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Online Form Available for Reporting Research Misconduct

November 13, 2018 by White, Brian

UNC Charlotte’s Research Integrity Office (RIO) now has a confidential web-based form available to submit reports of research misconduct.

Headed by Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Tom Reynolds, the RIO 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.”

University Policy 309 defines misconduct as fabricating or falsifying data, plagiarizing work, or failing to follow accepted practices in proposing, performing, reviewing or reporting on research.

Use the RIO form to submit questions about research misconduct or examples of misconduct that you have observed. Reports filed with the RIO are held in strict confidence.

CGL Names 2018 3MT Winners

November 12, 2018 by White, Brian

Xueying Brown, Environmental Engineering, and Donna Goodenow, Biological Sciences, received honors as the top presenters in the Center for Graduate Life’s 2018 Three-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition held at the Halton Reading Room of Atkins Library Nov. 9.

Visit the News on the Graduate School’s home page for details.

New Teaching Course Planned for Spring

October 30, 2018 by White, Brian

The Center for Graduate Life (CGL) will introduce a new course for graduate students who teach, or undergraduates who want to learn, to identify and build effective classroom practices.

Read the full story in the Graduate School‘s News section.

NinerScholars Portal Open

October 22, 2018 by White, Brian

The NinerScholars Portal is now open for students to begin applying for scholarship for the 2019-20 academic year.

If your college or department has not completed the Scholarship Content Review Process, you’ll need to do so before the University Scholarship Office can open your application to students. Scholarship funds which currently do not have a sufficient balance to make a 2019-20 award, but receive the necessary funding to make an award before February 1, 2019, may still be opened in NinerScholars.

Please contact the University Scholarship Office (USO) if a scholarship that is currently closed to applications should be opened.

The USO will host a training session for the NinerScholars Administrator and Reviewer Portals in early February. The session will offer resources and in-depth training on current and new functionality in the portals. The system enhancements will streamline your application review, recipient selection, and award administration processes. All new and continuing scholarship administrators are encouraged to attend; more details will be made available in the coming month.

You may contact the USO at 704-687-5871 or by emailing scholarships@uncc.edu.

GA Taps Play Therapy Association for Recruitment

October 16, 2018 by White, Brian

Graduate School graduate assistant Krystal Turner, MA, Counseling, recently participated in the annual conference of the Association of Play Therapy (APT) in Phoenix where she helped promote graduate education at UNC Charlotte and presented on the research project “Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) for Adoptive Families: Parents’ Lived Experiences.”

“We ran a booth to promote the UNC Charlotte Graduate School as well as the UNC Charlotte Multicultural Play Therapy Center,” Turner said.

Visit the Graduate School News page for the full story.

SACNAS Draws 4,000 STEM Student Candidates

October 12, 2018 by White, Brian

UNC Charlotte graduate faculty and staff attended this year’s conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Oct. 11-13 in San Antonio.

The Diversity in STEM conference attracted more than 4000 students, faculty and speakers who participated in poster presentations, classes, mentoring and cultural activities.

UNC Charlotte was represented by (from left) Marianne Williford, graduate admissions counselor for the Graduate School, Dr. Yvette Huet, director for the UNC Charlotte ADVANCE Faculty Affairs Diversity Office and a professor of Kinesiology, and Lauren Slane, Bioinformatics graduate program coordinator.

Events such as these provide an excellent opportunity for program directors to recruit bright, motivated students to graduate programs at UNC Charlotte. Participants are typically from underrepresented minorities with strong academic potential. Graduate Admissions sends a representative to a select number of recruitment event and provides recruitment materials to faculty, staff and students who attend.

For recruiting tips, contacts and more information on this and other recruiting opportunities, visit GPDNet’s GPD News & Info page.

CGL Offers 3MT Communication Skill Enhancement

September 26, 2018 by White, Brian

Graduate students will have an opportunity again this year to compact their thesis or dissertation into a powerful, three-minute presentation for a chance to win cash prizes and a trip to the Conference of Southern Graduate School’s annual meeting.

Through the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) program offered by the Center for Graduate Life (CGL), contestants vie for the most compelling presentation of research to an audience that may not share the same expertise. The 3MT competition originated at the University of Queensland, Australia in 2008 and has expanded worldwide.

Encourage students to register for the competition through Oct. 8 at the Center for Graduate Life.

Bill Due Date, Payment Plan Changes Coming

September 26, 2018 by White, Brian

Beginning November 12, students will begin receiving their spring bills. Please review the below information carefully as there are some significant changes that you should be aware of when talking to students.

Reason for the changes

For the past year, a committee from Academic Affairs and Business Affairs has reviewed barriers to student success and progression related to registration holds, cancellation processes, and payment plans.

On average, every semester, 845 students have their courses cancelled for non-payment during the first cancellation process, and only 56.8% of the students cancelled re-register for that term.

Based on survey results, data studies, comparison to other UNC system schools, and student feedback, the below changes will be made for the spring billing cycle in order to improve student retention.

Students will be notified of these changes in October. It is important for you to understand these changes to discuss with students if need be.

New spring bill due date: December 5

In past years, the bills for spring were due in the first week of January.
Beginning this year, the new spring bill due date is December 5.
We realize that moving the due date a few weeks earlier is a significant change, so we are providing students with advance notice of this change and giving them more time to make payments.

New payment plan splits amount due into 5 payments

Beginning with their spring bill, the optional payment plan divides their account balance into 5 payments.
This 5-payment plan allows students to pay smaller payments each month!
If students choose to sign up for the plan instead of paying their bill in full, they must do so by December 5 to avoid cancellation of classes.
A $55 setup fee is required when they opt-in to the plan.

This new 5-payment plan does NOT require a 10% down payment like the old plan.
The first payment for this plan is due December 31. The remaining payments are due Jan 31, Feb 28, Mar 31, and Apr 30.

Action date: December 5

By December 5, students need to either pay their balance in full or sign up for the payment plan.
At 11:59 p.m. on December 5, their classes will be cancelled if they haven’t paid their balance in full or signed up for a payment plan.

Graduate Education Summit Rescheduled for Oct. 11

September 21, 2018 by Stanchina, Karla

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,

Program “fitness” report availability
Connect Advising tool
Funding system update
New GPD Recognition Award

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.

Nominate Your Best Master's Students

September 18, 2018 by White, Brian

Faculty nominations of student candidates for the Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award will be accepted through Oct. 19.

The Master’s Thesis Award is presented annually to a student whose thesis makes an “unusually significant contribution” to their discipline. The award focuses on students who completed their master’s degree requirements and thesis between Fall 2016 and Summer 2018.

More information is on the Center for Graduate Life’s Graduate Student Competitions site.

Faculty Award Nominations Sought

September 17, 2018 by White, Brian

Nominations for the prestigious First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal and Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor faculty awards are being accepted until November.

Nominations for the de Silva award come from departmental chairs; nominations for the First Citizens Bank award may come from any UNC Charlotte faculty member.

Details on these faculty awards are located on the Graduate School’s Faculty Awards page.

Program Pays Students to Apply for Fellowships

September 07, 2018 by White, Brian

Doctoral students can get $500 for applying for qualified fellowships this year.

The payment is part of the Graduate School’s Fellowship Application Incentive Program (FAIP) to encourage more students to apply for fellowships in the 2018-19 academic year. Through FAIP, an incentive program launched last year, doctoral students can get $500 each for applying for up to two qualified fellowships. An additional $1,500 incentive payment is available for the first successful fellowship application.

To apply, doctoral students complete the FAIP application prior to applying for fellowships. Application deadline is Feb. 1. An application form and more details are located on the Graduate School’s Funding webpage.

Workshops are available to help locate fellowship opportunities. The Graduate School’s Center for Graduate Life will host the workshop, “Money for your Graduate Education: How to Find Fellowships” on Sept. 17 and again on Sept. 28. Visit the Center for Graduate Life’s event calendar for more details.

Download a printable version of the FAIP guidelines.

Ventureprise Launch NSF I-Corps Seeking Research Ideas

September 05, 2018 by White, Brian

Ventureprise is seeking particpants for its fall 2018 Ventureprise Launch National Science Foundation I-Corps cohort. The six-week program provides UNC Charlotte faculty, staff and students with commercialization training and an initial $3,000 in NSF funding.

The goal of the program is to identify potential commercial uses and prepare for more substantial commercialization funding opportunities, including a six-month $50,000 NSF I-Corps Teams grant.

Applications are due September 14 and the cohort begins September 21.

For a complete schedule and application, please visit the Ventureprise Launch site. For more information, contact PI Devin Collins at devin.collins@uncc.edu or 704-687-8058.

Student Blue for DE, CoOp, Interns and GTAs

August 29, 2018 by Stanchina, Karla

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.

Review Your Program Dashboard

August 21, 2018 by Stanchina, Karla

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.

Misconduct Case Takes Toll on Research Program

August 14, 2018 by Stanchina, Karla

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/

Assessments Needed for International TAs

August 09, 2018 by Stanchina, Karla

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.

Team Up with the Graduate Admissions Staff at Popular Recruiting Events

July 18, 2018 by White, Brian

The Graduate Admissions team is holding seats at two popular recruiting events, but they will go fast.

Tables are reserved for the already sold out Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Indianapolis Nov. 14-17 and for the annual conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) set for Oct. 11-13 in San Antonio.

Events such as these provide an excellent opportunity for program directors to recruit bright, motivated, and academically excellent students to graduate programs at UNC Charlotte. Participants are typically from underrepresented minorities with strong academic potential. The SACNAS conference typically draws over 4,000 participants pursuing careers in STEM fields. ABRCMS is one of the largest communities of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

More details on these recruitment events and other local and out-of-state opportunities are included in the Fall 2018 Recruitment Events list, which is updated regularly. Graduate Admissions sends a representative to a select number of recruitment events, and will provide recruitment materials to faculty, staff and students to support recruiting efforts at the program level.

To reserve your spot for ABRCMS or SACNAS, or to request materials to support your recruitment, contact Maryanne Maree-Sams, MaryanneMaree-Sams@uncc.edu or 704-687-7243. The Graduate School provides

Dávalos, Phippen Take Dissertation Awards

July 05, 2018 by White, Brian

Dr. Eleonora Dávalos, Public Policy, and Dr. Britney Phippen, Biological Sciences, are recipients of the 2018 Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award.

This award is presented each year by the Graduate School to recognize outstanding research and scholarship by a doctoral student at UNC Charlotte.

For details, check out the Recent News on the Graduate School home page.

Access to McNair Scholars Available

July 03, 2018 by White, Brian

Graduate Admissions can provide access to the McNair Scholars program, an excellent source of exemplary students for graduate recruitment.

The Ronald E McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program helps prepare eligible participants for doctoral studies through involvement in research and scholarly projects. Participants are typically from a disadvantaged background, generally from underrepresented segments of society, and have strong academic potential.

Graduate Admissions actively recruits at the McNair regional conference each summer, and routinely waives application fees. If you are interested in recruiting McNair participants for your program, contact Maryanne Maree-Sams, MaryanneMaree-Sams@uncc.edu or 704-687-7243. Maryanne maintains access to a database of McNair Scholars.

Please note: The fee waiver must be requested by the applicant prior to submitting the application for admission. To request a waiver, applicants should contact Maryanne directly, and forward their letter of participation in the McNair Scholars program.

For more information on McNair Scholars and other recruiting tips, visit GPD News & Info and select the Recruitment link on the left panel.