The Graduate Student Funding Task Force will be presenting their preliminary findings and recommendations Friday, April 20. There will be two separate campus forums, one for graduate students which begins at 11:00 a.m. and one for faculty and staff to follow at 1:00 p.m. Both forums will be held in Rowe Arts, Room 130.
For more information, please visit the Graduate School’s Faculty & Staff Resources site.
Several UNC Charlotte graduate programs received high rankings in the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate School report out this week.
Read more on the Graduate School website.
NAGAP’s webinar “This is NOT a Test: Reaching International Graduate Students Through GRE/GMAT/TOEFL Search” is Wednesday, March 28, 1-2 p.m. Led by Raymond Allen Lutzky, Ph.D., Senior Director of Enrollment and Admissions at Cornell Tech, this webinar is open to anyone.
For more information, go to NYGAP’s webinar and registration site.
In a recent round of meetings of the Graduate School and academic program leaders at UNC Charlotte, a question surfaced that is being debated broadly in academic circles: Are standardized test scores like the GRE still a valid tool for determining readiness for graduate education?
An article in online magazine OZY last October, suggests maybe not. The article details a number of GRE shortcomings and lists a number of colleges and universities that are relying less on standardized testing. “Research from Yale and Vanderbilt shows that the test is only a modest predictor of success for first-year grad students,” the article said. “Other studies reveal huge gender- and race-related disparities.”
An earlier downloadable study published by researchers from the University of Wisconsin and Detroit’s Wayne State University Law School in 2014 takes a contrarian view: “…since the year 2000, in particular, total enrollment growth has been stronger for minorities than for whites, and stronger for women than for men. This would not occur were the GRE selectively suppressing the admission of women and minorities.”
Finally, in a downloadable report published in 2016 entitled Holistic Review in College Admissions, the Council of Graduate Schools recommends relying less on quantitative scores and more on “a broad range of candidate qualities including “noncognitive” or personal attributes.”
What do you think? Start the conversation: Share your experience with standardized test scores below.
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Niner Central Student Services Center opens Tuesday, Mar. 13 online and in Cone University Center. Among the available services are financial aid/loans, billing/payments, registration/records and transcripts. For more information, visit NinerCentral.uncc.edu, or call 704-687-8622. |
A study in Nature Biotechnology and reported in Inside Higher Education suggests a higher risk for mental health issues than the general population. Read more at Inside Higher Education.
The deadline for nominations for the three competitive Veteran Graduate Assistantships is COB, Friday, Mar. 16. All that is required is an e-mail from the Program Director to Dr. Alan Freitag in the Graduate School (arfreita@uncc.edu) nominating the admitted student. Contact Dr. Freitag for details.
Campbell University’s 2018 Career Fair will host a multitude of employers and agencies from the public and private sectors interested in networking with students and alumni.
The event is Tuesday, Mar. 27 in Campbell’s John W. Pope Convocation Center from 11:30- 3:30 p.m.
Registration ($200 for corporate and $100 for non-profit and graduate programs) includes a dedicated table space, parking, lunch and refreshments for two representatives.
For more information and to register, visit Campbell University’s Career Fair site. For questions, contact careerfair@campbell.edu.
Several improvements recently were made in the way final documents and fees are submitted for completing dissertations and theses.
The downloadable form for Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) was simplified and reduced to a single page. The form should be scanned and emailed to aura.young@uncc.edu. Just as before, the committee chair’s signature is required for students’ work to be accepted into ProQuest. (In the case of an unsatisfactory defense, this document should be withheld and not the Final Defense Report.) Deadline for submitting the ETD is April 16 for doc students and May 7 for Master’s students.
An online payment portal now is available for submission and optional copyright, Open Access and binding fees.
For more information visit the Center for Graduate Life’s Dissertation & Thesis Formatting page, also updated with links to information on manuscript preparation, ProQuest’s subject categories, publication options, embargoes, copyright, and permissions.
Remember, the inaugural Doctoral Hooding Ceremony is only weeks away!
The Graduate School will conduct an information session Mar. 28 from 12-1 for University employees who hold a baccalaureate degree and wish to pursue their graduate education. Enrollment counselors will explain the easy application process, answer program questions and distribute HR information for the tuition waiver and free textbook rental programs. The session will be held in Cato 248.
Full-time employees can take three classes per year, tuition free. Additionally, employees can apply easily for admission as a graduate certificate or post-baccalaureate (non-degree) student without standardized tests, transcripts or recommendation requirements. To reserve your seat, complete the registration.
Columbia College will host a Grad School Fair Wednesday, Mar. 28. The event will draw undergraduate students from the Columbia metropolitan area.
The Fair will be in the Columbia College Student Dining Hall, 1301 Columbia College Drive, Columbia, SC 29203. Registration and parking are free.
To register go to the Columbia College Grad School Fair registration page. For more information, contact Nigel Smith, (nsmith@columbiasc.edu), Coordinator of Career Coaching, (803) 786-3604.
A virtual event planned for Apr. 18 will connect students interested in graduate programs in social work with interested graduate school educators without the usual transportation expense.
Learn more by visiting the Social Work Grad School Virtual Fair web site.
The spring Dissertation Writing Retreat Mar. 5-8 gives doctoral students an opportunity to advance their dissertation work. More information is available from the Center for Graduate Life.
As the Graduate School engages in the application and student funding process this term, we need to prepare our funding profile for fall 2018. We’re not certain what that profile will look like, but we know it will be driven by two primary factors:
Consequently, the Graduate School will stop making continuous awards on April 1 and place new nominations from Program Directors in a “waiting pool.” Then on April 15, the Graduate School will begin making limited awards to those in the “waiting pool” based on funds made available as a result of declined offers. Nominations received after April 15 will move into that “waiting pool.” That’s when available funding will determine distribution of funds.
For GASP funding support, make sure that when you nominate a student for GASP that you are also providing that student with a college/department-funded assistantship. Award of that assistantship is a prerequisite for receiving matching contributions from the Graduate School in the form of tuition support.
For more information on the funding process for fall 2018, visit Student Support on the Graduate School’s Faculty and Staff section.
Beginning Monday, Jan. 29, visitors to the Graduate School’s student application portal will find a redesigned site with simpler navigation that is more mobile-friendly.
The change also replaces the unique user name with the applicant’s email address and sends a confirmation message to that address for validation as part of the registration process. Note: Existing users will need to use their old user name the first time they sign on to the new system.
The application portal allows prospects and applicants to:
For more information on Admissions, visit the Graduate School’s Recruitment and Admissions page.
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.
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cations are now open for ComSciCon 2018, the 6th annual Communicating Science workshop, to be held in Boston, MA on June 14-16th 2017. Graduate students at U.S. and Canadian institutions in all fields of science, technology, engineering, health, mathematics, and related fields are encouraged to apply. The application will close on March 1st.
Acceptance to the workshop is competitive; attendance is free and travel support and lodging will be provided to accepted applicants.
Participants will build the communication skills that scientists and other technical professionals need to express complex ideas to the general public, experts in other fields, and their peers. In additional to panel discussions (on topics such as Creative Storytelling, Science Journalism, Diversity/Inclusivity, and a Case Study on Scicomm in Medicine), ample time is allotted for networking with science communication experts and developing science outreach collaborations with fellow graduate students.
For more information and to apply, visit ComSciCon.
UNC Charlotte hosts more than 800 veteran students on campus, and our university’s origin was as an institution serving returning World War II veterans. So outreach to and support for veterans and their family members is a significant component of our identity. That’s why we’re proud to be hosting the April 18 regional conference of NC STRIVE – the Governor’s agency promoting veteran support among our state’s 2- and 4-year institutions.
The all-day conference (8 a.m.-4 p.m.) is aimed at regional college and university administrators, faculty and staff as well as veteran service providers, behavioral health advocates and government agencies. The event is free, including lunch sponsored by Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, but registration is required. Here’s where you can register: NC STRIVE REGISTRATION.
Slated for McKnight Hall in the Cone Conference Center as well as break-out rooms on the second floor of Cone, the event begins with a keynote address by Bruce Capehart, MD, a psychiatrist and Medical Director for the OEF/OIF Program at the VA Medical Center at Durham. OEF and OIF refer to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Dr. Capehart is an Army veteran of both those conflicts.
There will be individual panel presentations by Charlotte region business leaders, current veteran students and college/university administrators. Break-out sessions will address topics such as “Green Zone” training, suicide prevention, military transfer credit, mentoring the non-traditional student and additional topics designed to equip administrators, faculty and staff in higher education with information, resources, and networking that will enhance the experience and success of student veterans in their pursuit of certificates and degrees.
Registration is capped at 150, and all area colleges and universities are invited, so please register soon. Contact Dr. Alan Freitag in the Graduate School (x77312, arfreita@uncc.edu) for more information.
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program helps prepare eligible participants for doctoral studies through involvement in research and scholarly projects. Participants are typically from disadvantaged backgrounds, generally from underrepresented segments of society, and have strong academic potential.
Staff in the Office of Graduate Admissions actively recruits McNair Scholars at the McNair regional conference each summer, and routinely waives their application fees. Note that the fee waiver must be requested by the applicant prior to submitting the application for admission. Applicants should contact Maryanne Maree-Sams at MaryanneMaree-Sams@uncc.edu or 704-687-7243 to request the fee waiver; they must also email her a letter of participation as a McNair Scholar.
Maryanne Maree-Sams also has access to the McNair Scholars database of participants. If you are interested in recruiting exemplary students to your graduate program, please contact Maryanne directly.
