Academic Affairs

Graduate Faculty Mentor Training will be offered Oct. 14 from 9:30-4 in the Student Union.

As part of efforts to improve the research climate on campus, the Graduate School is offering training to graduate faculty who seek to be better research mentors.  This training comes from the evidence-based practices of the CIMER Institute (Center for Improved Mentoring Experiences in Research) at the University of Wisconsin.

Please use this form to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFzojmMZ5J-d1DiBsR2ENt8HPtIW4Fxlbqf0tTH6JH083zJQ/viewform

A network issue last week slowed notifications from the Academic Petition tool.  While the issue may have been addressed, GPDs are encouraged to log into the Academic Petition tool to check for pending requests rather than rely on a notification.

Research-related stress tops a list of concerns among students seeking assistance from the Graduate Ombudsman over the past year. In the 2021-2022 report from Graduate Ombuds Bruce Taylor, Ph.D., issues such as authorship conflicts, funding and communication breakdowns are common themes.

“Conflict with faculty, often over research, continues to be a leading concern among graduate students,” Taylor said.  “Perceived conflicts of interest, particularly when doctoral student research for their dissertation is delayed by faculty research.”

He also noted that issues surrounding student roles on grants, as well as authorship on publications, were problematic. The recently adopted new guidelines on authorship attempt to address some of these concerns. 

Funding is a perennial challenge for graduate students, many of whom contacted the Ombuds with issues over GASP funding, assistantships and, this year, the financial impact of Policy 50.5 that reduced funding levels for many students.

“From (the students’) point of view,” Taylor said, “what they had been offered changed and reduced their effective income substantially in some cases.”

The 2021-22 Ombuds Report is available for download.

The Spring 2022 Commencement May 13 at the Jerry Richardson Football Stadium included 1,096 doctoral, master’s and certificate students. That number includes the most Ph.D. degrees in a single term (61) since 2018, and at 178, the most doctoral degrees conferred yet in an academic year.

Read more from the Graduate School.

Please submit all outstanding grades as soon as possible for doctoral students who are graduating in spring 2022.  We will make every effort to award degrees to these students prior to commencement so that they may pick up their diplomas after the ceremony.

If you have any questions, please contact Janet Morse.

Last Spring the Faculty Council approved a new grade mode option for graduate research credit.  Beginning Fall 2021 the default grade mode for Doctoral Dissertation Research and Master’s Thesis Research will be Satisfactory Progress /Unsatisfactory Progress (SP/UP).

Programs that offer a MASTER’ S THESIS option may request that a Standard Letter grade (A, B, C, U) be assigned instead of SP/UP grades by contacting the Graduate School no later than October 1, 2021.

You will find the Grade of SP/UP (Satisfactory Progress/ Unsatisfactory Progress) Option in the 2021-22 Graduate Catalog under Degree Requirements and Academic Policies/ Grading and Related Policies.

You will find more information specific to Master’s Thesis Research under Degree Requirements and Academic Policies/ Master’s Degree Requirements.

If you have questions, please contact Sandra.Krause@uncc.edu

Doctoral students who enter with a relevant master’s degree may be admitted to an Advanced Standing track in some doctoral programs.

In those programs offering this option, the Graduate Program Director must recommend  admission to the Advanced Standing track for the term in which the student begins their graduate study.

Please send these requests to Sandra.Krause@uncc.edu.

Students may now submit 2021-22 catalog update  requests through the Graduate Academic Petition system. As a reminder, Catalog Update petitions are automatically processed under the term in which they were submitted. This means that if you submit a Catalog Update petition during the Fall 2021 term, the student’s catalog will reflect the NEW 2021-22 catalog.