UNC Charlotte recently updated its policy on parental leave to keep pace with changing pressures faced by students, faculty and staff.
Read the full policy statement at Academic Affairs.
Graduate School News
Keep an Eye on Your Enrollment
As a reminder, the Graduate School posts weekly application and enrollment reports to GPDNet allowing you to analyze and compare activity in your program. This is a helpful tool to guide your program in meeting targeted enrollment goals. You must be signed into your NinerNet account to download the reports. For questions, please contact Johnna Watson about enrollment reports, or Kathy Giddings for application reports.
ISSO to Host Virtual Town Hall on COVID-19 and Visa Regulations
The International Student and Scholar Office (ISSO) will host a WebEx Town Hall Apr. 27 to respond to questions about COVID-19 and visa and immigration regulations.
The session, scheduled from 3-4:40 p.m., will address travel, enrollment, employment (incl. OPT & CPT), and more. The content is intended for UNC Charlotte students and alumni on OPT & STEM OPT
Follow this link to WebEx to participate.
For more information and updates on COVID-19, please visit the ISSO website.
Kocherga Named to Argonne National Laboratory Program
Margaret Kocherga, Ph.D., Nanoscale Science, was selected to join Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI), the entrepreneurship program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory.
She will begin the two-year program in June. Her work through CRI will focus on the development of a single robust material to create higher-efficiency cost-effective OLEDS (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) used in digital displays.
Kocherga also won First Place in the Innovate Carolina 2020 Student Innovation Competition sponsored by the Product Development and Management Association. Margaret will receive a $750.00 cash prize for this award.
Read more at Ventureprise Launch.
Ventureprise Launch NSF I-Corps Summer 2020 Virtual Cohort
Have an idea or research finding that the National Science Foundation may be interested in funding? Have an idea in response to COVID-19 and the current situation? Want to receive up to $5000 for your research or business idea? Apply to participate in the Summer 2020 Ventureprise Launch National Science Foundation I-Corps virtual cohort. The program provides UNC Charlotte faculty, staff and students with commercialization training and up to an initial $5000 in NSF funding. The goal of the program is to identify potential commercial uses and prepare for more substantial commercialization funding opportunities. The next stage is a six month $50,000 NSF I-Corps Teams grant. The cohort will begin May 13 (rolling applications, last day to submit is May 8). A complete schedule and application form can be found on the NSF I-Corps webpage. Contact: Principle Investigator Devin Collins (7-8058).
Graduate Researcher Talks Epidemics on WFAE
Charlotte Talks: This Is Not Our First Pandemic
Note: the full interview is available from WFAE.
A stay-at-home order is in place. Medical equipment is hard to find. There’s an illness causing flu-like symptoms, and it spreads easily. The year is 1918.
Today’s coronavirus is not the first time North Carolina has experienced a pandemic. Just over 100 years ago the so-called Spanish flu ravaged the globe, killing roughly 13,000 in North Carolina, 675,000 in the United States and 50 million worldwide.
Today we consider the surprising parallels of the two pandemics, 100 years apart.
Charlotte’s population was 1/20th of what it is today, and technology has since evolved in unimaginable ways. But the similarities are striking: Movie theaters are closed but grocery stores remain open, children are home from school and boredom is creeping in. Some are anxious to reopen the economy, while health officials are cautious. In perhaps a harbinger of things to come, in 1919 some businesses sued the local board of health for keeping them from making a profit.
What do we have to learn from the 1918 influenza? How might it inform our response to COVID-19?
In 2018, Dr. Lauren Austin cautioned at the end of her dissertation: “We are at once both wholly unprepared and ideally situated for another influenza outbreak.”
GUEST
Dr. Lauren Austin, author of “Afraid to Breathe: Understanding North Carolina’s Experience of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic at the State, Local, and Individual Levels”
Webinar: Why Diverse Teams are More Effective
Dr. Manuel Pérez-Quiñones, Professor in College of Computing and Informatics, will host an informal discussion about diversity and how you can learn to build and work effectively on diverse teams. The session is Apr. 24, 10 a.m.
Please visit the Center for Graduate Life to register.
Celebrate our most recent graduates with a video message
It’s been a challenging year for the Class of 2020, and University Communications would like to celebrate them in the safest and most meaningful way possible. We want to tell the Class of 2020 graduate story and we hope you’ll help us.
In ‘To the Class of 2020, From the Class of 2020’, we plan to create a thoughtful compilation of what graduating means for our May graduates, including voices of UNC Charlotte faculty and staff. Please consider submitting a personal video that includes words of encouragement for the Class of 2020. Use this webform for guidelines and to share submissions by the April 28 deadline.
We appreciate your participation, which will provide inspiration and much-needed encouragement to the Class of 2020 during this time.
Reynolds Graduate Leadership Award Goes to Vetter
Lara Vetter, professor of English, was selected to receive this year’s Thomas L. Reynolds Leadership Award for her contributions to student success and enrollment management.
Read more about Vetter’s accomplishments in Graduate School news.
Graduate School Fellowship Recipients Awarded
Congratulations to the 2020-2021 Graduate School Fellowship recipients:
Wayland H. Cato Jr. First-Year Doctoral Fellowship
Andrew Dunphy, Ph.D. Biology
Hector Samani, Ph.D. Geography
Herschel and Cornelia Everett First-Year Graduate Fellowship ~ Doctoral
Hannah Luce, Ph.D. Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation
Herschel and Cornelia Everett First-Year Graduate Fellowship ~ Master’s
Camille Gossett, M. Public Health
William F. Kennedy Graduate Fellowship
Lauren Roppolo Brazell, Ph.D. Bioinformatics
Joanna R. Baker Memorial Graduate Fellowship
Fahad Mohammed Abdul, MS Electrical Engineering
Dr. Craig R. Brown Graduate Fellowship
Kelsey Smith, MA Counseling
DRReaM Graduate Fellowship
Thelma Achidi, MS Health Informatics and Analytics
Faye Jacques Memorial Graduate Fellowship
Jason Solomon, MS Mechanical Engineering
John Paul Lucas Jr. Scholarship for Educational Leadership
Abby Olive, MA English
Zonta Club Scholarship
Amanda Roberts, MA History
Claudia Reynolds Graduate Fellowship
April Vazquez, MA Spanish
Thomas L. Reynolds Graduate Student Research Award
Tengteng Cai, Ph.D. Public Policy
Morgan Chandler, Ph.D. Nanoscale Science
Abhishek Shibu, Ph.D. Nanoscale Science
Emilie Cobb, MA Anthropology
Mukulika Bose, Ph.D. Biology
Face Covering Advisory
With guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) UNC Charlotte encourages all mandatory employees who must be on campus, to wear a face covering. Those who need one may pick them up at the Popp Martin Student Union or the Facilities Operations and Parking Services (FOPS) building. The FOPS lobby is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Boost Your Marketing with an Online Information Session
Data shows that the prospective student audience, while under stay-at-home orders, are consuming recorded online information sessions at a rapid rate. These are easy to create and record through WebEx or Zoom. We’re encouraging all graduate programs to feature yours on your program landing page and to send your link to Graduate Admissions where we can display them on our new Virtual Open House web page and YouTube channel.
Guidance Provided on Student Pass/Unsatisfactory Selection
The Provost’s memo of March 25, 2020, stated that, due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus Covid-19 virus, all students will have the option to modify their grade type at the end of the term. Specifically, for graduate students this means that after grades post, students may select a pass/unsatisfactory grade for any course.
The Graduate School has published guidance to assist graduate faculty in appropriately assigning grades during this period.
There are particular ramifications related to graduate courses. Please consider the following:
- Faculty are to report course grades by using standard letter grades (A, B, C, U or I);
- When possible, faculty may choose to give an incomplete rather than an unsatisfactory grade. This would allow students to complete work, rather than lose money by taking the class again;
- “P” grades are considered passing. P = A, B, C in this case. Therefore, if a student selects a P grade, that grade should allow the student to progress in the program. Students must take action to change a standard letter grade. Of course, they can keep any or all grades assigned;
- Students have until June 1, 2020 to make a grade selection. Because the summer term will begin before June 1, 2020, the Graduate School will not process suspensions or terminations in June 2020. Students who earn a U grade in the Spring 2020 term will be suspended or terminated, effective for the Fall 2020 term;
- It is the Graduate School’s understanding that all students may request a “withdrawal for extenuating circumstances” – WE – for any course. Given these extraordinary circumstances, we are not requiring documentation for this request. Therefore, a student could request a WE for a course graded as a U.
Questions should be directed to Dr. Katherine Hall-Hertel, Associate Dean of the Graduate School.
More information is available from the Graduate School’s Faculty and Staff Resources, Academics page.
Nitika, Brinegar Are Top Teaching Assistants
Nitika, Ph.D., Biological Sciences, and Caroline Brinegar, MA, Geography, were recently designated UNC Charlotte’s most Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants (TA).
The pair were recognized remotely as part of the University’s effort to fight the Coronavirus pandemic. Each received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, which includes $1,000 and a plaque.
Read more at the Graduate School’s news page.
Outstanding Dissertation Nominations Sought
The Graduate School is seeking nominations through May 29 for the 2020 Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award.
The award, which is sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, includes a certificate, $1,000 cash award, and a chance to participate in the CGS annual meeting.
The award recognizes original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline.
For more information and access to the nomination form, please visit the Graduate School Award Gateway.
Financial Support Agreements Binding on 4/15 National Signing Day
Acceptance of an offer of financial support, such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship, for the coming academic year by a prospective or enrolled student completes an agreement that both the student and graduate school expect to honor.
Prospective students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15th; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of the April 15th resolution.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Julie Goodliffe in the Graduate School or see https://cgsnet.org/april-15-
R&ED Hosting Virtual Town Hall
Research Town Hall and Open Forum: Research and Economic Development will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall from 11 am – 12 Noon on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
The session will include a brief update on the status of the university’s research enterprise under the current “stay at home” order and a discussion of several new initiatives we are launching to help faculty respond to recent funding requests targeting the coronavirus. The session will also include an overview of the impact of recent supplemental spending bills, including the CARE Act, on federal support for basic and applied research. R&ED staff will be on hand to answer questions about research operations under COVID-19, including recent guidance from federal agencies on the management of existing awards.
Advanced registration is required: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/upAscOmorj0tufeo6McZsY1zDcMPzwpzvQ
Attendees are encouraged to submit questions in advance using the online form at https://forms.gle/ziMM34LbWqgVJre79
ETS Expands Home Testing
ETS has expanded home testing for the TOEFL and GRE to all locations where computer-delivered are normally available, with the exceptions of Mainland China and Iran.
Updates on testing by region are available on the ETS website.
ETS provides additional information on the following websites:
- Web pages for TOEFL® Institutions and TOEFL Test Takers
- Web pages for GRE® Institutions and GRE Test Takers
Student Loan Payments Suspended
The US Department of Education has announced that student loan payments, and interest on those payments, has been suspended for at least 60 days. For more information, please read the US Dept. of Education’s news release.
Dissertation, Thesis Deadlines Extended
Because of the disruption to schedules caused by the nationwide response to COVID-19, the deadlines for dissertations and theses have been extended.
Dissertation and thesis defense deadlines are now May 1, 2020. Submission deadline for both dissertations and theses is May 14, 2020.
