Graduate School: Dr. Julie Goodliffe, Assistant Dean for Funding and Research
Division of Research: Peter Szanton, Director of the Office of Research Services (ORS)
Academic Affairs: Holly Durham, Associate Provost for Academic Budget
Reference Communications:
GASP_MTART_12Mar2024 from Provost Jennifer Troyer
StipendIncrease_22Mar2023.pdf from Interim Associate Provost Pinku Mukherjee
Reference Policies and Resources:
GASP Policies | The Graduate School | UNC Charlotte
FAQs for Funding Compensation Policy | The Graduate School | UNC Charlotte
2024-2025 Graduate Student Compensation Packages
University Policy 601.8: Appropriate Use of University Funds
Uniform Guidance for Federal Awards
GASP: Graduate Assistant Support Plan
RA: Research Assistant
MTART: Masters TA Resident Tuition
TA: Teaching Assistant
What is changing for the 2024-2025 academic year?
- The Graduate School and colleges will be operating on a fixed budget for GASP/MTART. As such, colleges will bear responsibility for new institutionally-funded RAs and TAs.
- For all grant-funded doctoral RAs, the proposal budget must include the full non-resident tuition and health insurance costs effective 7/1/24 (where the funding agency allows). Proposals written before 7/1/24 may also include this change as it will benefit the doctoral RA program.
- Scholarship awards to doctoral students to offset the cost of student fees will be discontinued and this amount will be rolled into increased stipends.
- Stipends for all TAs and RAs on assistantships for the academic year will be increased, based on student eligibility and prorated based on a 20-hour per week assistantship, as follows:
- $1,500 to doctoral students on an assistantship
- $250 to master’s students on an assistantship.
- Summer research fellowships will be contingent upon funding availability.
Stipend Increases for Graduate Students
A permanent increase in graduate compensation will be instituted for the 2024-2025 academic year, impacting approximately 1,250 graduate students with an investment of $1.15 million annually. The full amount of the increase has been budgeted centrally (general funds) and will be distributed to colleges and units in the new fiscal year. Preliminary information on additional funding for 2024-2025 has been shared with colleges and units impacted. This is one step in what we intend to be a continued investment in graduate compensation in the coming years, as resources allow.
How will the stipend increases for the 2024-2025 academic year be funded?
- Stipends for graduate assistantships are funded from various sources and this may impact how your college or unit implements the stipend increase for your students. Allocation of centrally budgeted (general) funds may not happen immediately on July 1st, however this should not delay implementation of the stipend increases for graduate students.
- For this round of stipend increases, colleges and units will not be expected to absorb the cost of the increase and general funds will be available to fund the differential, meaning that stipends may be paid on multiple funds.
- Budget planning must include this new compensation level for graduate students and should incorporate projected increases for future years.
- If you have already budgeted additional awards to offset the cost of fees for doctoral students (discontinued for 2024-2025), the amount should be rebudgeted to the student’s stipend, if possible.
- If you have already budgeted for a stipend increase for 2024-2025, the amount of that budgeted increase can be factored into your planning, however the increase must meet the minimum of $1,500 for doctoral and $250 for master’s students on academic year assistantships.
- Note that these funds are dedicated to increasing graduate compensation in the form of stipends and new general funds allocated must be used for that purpose. No fund swaps will be allowed.
Ensuring Compliance with University and Federal Guidelines
- Under Federal Uniform Guidance, only certain student fees can be charged to federal grants. At Charlotte, student fees identified as eligible to be charged to federal grants are: (1) the Health Services Fee and (2) the Education & Technology Fee.
- However, these two fees can only be charged to federal grants if they are actual institutional costs, meaning they are paid consistently for similarly employed students regardless of funding source.
- Because we are currently unable to cover student fees on institutional funds, we cannot charge federal awards for these fees.
Additional Guidance for External Funding from the Division of Research
Tuition
- To comply with Graduate School policy, effective July 1, 2024 all proposals must budget full non-resident tuition for doctoral students, if permitted by the sponsor. For those that do not, along with approved unique circumstances, there will be a mechanism to request university support.
- PIs are encouraged to begin to budget for full non-resident tuition for doctoral students immediately.
- If you budgeted for non-resident tuition and end up hiring an in-state student, you can reallocate the difference to other parts of your award budget. Note: If the sponsor requires that we obtain approval from them for budgetary changes, we will still have to obtain that approval prior to reallocating the funds.
- We encourage programs to consider approaches for recruiting a balanced resident/non-resident portfolio of high-quality students as a strategy.
Fees
- Effective immediately, fees can no longer be included in proposal budgets or paid for students on active awards (reference the “Ensuring Compliance” section above).
Stipends
- Effective immediately, proposal budgets for awards that would begin on or after July 1, 2024 must include the updated stipend levels listed in the Graduate Student Compensation Packages 2024-2025.
- Effective July 1, 2024, all graduate students on all awards will be paid based on the Graduate Student Compensation Packages 2024-2025.
- Pre-existing proposals and awards as of July 1, 2024 will incorporate the new stipend rates into their awards through rebudgeting when possible. This is similar to a situation when a faculty receives a pay increase and rebudgeting is done to pay the appropriate amount of summer salary.
- If rebudgeting is not possible, there will be a process for accessing funds from your college or unit to cover stipend increases up to $1,500 for doctoral and $250 for masters students on assistantships.
- Effective immediately, all graduate student stipends will include a 3% annual escalation in proposal budgets to accommodate for possible future increases.
Rebudgeting
- As a result of these changes, award rebudgeting may be needed, and in some cases that will require formal sponsor review and approval. Please consult with the Office of Research Services (ORS) on the specific rebudgeting requirements for your award(s).
April 2024 | Funding News
Brief News and Resources from the Graduate School Funding Team
Funding News Inside this Month’s Post:
- Update on Stipend Increases
- Important Deadlines
- Tech Tips
All Assistantship Stipends are Increasing in 2024-2025
The Chancellor and Academic Affairs will provide funding to increase stipends for all graduate students on assistantships, and guidance about how that will happen is forthcoming.
In the meantime, we suggest that you set up NinerWorks as you normally would for new students, so they have their offers, and wait for the guidance before setting up NinerWorks actions for continuing students. That way, fewer NinerWorks actions will need to be revised.
Important Deadlines
April 1, 2024:
- Nominate new students for GASP and MTART
- Set up assistantships for new students in NinerWorks
- If you have students funded by the Graduate School, fill out the Google sheet. We will set up the NinerWorks actions for new students.
The funding team will be sure to send notification of offers to new students before April 15, 2024.
Tech Tip
In eGPS, you can see a list of all of your students, organized in a table with some information. One important item you might want to know is each student’s North Carolina residency, and it’s there in the table. You can also copy and paste this information into a spreadsheet.
Visit eGPS for your tuition nominations, and on the login page, you will find a link to our Canvas site, that has all the information and links you need.
Email the funding team with questions, as always:
gradfunding@charlotte.edu, gradassist@charlotte.edu
April 1-5 is Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week
Mark your calendars for April 1-5, as UNC Charlotte invites you to encourage your students to participate in Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week.
Ensure their involvement in exclusive events honoring their invaluable contributions by encouraging them to reserve their spots and celebrate a week dedicated to them.
Charlotte Announces Graduate Assistantship Pay Increase
UNC Charlotte is raising the pay for students on graduate assistantships beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year.
This change will incorporate the previous $1,000 scholarship that GASP-eligible doctoral students received and increase the overall level of funding going forward.
Stipends for graduate students on assistantships will be increased, based on student eligibility and prorated based on a 20-hour per week assistantship, as follows:
- $1,500 to doctoral students on an assistantship and
- $250 to master’s students on an assistantship
Doctoral students eligible for GASP:
- Hold a teaching or research assistantship,
- Are enrolled full-time (nine hours or more OR enrolled in GRAD 9800) and
- Are enrolled within ten semesters (eight semesters for Advanced Standing students) of the term of admission.
Webinar Recording: Five Ways to Optimize Your Recruitment and Marketing in Slate
Thank you to all those who attended the webinar on March 14, 2024. The Zoom session centered on five actionable ways you can optimize your graduate recruitment and marketing using Slate:
- Managing Your Pipeline with the Graduate Program Portal
- Maximizing Running Communication Campaigns
- Utilizing Slate Features to Nurture Contacts
- Leveraging Event Management Tool
- Enhancing Search Capabilities
GASP and MTART Updates from Memo
A memo was sent on March 12, 2024, with updates regarding the Graduate Assistant Support Plan (GASP) and Master’s TA Resident Tuition (MTART) as well as an invitation to upcoming virtual meetings to learn more.
Spring 2024 Graduate Education Summit Resources
Thank you to all who attended the Graduate Education Summit. We encourage you to review the resources from today’s session by viewing the slide deck and reading the additional written announcements and resources from the Graduate School.
Temporary Closure of the Reese Building, Fifth Floor
April 8, 2024 Update: The Graduate School and the Graduate Admissions office in the Reese Building, Fifth Floor, is now open.
The Graduate School and the Graduate Admissions office in the Reese Building, Fifth Floor, is temporarily closed to allow contractors to complete some needed work in the space safely.
We will reopen our doors as soon as possible, but until then, operations will continue remotely via subject matter email inboxes. Individuals who require in-person assistance may email Cherie Carpenter at grad-comm@charlotte.edu to request an appointment.
We appreciate your understanding and patience during this closure. Rest assured, we are taking measures to ensure a swift return to normal operations.
In the meantime, if you have any urgent matters, please feel free to contact the Graduate School at (704) 687-5503. Virtual hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).
We will share more information with you as soon as we can via the Graduate School and Graduate Admissions websites.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Spring 2024 Yield Communication Campaign Launches Thursday, October 12
The yield communication campaign for Spring 2024 launches on Thursday, Oct. 12. The target audience is admitted graduate students who have yet to accept their admissions offer. The communications encourage them to submit their enrollment intention form.
Questions? Reach the Marketing and Communications team via email at grad-comm@uncc.edu.
Fall 2023 Graduate Education Summit Resources
Thank you to all who attended the Graduate Education Summit. We encourage you to review the resources from today’s session by viewing the slide deck and reading the additional resources. A recording of today’s Summit is also available (Password: fn.$4Vf7).
Faculty Fellow for Grant Writing Position – Graduate and Postdoctoral Writing Center
The Graduate and Postdoctoral Writing Center is a new initiative created through a collaboration among the Graduate School, the Division of Research and the Writing Resources Center. Launching in Fall 2023, the center’s team will include the Graduate School’s Associate Teaching Professor of Writing, the Director of Charlotte’s Writing Resources Center, a faculty fellow, two doctoral writing fellows and part-time administrative support.
The Graduate Writing Center seeks a faculty fellow to provide grant-writing training to Charlotte postdoctoral scholars and graduate students in doctoral and research master’s degree programs. Course release and/or compensation to be negotiated based on faculty salary and teaching load.
Responsibilities
- Build and deliver curricula (delivered through workshop series or academic courses) that train cohorts of postdoctoral scholars and graduate students to find and apply for grants in both STEM and social science fields (similar to the Catalyst program for faculty). This may involve sourcing and collaborating with peers who serve as guest speakers. Topics might include:
- Searching for funding opportunities using PIVOT and other resources
- Interacting with program officers
- Analyzing solicitations
- Preparing all components of the proposal
- Designing figures, tables, and infographics to enhance clarity
- Budget design and budget justification writing
- Preparing supporting materials such as CVs, current and pending funding forms, data management plans, etc
- Routing proposals through the Division of Research (when applicable)
- Identifying next steps if proposal is declined
- The resubmission process
- Provide one-on-one coaching and grant proposal review to help postdoctoral scholars and graduate students submit competitive proposals
- Search for and publicize postdoctoral scholar and graduate student grant opportunities via postdoc and graduate student newsletters
- Create and maintain a collection of grant-writing resources on the Thomas L. Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning website
- Collaborate with the Associate Teaching Professor of Writing to improve postdoctoral scholars’ and graduate students’ writing skills and habits related to grant writing.
Qualifications
- Open to tenured or tenure-track faculty, with Associate rank or higher
- Experience writing grant proposals, particularly NSF or NIH-funded grants
- Experience managing a successful grant as a PI or Co-PI
- Strong mentorship and teaching skills
The initial appointment would be for 18 months, with annual renewal options.
Desired Start Date: January 2024
Application review will begin on Monday, October 2.
Interested faculty are encouraged to send a resume and letter of interest outlining why they believe they will be successful in this position to Dean Mukherjee at pmukherj@charlotte.edu.
New Video Available: Top Tips for Applying to Graduate School at UNC Charlotte
A new video is available to assist prospective students in smoothly navigating the application process. We encourage you to consider including this embedded video on your program webpage, incorporating it in an information session and subscribe to the Graduate Admissions channel on YouTube.
Questions? Reach the Marketing and Communications team via email at grad-comm@charlotte.edu and view more resources via the Marketing and Communications Toolkit.
New Incoming Student Orientation and Welcome Events!
Please, encourage your new incoming students to attend these events promoted by Thomas L. Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning and the Graduate School:
- New Graduate Student Virtual Orientation (online)
- New Doctoral Student Orientation (Harris Alumni Center)
- New Graduate Student Welcome Reception (Hauser Alumni Pavilion)
SEA priority deadline is Aug. 1
Categories: Graduate School News
Colleagues:
As the first payment due date for students’ spring term bills is Aug. 9, 2023, and as student e-bills have already been sent, the priority deadline to submit SEA (Student Educational Award) forms for this semester is Aug. 1, 2023 (see the SEA Form Submission Manual for form completion instructions). Note that SEA actions for grant funds need to comply with Policy 50.5, Tuition Remission for Graduate Students Supported by Sponsored Awards and the Policy on Graduate Student Compensation.
Why the deadline?
- There are adverse effects for students when SEA forms are submitted late. This deadline allows Financial Aid staff sufficient time to process awards to students’ accounts prior to the first cancellation for nonpayment (Aug. 10).
- The earlier the SEA forms are processed, the better. Students start worrying about balances owed to the University when the first e-bills are issued (July 12). Additionally, as the first cancellation for nonpayment is Aug. 9, students have to either pay or re-register for classes if their bill is not paid in a timely fashion.
Priority deadline to submit forms is Aug. 1
- All SEA forms for Fall 2023 term awards should be submitted by Tuesday, Aug. 1. Please communicate this deadline broadly to all in your departments who are involved with issuing student educational awards, including grant-funded non-qualified scholarships.
- Class cancellation for non-payment — If SEA forms are not processed by this date, students will be at risk of class cancellation for non-payment for this term.
Recommended practices
- Check the student’s account in Banner (TSICSRV) before completing the SEA form to ensure you submit the correct payment amount for tuition and/or fees.
- The SEA report in Report Central is your best friend. This report provides a clear picture of what SEA award(s) your student has or will receive for the semester. The data on the report is from the prior day. Note that to gain access to the SEA report you will need to open a ticket by emailing help@charlotte.edu. Include the following message in your email: “I need to gain access to the Report Central Imaging portal for access to the SEA report.” The ticket will be processed via that email.
- After you submit a SEA form, review the SEA report regularly while the current registration period is open to monitor your students for any changes in their registered credit hours. The last day a student can add/drop classes is Aug. 28; however a student’s schedule may continue to change due to late adds/withdrawals through the academic petition process.
- On the SEA form, one input field indicates the minimum number of credit hours required for the award to disburse. If the student is registered for fewer credit hours than required, the award will remain as “memoed” on their financial aid record.
We realize this deadline may influence the work priorities in your departments in the upcoming weeks. We appreciate your hard work and cooperation to help ensure that our students are successful!
Capturing Graduate Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions Efforts Across Campus
As you may already know, the University is engaged in creating a Strategic Enrollment Plan, and as part of that effort, we are trying to ascertain the distributed resources (personnel + budget) on campus that support graduate student marketing, recruitment, and admissions efforts.
Please share this Google Sheet throughout your college and/or unit to fully capture the resources on campus that support marketing, recruitment, and/or admissions for graduate students. Estimates on the percentage of effort and budgets are fine.
Also, we understand that Graduate Program Directors support many of these efforts, but this spreadsheet is intended to capture both permanent and temporary staff and students with some or all of these responsibilities.
Feel free to add comments and also indicate if a college does not have any staff resources to support marketing, recruitment, and admissions for graduate programs outside of the work provided by program directors. If you have questions, please ask your Associate Dean for Graduate Programs or Johnna Watson in the Graduate School.
Ethnicity/Race Suppressed in Slate
An applicant’s ethnicity and race has now been suppressed in the Slate Reader, dashboard views and reports.
As a reminder, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that race cannot be used as a factor in making any graduate admissions decision. However, an applicant’s statement of purpose, resume, recommendations or other information, if it happens to reveal the applicant’s race/ethnicity, can still be considered in the context of an applicant’s experience. Please communicate this change to all your faculty reviewers. If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me (JohnnaWatson@charlotte.edu) or Sarah Edwards in Legal Affairs (Sarah.Edwards@charlotte.edu).
Graduate Program Director Changes
If your term as a Graduate Program Director is expiring, please let us know who your replacement will be by completing a GPD Change form.
