The Thomas L. Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning (CGLL) will host a welcome event for new graduate students May 24 at 3 p.m.
More information and registration form are available from the Reynolds CGLL.
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ISSO Newsletter Carries Key Requirements Information
The International Student and Scholar Office (ISSO) publishes a monthly newsletter which carries important Visa, travel and other information of interest to international students and their faculty.
The latest edition of the ISSO newsletter is at this link.
School of Professional Studies to Launch Summer Google Certificate Academy
The School of Professional Studies will launch a Grow with Google Career Academy this summer at no cost.
From May 1-Aug. 20, UNC Charlotte participants can access up to 10 courses and earn a sharable digital certificate at completion to use on the LinkedIn profile or resume.
Certificate content is provided by Google and hosted by Coursera.
Visit the Summer Microcredential Opportunity page to enroll. If a license is not available, complete the request form to get on the waiting list.
More information on the program is available from Inside UNC Charlotte.
Fall GRAD Course: Navigating Graduate School
This course is particularly relevent for first generation and underrepresented graduate students. It will help graduate students identify and define how their individual identity, experience and skill can be leveraged to progress through the potentially challenging and isolating environment of graduate life.
GRAD 6000/8000 CRN | 16995/16996 | 2 credits | MW | 4:00 PM -5:40 PM | Online
Govan, Wu Cited for Graduate Leadership
Dr. Jy Wu, Infrastructure and Environmental Systems, and Carmalita Govan, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, were selected to receive the Thomas L. Reynolds Leadership Award for 2022-23.
The Reynolds Leadership Award honors excellence in graduate program administration and is presented annually to a Graduate Program Director (GPD) or Graduate Program Administrator (GPA). Recipients are selected by a committee of previous winners, the Graduate Council chair and Graduate School staff.
Read more from the Graduate School.
Brabblerose, Zendels Take Top TA Awards
Caitlin Brabblerose, Biology, and Philip Zendels, Health Psychology, were named top Teaching Assistant and Instructor of Record, respectively, in the Graduate School’s 2022-23 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards.
Read more from the Graduate School.
Embedding Website Lead Generation within Departmental/Program Websites
The Graduate School and its partners, like you, continue to manage and support enrollment management efforts to recruit, enroll and retain students in more than 150 graduate programs of study. We recognize the need to place emphasis on improving awareness of UNC Charlotte’s graduate offerings, which includes increasing lead generation and cultivating applicant connection throughout the admissions process to grow enrollment.
The Graduate School will be partnering with a trusted vendor, Carnegie, to implement a website lead generation strategy and we need your help.
| Key Terms | |
| Lead Generation | Nurturing |
| Lead generation is the process of attracting future students to our portfolio of programs and increasing their interest through nurturing − with the end goal of converting them into a student. Generating leads is a fundamental point in an individual’s journey to becoming a satisfied student. Website lead generation and reporting are critical components of an effective graduate student funnel. The website lead generation forms will collect key information like first and last name, email and cell phone number and automatically associate the contact record with the program they are searching for. | Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with prospective students by building trust, educating, anticipating needs, establishing awareness, and building brand recognition. Nurturing is important because it’s our opportunity to provide value to future students and help them learn more about UNC Charlotte. Website leads are approximately seven times more likely to convert compared to other sources. All leads/contacts will feed into the current Slate communication campaigns and begin nurturing. |
- Current State
- Over 80% of UNC Charlotte graduate program web pages do not have a lead generation form on their website.
- Future State
- The ‘Request for Information’ form will be embedded on each graduate program webpage by OneIT before the fall 2023 semester (Phase 1). If you prefer to opt out of this lead generation form, please email grad-comm@uncc.edu with the programs that will be opting out by May 5, 2023.
- Phase 2 will include embedding each form on the college-level program webpage during the fall semester.
- All contacts will feed into the current Slate communication campaigns and begin nurturing.
- How You Can Help
- If you have a graduate program that would not like to embed a lead generation form on your program website, please let us know by sending an email to grad-comm@uncc.edu with the programs that will be opting out by May 5, 2023.
Thank you for your partnership,
Pinku Mukherjee, Ph.D.
Irwin Belk Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research
Interim Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
Sam Finley
Director of Marketing and Communications
UNC Charlotte | The Graduate School
Sources:
HubSpot Academy, Understanding Lead Generation
Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) Graduate and Online Enrollment Workshop
CGLL and Writing Resources Center Introduce Doctoral Writing Fellows Program
Applications for Charlotte’s newest fellowship, the Doctoral Writing Fellows Program, will be accepted through May 10.
Co-sponsored by the Thomas L. Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning and the Writing Resources Center, the Doctoral Writing Fellowship will include a 20-hour per week assistantship, doctoral in-state tuition, doctoral stipend (based on the student’s program), health insurance coverage, and shared office space. The fellowships will be funded for the full academic year and begin in Fall 2023.
The inaugural cohort of Doctoral Writing Fellows has a unique opportunity to take a leadership role in the Charlotte graduate student community. Dr. Lisa Russell-Pinson, Associate Teaching Professor of Writing in the Graduate School, and Dr. Katie Garahan, the Writing Resources Center Director, will train and mentor Fellows in the development of graduate writing support programs, including one-to-one writing support sessions, writing groups, presentations, workshops, and retreats. Drs. Russell-Pinson and Garahan will also invite Fellows to engage in innovative writing research focused on graduate writer self-efficacy, international and multilingual student writing support, and writing program assessment.
Doctoral Writing Fellows will have an opportunity to:
- Refine writing and communication skills
- Develop valuable professional writing experience
- Participate in vital institutional research on writing and communication
- Collaborate with a committed, experienced, and engaged interdisciplinary team
- Take an important leadership role in the graduate student community
This opportunity will be of particular interest to students with career goals related to science writing, grant writing, non-profit communication, and academic and educational publishing.
To be considered for a Doctoral Writing Fellowship, doctoral students should submit to both Drs. Russell-Pinson and Garahan by May 10:
- Cover letter stating your reason for interest in the program
- CV
- Original writing sample
Sarah Edwards to Address Changes in UNC System Policy on Political Activities
Sarah Edwards, Senior Associate General Counsel, will host a session Apr. 25 to provide information and address questions regarding recent changes to UNC Policy Manual 300.5.1 dealing with Political Activities of Employees.
The session is scheduled from 12:00-12:45 p.m. and participants may join live in Reese Building Rm. 524C or via Google Meet.
Please register to attend using the Graduate School’s registration form.
Following is information from a Sarah Edwards memo that is pertinent to the information session:
On March 8, 2023, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Integrity and General Counsel Jesh Humphrey issued a memorandum regarding the Board of Governors’ recent revisions to UNC Policy Manual 300.5.1 Political Activities of Employees. That memo is attached here for your reference.
Based on some questions and feedback from you all, I would like to provide some additional guidance specifically related to graduate admissions:
Solicited statements, including essay prompts and interview questions, should be centered on competencies rather than commitments, beliefs, or ideologies. For example, the following questions or prompts do not violate the new policy:
o What is your experience and comfort level working or interacting with individuals of varying ages, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, identities, and abilities?
o What tools would you use to engage with a classmate or prospective client whose background or experience differs significantly from yours?
o Please share any experience that demonstrates you possess the awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills necessary to engage and include individuals of varying ages, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, identities, and abilities.
o UNC Charlotte is committed to engaging, including, and eliminating barriers for students, faculty, and staff of different ages, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, identities, and abilities. Provide an example of a barrier that you have overcome in your life or that you have assisted someone else in overcoming.
Utilizing an accrediting body’s standards to evaluate graduate students continues to be permissible. To the extent possible, the accreditation standards should be expressed as competencies, not as commitments, beliefs, or advocacy efforts.
A graduate program may continue to express its own commitment to certain values on its website or other publicly facing media.
Graduate programs may continue to consider or evaluate unsolicited and voluntary statements made by applicants during the admissions process.
Graduate programs may continue to target their recruitment efforts to solicit applicants from a variety of backgrounds.
As a reminder, the U.S. Constitution continues to prohibit public universities from making admissions decisions based solely or primarily on an applicant’s protected status (e.g. race, gender, nationality, religion). In addition to that, the U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether to prohibit any use of race, and possibly other protected statuses, in admissions decisions. The Court’s decision is likely to be released in June 2023.
Feel free to reach out to Sarah Edwards (sarah.edwards@uncc.edu) from the Office of Legal Affairs if you have specific questions or concerns related to your graduate program, and/or Johnna Watson (jwwatson@uncc.edu) in the Graduate School.
NSF Seeking Proposals to Boost STEM Research Competencies
The NSF Centers for Research Excellence is calling for proposals from relevant faculty and graduate students that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers.
Each eligible institution may send two proposals for this 5-year funding that ranges from $2-3-Million as part of the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program.
The UNC Charlotte Division of Research urges interested faculty and students to submit proposals following the White Paper Submission Guidelines by June 9, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.
ETS GRE Program Offers "A Guide to Holistic Admissions"
The GRE Program of ETS will present A Guide to Holistic Admissions Apr. 27, 3-4:30 p.m. The event will feature presentations by former UNC-Greensboro Graduate Dean Terry Ackerman and Georgia State Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives John Augusto.
The session will address practices that promote fairness, processes that mitigate bias, and strategies that can help achieve your enrollment goals.
To register for the webinar, please visit the ETS Registration Page.
Finding Funding as a Graduate Student
The Graduate School’s Julie Goodliffe, Assistant Dean for Funding and Research, will lead this discussion about Pivot, the world’s largest database of funding from government and non-profit organizations.
With Pivot, graduate students can search for fellowships, internships, predoctoral grants and travel funding, and sign up for email notices as new opportunities are added.
For more information and to register for the session, please visit the Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning.
Enhancements Planned for TOEFL Tests
Changes are in the works that will streamline the TOEFL iBT test instructions and navigation, make registration more customer-friendly and make scores accessible via Slate.
To learn more about these changes, attend the TOEFL iBT Enhancements webinar Apr. 19, 1pm ET or May 4, 3pm ET. For more detailed information and to register, visit TOEFL iBT.
Graduate Admissions Ambassadors Wanted
The Graduate Admissions Office is looking for a dynamic and diverse group of currently enrolled graduate students to serve as volunteer Graduate Admissions Ambassadors to start in summer/fall 2023 to help recruit and enroll the graduate class.
Ambassadors are well-positioned to connect with prospective applicants given their unique experiences and perspectives as enrolled graduate students. More information about the opportunity can be found in the application. Please contact Ellie Ivey with additional questions.
Student Needs Assessment Under Way
The Graduate School and the Center for Graduate Life and Learning are conducting a Graduate Needs Assessment Survey.
The survey is anonymous and designed to help us better understand the needs and experiences of graduate students. Responses will be used to inform decisions about support and programming.
Students are encouraged to take 10 minutes to complete this survey.
Register Now for May Mentor Training Session
The Graduate School will offer Mentor Training for graduate faculty May 16. 7, 9:30-4:00. The session will be held in the Student Union.
The curriculum comes from the Center for the Improvement of the Mentored Experience in Research (CIMER) at the University of Wisconsin. It is highly interactive and includes a variety of useful resources and tools.
Attendance is limited, so please sign-up early using this form.
Application Session Planned for Prospective Students
Graduate Admissions is hosting a virtual information session for prospective graduate students Apr. 19, 12:30-1:30. Participate and recruit students to your program.
Additional details and registration form for GPDs and Affiliates is available via the link below. Please RSVP as soon as possible if you plan to attend and let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeG1E7GJeT3nlwJqIAlMH1tUwRXPv6QS5WywcGdtXZh6EOS5Q/viewform?usp=sf_link
Audience-Specific Communication Campaign Launches
The following communication campaigns to support enrollment are live in Slate:
- UNC Charlotte Undergraduate Seniors
- The communications encourage UNC Charlotte seniors that meet GPA requirements to consider pursuing graduate studies.
- International Applicants (Fall 2023 Term)
- The communications encourage international applicants to submit their application/materials/payment using dynamic calls-to-action.
Thank you to the college and unit stakeholders who collaborated on the campaign review. We appreciate the time you dedicated to these efforts!
Questions? Reach the Marketing and Communications team via email at grad-comm@uncc.edu.
Webinar: Using GRE Search in Student Recruitment
The Graduate School Recruitment team is hosting a virtual session on April 5th at 12:30pm for Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators to learn how to utilize the GRE Search to recruit prospective students. This session will cover the benefits of the GRE search, best practices in creating the parameters, and how you can get started!
The session will last about 30 minutes and have time for questions and discussion following the presentation.
Please register for this event through Graduate Admissions.
Legal Affairs Training Session: Considerations for Hiring Students
The Office of Legal Affairs will be hosting a training session Mar. 30 on practical considerations when hiring student employees.
For more information and to register, please visit the Office of Legal Affairs.
