Announcements for Current Students

Remote Work for GAs and Tuition Remission

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Colleagues,

I am writing with guidance about graduate assistants working while outside the U.S.

Remote Work

GAs provide vital teaching and research service to the University, and some of this work might be possible remotely. GAs who are here in the U.S. are able to work remotely, provided they have supervisor approval and that the responsibilities of the position can be completed from the remote location. Last year, the University made a one-time exception to allow a limited number of GAs to work from outside the U.S. during 2020/2021 because of the exceptional hardship associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. I anticipate that the University will require all GAs to be in the United States to hold an appointment in Fall 2021 and beyond.

The employment, labor, and tax obligations to which GAs are subject when outside of the U.S. are those of the country from which they are working, even if they are working on behalf of an employer like UConn that is located in the U.S. In some cases, accepting a paycheck from UConn could expose an individual to personal liability and potentially significant consequences in the country where they reside. As a result, the University has determined that graduate students must be here in the U.S. in order to work as a GA and are expected to remain in the U.S. for the duration of their appointment. (Please remember that GAs have a right to 10 days off for a 1-semester appointment or 20 days off for an academic year appointment. With the approval of their GA supervisor, a GA could leave the country before the end of their Fall appointment and return after the beginning of their Spring appointment, treating the days outside the U.S. as time off.)

Deferring Admission

Incoming graduate students to whom departments offered a graduate assistantship in Fall 2021 and who are unlikely to be able to arrive by the start date of their appointment are strongly encouraged to defer admission to a later date or to take advantage of the tuition remission option described below. Students may request a deferral through the Accounts & Forms area of their Application Status page. The request will then be routed to the program for review and approval. Please consult The Graduate School (gradadmissions@uconn.edu) with any questions regarding the deferral process.

 

Tuition Remission

The University will allow any graduate students that would be graduate assistants in Fall 2021 and are unable to arrive in the U.S. to enroll in courses without a tuition charge. Students who received tuition remission last year will be eligible for tuition remission again. Departments who want to offer this option must make it available to all GAs who would have held an assistantship in Fall 2021 and are unable to come to the U.S., and they should provide The Graduate School with a list of those students (name and 7-digit Student ID) and a copy of the student’s GA offer letter at graduatedean@uconn.edu by August 15th. Students receiving tuition remission are still personally responsible for remitting their student fees according to the deadlines published by the Office of the Bursar.

If you have any questions, please send them to graduatedean@uconn.edu, and we will respond as quickly as possible.

Kent Holsinger

—

Kent E. Holsinger
Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School

3MT Competition 2021

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The Graduate School is excited to announce this year’s 3MT competition, to be held virtually on Thursday 12 August, 6-7pm (EDT) with a submission deadline of Friday July 30.

As you will note from the email below, we are offering graduate students the opportunity to attend short training sessions over the summer, to prepare for the competition; however, this year we are also adding an option for departments to have a custom virtual session specifically designed for your students. We would set up a time that would work for you and your interested graduate students and then tailor the content to your field / subject area.

If you are interested, please send me an email by the end of May so we can start working out specifics.

Please feel free to forward the information below to your graduate students or staff/faculty that might be interested in being a part of UConn’s competition!

Onwards!

Stuart

Stuart P. Duncan PhD DMA

Director of Fellowships, Outreach, and Programming

The Graduate School, University of Connecticut

Pronouns (He/Him & They/Them)

Graduate Dismissal Process

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At the end of May, the Department Head, Director of Graduate Studies, and faculty advisors will receive a list of students in their program who have failed to maintain the required minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and/or who have received a grade of “D+,” “D,” “D-,” “F,” or “U” in any course. We will assume that the advisor’s intention is to continue the student unless the advisor or department specifies that the student should be dismissed. If the student should be dismissed on the basis of failing grades or low GPA, the dismissal recommendation should be submitted to graduatedean@uconn.edu no later than June 16, 2021. If the student will be continuing graduate study, the advisor should work directly with the student to create a mitigation plan for their academic performance.

If there is a student who is subject to dismissal based on other dismissal criteria (the full list can be found herein The Graduate Catalog), the department must notify The Graduate School that the student should be included in the formal dismissal process for Spring 2021. To do so, the advisor should email the following information to graduatedean@uconn.edu:

·       the student’s name

·       student ID

·       rationale for dismissal

·       the advisor’s understanding of the student’s academic plans (e.g., Will the student be exiting the university? Does the student plan to discontinue their current program and enroll in another UConn program?)

Please note, The Graduate School only notifies students that they have been dismissed—we do not notify students that they are subject to dismissal. Students notified of dismissal will have ten business days from the date The Graduate School sends them a formal dismissal letter to submit an appeal of the dismissal.

As a reminder, graduate students do not have the option to place courses on Pass/Fail or Pass/W-Audit for Spring 2021. All recommendations for dismissal should be submitted to graduatedean@uconn.edu by June 16, 2021.

Best,

Megan Petsa, M.A.

Director of Graduate Student Administration

 

The Graduate School

University of Connecticut

The Whetten Graduate Center, Second Floor 

438 Whitney Road Extension, Unit 1152 | Storrs, CT  06269-1152

860.486.0977 | www.grad.uconn.edu | Pronouns: she/hers

Coronavirus Relief Emergency Funding for Students

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The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) was approved by Congress and includes support for higher education, including emergency grants for students facing expenses due to COVID-19.

The grants must be used for any component of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care) or child care.

The funds are available to both U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens. To confirm eligibility, students will have to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to UConn.

The emergency funding will be awarded through financial aid and disbursing directly to students via their student account.  The grant will be passed through PeopleSoft and will not be applied to or used to offset any charge, debt, tuition, fees, or other balance in a student account, nor will it be encumbered in any manner by UConn.

For students enrolled in direct deposit, they will have access to the funds in approximately three business days from the date of disbursement. For those not enrolled in direct deposit, the Office of the Bursar will issue a check.

The application is available at the Office of Financial Aid’s website. Learn more about the CRRSAA Emergency funding and apply. If you have additional concerns or needs, let us know at the gradschool@uconn.edu or meet with members of our Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Affairs team.

Apply for Graduation

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Greetings Graduate Students,

Are you graduating this semester?  Did you know you must apply for graduation online via your Student Administration account?  Did you know the deadline was by the end of the 4th week of the semester?

If you missed the deadline, please apply ASAP in order to not impact the conferral of your degree.  Summer candidates are asked to apply no later than March 25th to ensure their information makes the Commencement publication.

Click the following link for more information about Commencement.

Additional important dates and deadlines can be viewed on the Academic Calendar page.  Friday, April 23rd is the last day to submit paperwork for a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation to qualify for a Spring 2021 conferral date.

Visit Degree Audit’s website for directions and more information about applying for graduation, submitting required paperwork, and uploading your thesis or dissertation.  Consult your major advisor about what documentation needs to be submitted to The Registrar’s Office as a requirement for your degree.

All students are advised to review their transcript to ensure that it coincides with their plan of study. Any missing grades, documents, or discrepancies between a student’s plan of study and transcript can result in a delay of degree conferral or cancellation of degree candidacy.

UConn Health Graduate students can get information at the following link – UConn Health Commencement

Feel free to contact The Degree Audit office at degreeaudit@uconn.edu if you have additional questions.

BIPOC Student Support Report Seeking Public Comment

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Hello graduate faculty and staff,

Following the national incidents of racism and racial injustice in Summer 2020, The Graduate School has been reflecting, researching, and discussing how we can better serve our Black, Indigenous, and/or Person of Color (BIPOC) graduate students at the University of Connecticut. This process, undertaken with the assistance of our partners, graduate faculty and staff, graduate student organizations, and graduate students, has resulted in a report. The report outlines our process, our findings, and, most importantly, our priorities we will be working to address with the purpose of improving the experiences of BIPOC graduate students at UConn. 

To ensure these priorities represent the needs and desires of the graduate community at UConn, we are asking for feedback from our community members. Our report and feedback form will be available on our webpage until Friday, March 26th. We will then adjust our priorities based upon the feedback we receive and communicate the final priorities with the graduate community. We welcome feedback from all graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, staff, and alumni regardless of racial identity. 

grad.uconn.edu/bipoc_report_feedback/

If you have any questions, please reach out to Shay Hopley at shalyn.hopley@uconn.edu. 

Sincerely,

The Graduate School Team

Important Information: Spring 2021 Enrollment

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As the Spring semester gets closer, we wanted to provide some context on enrollment. The information below is relevant to both new and returning students. Please review carefully and reach out with any questions you may have. If you have not done so already, please be sure to enroll in classes prior to the start of the semester, which begins January 19.

Continuous enrollment is a requirement of all graduate programs. Students who will not be registering in coursework or research credits must register for a zero credit continuous registration course to maintain their active student status. Continuous registration courses include GRAD 5997, GRAD 5998, and GRAD 6998, as well as GRAD 5999 (Thesis Preparation) and GRAD 6999 (Dissertation Preparation). Full descriptions of the continuous registration courses can be found here. Enrollment in these sections should be determined before the first day of classes. There are financial implications when changing from being enrolled in credits to no credits as of the first day of classes. Changes from credits to a zero-credit placeholder cannot be made after the first day of classes.

Students who wish to cancel enrollment prior to the start of the semester or who attend class and then decide to withdraw from all their courses should notify The Graduate School (TGS) by completing an online Voluntary Separation Notification Form as soon as possible. The add/drop period that extends through the 10th day of classes (February 1, 2021) is only available to students who plan to be enrolled in credited coursework throughout the semester. A student who wishes to go down to zero credits or withdraw from their program completely will need assistance from The Graduate School and will be subject to the university refund schedule which will apply based on the date the student notifies TGS of the intent to withdraw via the online Voluntary Separation Notification process, not when they last attended classes. More information on voluntary separation can be found here.

Students who do not register for classes by the 10th day are automatically discontinued from their program. If the student then wishes to be enrolled after Day 10, the student will need to request reinstatement to their program, which is not guaranteed and incurs a $65 fee. Students should also be aware that classes with insufficient enrollment will be cancelled and will then be unavailable even if the student is reinstated.

Fee bills for graduate students are due January 15, 2021. Information about the UConn Payment Plan can be found here and information on Graduate Assistant Payroll Deductions can be found here.

The decision to enroll in research credits in a given semester should be made in conjunction with the student’s advisor. Doctoral students should register for GRAD 6950. Plan A Master’s students should register for GRAD 5950. All sections will show “Staff” (or similar) as the instructor. Through an automatic process later in the semester, students will be moved to a grade roster associated with their major advisor. Permission numbers are not needed for students to register for these research courses. If you attempt to register and receive an error, contact registrar@uconn.edu for assistance. Be sure to include your 7-digit student ID in all correspondence.

Additional Registration Information for Graduate Assistants:
Graduate Assistants (GAs) are required to be enrolled as full-time students (6 or more credits), as noted in their offer letter and The Graduate Catalog. Employment as a GA is a result of student status, therefore GAs are expected to be registered for a minimum of 6 credits before the start date of their spring semester employment (January 7, 2021). GAs who have not completed their registration for a minimum of six credits by their start date are not fulfilling one of the contingencies of employment and may be subject to termination from their assistantship. (GAs employed solely at UConn Health should follow the registration deadlines set by UCH.)

Please note, the tuition waiver will not post to a GA’s fee bill until the GA is registered for at least 6 credits. Therefore, if a student is not fully registered in a timely fashion, this can result in a Bursar hold on the student’s account that blocks enrollment and other services, as well as incur late fees.

The decision to enroll in research credits in a given semester should be made in conjunction with the student’s advisor. Doctoral students should register for GRAD 6950. Plan A Master’s students should register for GRAD 5950. GAs should NOT register for GRAD 6960 (Full-Time Doctoral Research) or GRAD 5960 (Full-Time Master’s Research). GRAD 6960 and 5960 are only 3 credits and will prevent the tuition waiver from populating if it is the only course the GA is registered for, as well as create duplicate fee charges.

Additional Registration Information for Provost’s Professional Interns:
Students who are employed as Provost’s Professional Interns are required to be enrolled in six or more credits, as noted in their offer letter. Employment as a Provost’s Professional Intern is a result of student status, therefore Provost’s Professional Interns are expected to be registered for a minimum of 6 credits before the start date of their spring semester employment (January 7, 2021). Provost’s Professional Interns receive a tuition scholarship for the duration of their appointment. Registration prior to the deadline allows The Graduate School to accurately process this tuition scholarship in a timely manner, avoiding late fees and holds on the student’s account that block enrollment and other services.

While Provost’s Professional Interns are eligible for a tuition scholarship upon meeting the six credit registration threshold, in order to be reported as a full-time student, Provost’s Professional Interns must be registered for nine credits. This may be an important consideration for international students or those with student loans in deferment.

If you are experiencing difficulty registering, or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to The Graduate School for assistance. Please include your 7-digit student ID number in all correspondence.

To register now, please click here.

Academic Resources

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Academic Resources

As we approach the 9th week of the semester, it is important to remind you of resources dedicated to helping students, both graduate and undergraduate. Many staff and faculty are ready to help you navigate life’s challenges, which may be affecting your individual experience. This message highlights support services and policies to help you make informed decisions about your individual student experience.

The academic calendar highlights the dates and deadlines for the University which you should be aware of as you make decisions about your individual status. Specifically, keep in mind the following dates:

  • November 2, 2020 – Last day to withdraw from a course without an exception from the academic dean
  • November 20, 2020 – Last day to place courses on or remove courses from Pass/Fail grading (Undergrads only)
  • December 7, 2020 – Last day of fall semester classes

Academic or Faculty Advisor:  A student’s major advisor is a resource in navigating academic challenges. Some academic departments also have program staff that can help you determine next steps academically and connect you to resources.  If you are a graduate student, make sure you discuss all possible options with your advisor. If you aren’t sure who your advisor is, you can find this information in StudentAdmin.

Academic Support Services: Graduate and undergraduate students can seek academic support from the Writing Center and the Academic Achievement Center.  The Writing Center provides online writing assistance to both undergraduate and graduate students.  An overview of support for graduate students is available at this link; undergraduates can view this link to learn about available services. The Academic Achievement Center (AAC) offers an array of academic support services, including coaching, mentoring, and student success workshops. Although many of the offerings are geared toward undergraduate students, graduate students can contact the AAC directly to discuss specific support needs and will be referred to available resources. Undergraduate students may seek support from the Q-Center for classes that have a quantitative component. Specifically, the Q-Center provides direct assistance to students via peer tutoring, review sessions, and the creation of innovative learning tools.

Course Instructors:  Students can speak with their course instructor to discuss options within the course, such as opportunities to make up work or extra time on an assignment, as well as the possibility of an Incomplete grade.  The Graduate and Undergraduate Catalogs provide more information on Incomplete grades for students considering this option.

Dean of Students: Staff in the Dean of Students Office are available to support undergraduate students with academic, personal, and other concerns that impact their student experience. Staff in this office provide support without judgement and can help students as they consider completing current courses, rescheduling final exams, or processing a withdrawal or cancellation for those considering taking a break. Questions for the Dean of Students Office staff can be emailed to dos@uconn.edu or students can make an appointment with an Assistant Dean by visiting the Dean of Students Office website to access our online scheduler.

Graduate Student Affairs Office of The Graduate School:  The Graduate Student Affairs Staff can answer questions about both academic and non-academic resources that are available to graduate students and advisement on strategies for dealing with challenges.  If you are struggling to determine what academic resources are available, you can email gradschool@uconn.edu and a staff member can help connect you to the most appropriate resources. They also administer requests for late course drops and for leaves of absence.  Information about dropping a course after November 2, 2020 can be found on the academic calendar. Graduate students who feel the need to step away from their academic studies temporarily or to withdraw from their program can find more information about taking a leave of absence or voluntary separation at The Graduate School website or by emailing gradseparation@uconn.edu.

Regional Student Services Staff: Undergraduates at the regional campuses needing support of an academic or personal nature should connect with the Student Services staff on their home campus. Regional campus Student Services staff can help students as they consider completing current courses, rescheduling final exams, and processing a withdrawal or cancellation if you are considering taking a break. Visit this website to schedule an appointment with a Regional Student Services staff member.

Student Health and Wellness - Mental Health: SHAW provides mental health services to promote the emotional, relational, and academic potential of all undergraduate and graduate students. SHAW-Mental Health offers:

  • Rapid access screening appointments
  • Emergency/Crisis assessment
  • Individual and group therapy
  • Medication management
  • Mindfulness/Meditation/Yoga workshops
  • Referral and off-campus support services

Storrs students (undergrad or graduate) may access SHAW-MH by calling 860-486-4705 or schedule a screening appointment online.

Regional campus students (undergrad or graduate) seeking mental health resources will find campus specific contact information at this link.

Tutoring: Students in need of tutoring may find help within specific academic programs. Below is a list of tutoring resources students may want to access for potential help.

The UConn Library is available to help students with research assistance.

University Advising: Each school or college as well as each regional campus has an office or center with oversight over advising. These centers/offices serve as a resource to undergraduate students, faculty and staff on a wide range of advising matters, including:

  • Permission to register for excess credit or add or drop a course
  • Requesting a late withdrawal from a course
  • Academic probation, dismissal, and appeals of academic dismissal
  • Requesting a general education substitution

To learn more about Advising resources, visit the University Advising website.

We are here to help. Please reach out to one of the many offices listed and the staff and faculty will try their best to provide support and identify solutions. Questions about this information should be directed to dos@uconn.edu or gradschool@uconn.edu.

 

 

 

Decision on Fee Reductions for Graduate Students

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Dear UConn Graduate Students,

I am reaching out to provide information on a question regarding fee reductions for graduate students. Specifically, we have been asked to allow the fee reduction for online only students to apply to graduate students whose only in-person course is a graduate research course. In most cases, this situation occurs when a student has finished formal coursework and is completing research for a thesis or dissertation.

After considerable deliberations, we have shared with Graduate Student Senate (GSS) and Graduate Student Union leadership that we cannot extend this waiver for graduate students with research as their only in-person course.

We considered multiple factors in weighing this request. First, we started with the original motivation behind the fee reduction for entirely online courses. In large part, that was designed as a measure to promote safety and de-densify campus by providing a financial motivation for students to take online courses. Doing so also allowed us to open more in-person seats for students who preferred that option.

Second, we recognize that thesis and dissertation research for many of you will not occur on campus, but this has also been the case before COVID-19. Thus, a fee reduction for graduate students enrolled only in graduate research courses would not lead to any further de-densifying of campus. We also have to be mindful that honoring this waiver request would cost around $500,000. At a time when we are already experiencing cuts across the University from the impact of COVID-19, additional costs such as these would have further damaging consequences.

We understand the request that has been made to provide a fee reduction for graduate students whose only in-person course is a graduate research course, but making a change to graduate student fee structures associated with graduate research was not the intention of this waiver and we need to stand by the original intent. As a result of our multiple conversations about these issues I am going to work with Dean Holsinger and graduate student leaders over this next semester to evaluate graduate student fees and we will be in touch over this period with any changes we can consider making for the future.

Relatedly and as part of our conversations with GSS, we did develop the Graduate Students Emergency Fund that was announced last Thursday. It is an effort to help those of you whose plans to complete your degrees were delayed by COVID-19. Detailed information about the program and requirements are available here: https://grad.uconn.edu/graduate-students/emergency-fund/.

I recognize that addresses only part of the issue here, and want you to know that I welcome continued conversation on graduate student fees more broadly. I appreciate the advocacy of your graduate student leaders and look forward to working with them, as well as hearing from you on your concerns.

Sincerely,

Carl

Carl Lejuez

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

COVID-19 testing for graduate students

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To the Graduate Student Community at Storrs and the Regional Campuses:

The Graduate School has been working closely with Student Health and Wellness (SHaW), Human Resources, the Office of the Provost, the Graduate Student Senate, and the Graduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees to develop the following plan for testing members of the graduate school whose work will require them to be on campus. What follows is a summary of those procedures. Please note: Graduate students at UConn Health should follow the procedures in place at UConn Health.

  • All graduate students who are expected to be regularly on campus (Storrs or any regional campus) in order to participate in in-person course work or to fulfill their duties as GAs (including those RAs who have already been working labs as part of the summer research ramp-up) will be provided access to COVID testing without cost.
  • Graduate students who have no regular duties or coursework that require them to be on campus will not be tested. They are permitted to come to campus occasionally for very brief  periods during the semester. In general, however, they are urged to stay off campus and arrange for virtual meetings with faculty advisors or other colleagues.
  • Testing will be done by Vault Health. Eligible graduate students will receive an email link to their UConn email along with detailed instructions for how to order a kit by mail for collecting their own samples, which should then be mailed directly back to Vault labs for testing.
  • Students who have already had a test within the 14 days prior to the start of classes (August 31st) may instead submit a test result to SHaW directly here.
  • Over the next several days the Graduate School will be working with Human Resources, Departments, and the Registrar in order to identify all graduate students who fall within these categories. Therefore, please note the following:
    • Given our need to have accurate information about students being on campus due to enrollment in in-person or hybrid courses, it is very important that all graduate students complete their course registrations for the Fall 2020 semester by August 17th.
  • Test results will be sent to the students and will also be shared with Student Health and Wellness (SHaW). No further action is necessary if test results are negative, and students may come to campus. For Storrs students who receive a positive test result, contact SHaW at (860)486-4700 or your primary care provider to obtain medical attention and instructions on how to self-isolate.  For regional campus students who test positive, contact your primary care provider to obtain medical attention and instructions.
    • Students who are taking in-person courses should contact their professors to make arrangements to continue their studies online.
    • GAs who test positive for COVID-19 are expected to initiate a report directly to HR and are also expected to self-quarantine as instructed by HR. (Vault/SHaW will NOT be sending those results to HR due to HIPPA privacy laws. GAs are expected to report their positive tests results to HR by sending a note to hr@uconn.edu).

Carl Lejuez, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Kent Holsinger, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School