Dear Huskies,

We want to take a moment to ensure you are aware of some of the many resources available to help you be healthy, connected, and productive. Below is a list of resources you can explore if you are seeking support.  There are many folks on campus who want to support you; we can help most when you contact us early if a challenge is developing.

If you have questions about the services listed below or any other resources needed, please contact staff at The Graduate School.  

• The Graduate School (TGS): Members of The Graduate School’s Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) Team are available for private conversations with you. When concerns arise, The Graduate School works with students, faculty, and staff to determine the best steps to take and the most beneficial resources for the given situation. Contacting the GSPA team is a great starting place for any graduate student concern, especially if you are not sure where to begin.  
  • Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars may make an appointment with Kim Curry, Director of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Support via
  • When an academic leave is the best option for the graduate student, The Graduate School assists the student by having them complete the Voluntary Separation Notification Initiating the form will not commit a student to taking leave; it will just allow Megan Petsa, Director of Graduate Administration, to gather the information needed to provide them with a detailed overview of the implications of academic leave. 

• Timely Topics: Timely Topics is a series of learning opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage with subject matter experts on topics relevant to graduate education. While every session is open to all, The Graduate School offers three tracks (student, faculty, and administrative) to help registrants identify which sessions may be most relevant to their interests.

• Student Health and Wellness (SHaW) is available to provide support to students who may be struggling. Mental Health Services are located on the 4^thfloor of Arjona.
  • Students can walk into SHaW for more immediate support or access BeWell, the 24/7/365 mental health support line which can be accessed here.
  • “Let’s Talk” Mental Health Office Hours is a drop-in service available to students.  Visit here for dates, times, and locations.
  • SHaW also provides a range of routine medical and mental health services to graduate students who pay the Student Health and Wellness Fee.  Should you have questions about available support, do not hesitate to reach out to SHaW at 860-486-4700 or visit the SHaW website.

• Ombuds Office: The UConn Ombud serves as a neutral resource providing confidential and informal assistance to staff, faculty, professional and graduate students and trainees of the UConn and UConn Health community to express concerns, identify options to address workplace conflicts, facilitate productive communication, and surface responsible concerns regarding university policies and practices. Contacting the Ombuds Office is completely voluntary, and students choose the course of action that is best suited for them. 

• Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD):  The CSD engages in an interactive process with each student and reviews requests for accommodation on an individualized, case-by-case basis. Depending on the nature and functional limitations of a student’s documented disability, they may be eligible for reasonable and appropriate accommodations. Sharing information about CSD with students can foster self-advocacy, particularly if mental health challenges are hindering their ability to be productive students. 

• Human Resources and Employee Assistance Program (EAP): For graduate students holding GA-ships, you have access to additional resources and support beyond that which is available to them as students, including: 
  • The Employee Assistance Program (“EAP”), which provides, among other things, free counseling services. 
  • Workplace accommodations and GA Leave from employment that includes medical leave. Tiffanie Roback (tiffanie.roback@uconn.edu) can be contacted directly about workplace accommodations. Megan Stimson (stimson@uconn.edu) and Cindy Drost (cindy.drost@uconn.edu) can be contacted about GA Leave.

• Office of Student Care and Concern (OSCC): The Office of Student Care and Concern provides intervention and support for students in distress and present as a threat to self or others. The office coordinates a response balancing the needs of the student with the University community’s safety and welfare. If you are concerned about a friend or fellow student who is in distress, please submit a Care Team Referral form.  In an emergency where immediate attention is needed, please call 911.

• Academic Achievement Center (AAC): The Academic Achievement Center provides academic coaching, mentorship, workshops/presentations, and supplemental instruction for students seeking to improve or maintain academic success. With resources for regional campuses as well as the Storrs campus, students can find best practices for note taking, maximizing online classes, managing time, and organizing deadlines and other deliverables. 

• Quantitative Learning Center (Q Center): The Q Center keeps a concise list of private tutors in Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Statistics who are available for fee-based service. Graduate students are encouraged to conduct their own research about the qualifications of private tutors not screened or vetted by the Q Center. The list of private tutors is maintained by the Q Center in cooperation with other units at UConn as a service for students.  

• Writing Center: The Writing Center is a welcoming space where students and tutors collaborate on writing projects. The Writing Center stands by the belief all students are writers. Students may bring any type of writing—academic, civic, personal, and multimedia texts—at any stage in the composing process and receive support. 

Feel free to reach out to any of the offices listed; our faculty and staff are committed to helping you and finding solutions.

Sincerely,

The Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Team of The Graduate School
Karen Bresciano | Kimberly Curry | Megan Petsa

The following information is also being shared with international GAs by ISSS.

Dear International Huskies,

Federal government regulations allow graduate students on F-1 and J-1 visas to hold on-campus employment while they are pursuing their degree. If you will be a Fall 2024 graduate, you will no longer be pursuing your degree after December 15, 2024 and can no longer work on campus beyond that date.

If you hold a Fall 2024 GA appointment at Storrs or a regional campus (excepting UConn Health), the final date of your appointment is January 7, 2025. If your degree is conferred in December and you hold an F-1 or J-1 visa and your assistantship appointment is covered by a collective bargaining agreement with the Graduate Employee Union (GEU), the time from December 15, 2024 through January 7, 2025 should be treated as time off. Please work with your supervisor to ensure that you finish the duties associated with your assistantship before December 15, 2024. You will still receive your full Fall 2024 GA stipend.

In addition, ISSS will be updating your I-20 or DS-2019 program end date to December 15, 2024 if you are graduating in December and hold a GAship this term. This means your grace period to depart the U.S., or your first eligible date to begin post-completion practical training will begin December 16, 2024. Please plan for this accordingly. ISSS will adjust your I-20 or DS-2019 end date automatically based on notification that you have applied for graduation, or at the time you apply for post-completion OPT (F-1 students) or Academic Training (J-1 students), whichever comes first. ISSS will notify you when your adjusted I-20 or DS-2019 is ready to download from your ISSS portal account.

Please reach out to ISSS at international@uconn.edu if you have any questions about this guidance as it relates to your visa status, I-20, grace period, or practical training timeline.

Leslie M. Shor
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School

Arthur Galinat
Director, International Student and Scholar Services

Colleagues,

The Graduate School continues to host two Faculty Affiliates for Inclusive Excellence for two year staggered terms. We are looking for one new affiliate to serve a two year term beginning in Fall 2024, who will work alongside our continuing affiliate, Mary Anne Amalaradjou. Our affiliates focus on improving support for students from minoritized communities and on improving faculty mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with a particular focus on improving mentoring for those from minoritized groups. Affiliates will create innovative ideas and initiatives, such as developing resources and establishing programs that future faculty affiliates can sustain with support from The Graduate School staff. The affiliates will work very closely with one another in addition to working with The Graduate School staff and with relevant faculty and staff throughout the University, especially the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the cultural centers.

Affiliates will devote an average of 3-4 hours per week to their service for which they will receive a research stipend of $7500. There will also be some funds available to support initiatives that the affiliates develop.

We invite both applications and nominations for the affiliate positions. Please contact Kent Holsinger (kent.holsinger@uconn.edu), Mary Bernstein (Mary.Bernstein@uconn.edu) or Karen Bresciano (karen.bresciano@uconn.edu) if you would like more information about becoming an affiliate or if you would like to nominate someone. To apply, email graduatedean@uconn.edu and include a brief statement (no more than 1-2 pages) describing why you are interested in the position, the experience you have that makes you a good candidate for the position, and an initial idea or two about what you would plan to accomplish if you were selected as an affiliate. We will begin considering applications and nominations on May 15th, and the review will continue until affiliates have been selected.

In the past two years, our affiliates developed mentorship guides for faculty and graduate students to promote inclusive excellence and launched a Network for Enriched Mentorship (NEM) designed to connect mentees with mentors outside of their coursework and dissertations who have experience navigating obstacles (e.g., systemic bias, personal hardship, alternative career trajectories) or who can be effective and accountable allies.

Interested applicants could develop projects that support an equitable and supportive educational environment and that fosters a sense of community, with a particular focus on providing support for graduate students and postdocs from minoritized groups. Ideas for other creative projects are welcome.

Kent Holsinger

— 

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

If a graduate student will be engaging in an internship this summer and plans to earn academic credit, there are multiple internship course options available to them, including departmental internship courses, GRAD 5991, or GRAD 6930/5930. (Please note, students engaging in an internship for academic credit should not enroll in GRAD 6950/5950, but rather in one of the options described below.)

Departmental Internship Course
Please refer to the Graduate Catalog or be in touch with your department to determine if a department internship course is available and how best to enroll.
 
GRAD 5991 (Graduate Internship):
This is a variable credit (1-6) internship course that can be used if a departmental internship course is not available. The number of credits for which you will enroll should be determined between you and your advisor. You can register for GRAD 5991 by completing a Student Enrollment Request Form to add an internship course. Once all approvals have been gathered through the form, the One Stop Office will manually enroll you in the course. Your advisor will grade this course at the end of the term. GRAD 5991 satisfies the need previously filled by GRAD 6950/5950 for internship academic credit, so students should no longer enroll in GRAD 6950/5950 for an internship.

 
GRAD 5930/6930 (Full-Time Directed Studies):
This is a three-credit course that represents a full-time internship. You cannot be enrolled in any other courses concurrently with this course. Though it is only three credits (and therefore only incurs three credits worth of tuition), this course will report you as enrolled full-time for the term. This course is CPT-eligible. This course also requires a permission number that can be requested by forwarding a copy of the advisor’s approval of the grad’s plan to register in this course to gradschool@uconn.edu. Your advisor will grade this course at the end of the term.

 
General Credits Guideline for Internship Hours and Variable Credit Internship Courses:
1 credit = fewer than 10 hours per week
2 credits = 10-15 hours per week
3 credits = 15-20 hours per week

These are general guidelines to help you determine how many credits may be appropriate for an internship. The number of credits the student actually enrolls in will be determined between the student and their advisor.

Tuition/Fees
Summer fees, per credit, can be viewed on the Summer Programs website. Please note, there is no GA tuition waiver available for summer courses. Tuition and fees for the fall and spring semesters can be viewed on the Office of the Bursar website.

Supplemental Employment
Students who wish to hold both an internship and a GA appointment simultaneously must request approval to do so through the GA Supplemental Employment Approval form.

Work Authorization
If you are an international student, you will need to work with ISSS to obtain work authorization (CPT or OPT) to participate in the internship. Please keep in mind that you cannot start the internship until your work authorization has been approved by ISSS. If you have any questions about CPT or OPT policies, please be in touch with international@uconn.edu.

Dear Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars:

As of this fall semester, Cinnamon Adams has joined me in the UConn Ombuds office as Assistant UConn Ombuds.  Cinnamon’s work will focus on serving the UConn graduate student and Postdoctoral populations initially but will also be available to assist faculty and staff as we move through the academic year and beyond.  Many of you know Cinnamon from her work in The Graduate School as Director of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Support since 2016.  Indeed, Cinnamon’s expanding problem-solving work with graduate students over this time, along with her unique skills and training, was a major reason for this change to the Ombuds Office.  As Assistant Ombuds, Cinnamon will adhere to the confidential, informal, independent, and impartial principles of the UConn Ombuds Office as outlined in the Office Charter.

She has worked at UConn since 2002 in various positions including Residence Hall Director, Assistant Director of Community Standards and more recently the Director of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Support. In each of her university positions, Cinnamon has supported students as they navigated various issues through conflict resolution, mediation, coaching, and advising.

Cinnamon’s preparation for this role includes completing the professional mediation program from Quinnipiac Law’s Center for Dispute Resolution, and training in Communication, Restorative Practices, and multiple courses with the International Ombuds Association. Cinnamon received a BA in Psychology from Western New England University and a MS in College Student Personnel from Miami University (of Ohio).

The UConn Ombuds Office was established in 2013 through the cooperative work of the University Senate, UCPEA, AAUP and the President’s Office to informally assist graduate students, faculty, and staff to address issues, enhance communication, and find agreeable solutions to problems whenever possible.  In doing our work, Cinnamon and I focus on the needs and interests of the people directly involved and, depending on our visitors’ consent, may gather information, clarify issues, expedite solutions, or facilitate conversations when appropriate. We encourage you to consider the Ombuds Office as an early step in addressing problems when they arise.

Over the next few months, Cinnamon will be attending campus events and reaching out to graduate student organizations and groups to provide information about the Ombuds Office. She can be reached by email (cinnamon.adams@uconn.edu) or telephone (860-486-1954) and she is ready to meet with graduate students now, answer your questions, and work with you to find solutions to any issues you may be experiencing.

Sincerely,
Jim Wohl
Director, UConn Ombuds Office

The following information was shared with international GAs on 9/6/2022.

Colleagues,

Federal government regulations allow graduate students on F-1 and J-1 visas to hold on-campus employment while they are pursuing their degree. If you complete your degree requirements during Fall 2022 and if your degree is conferred in December, you will no longer be pursuing your degree after December 18, 2022.

If you hold a Fall 2022 appointment at Storrs or a regional campus (excepting UConn Health), the final date of your appointment is January 5, 2023. If your degree is conferred in December and you hold an F-1 or J-1 visa and your assistantship appointment is covered by a collective bargaining agreement with the Graduate Employee Union (GEU), the time from December 18, 2022 through January 5, 2023 should be treated as time off. Please work with your supervisor to ensure that you finish the duties associated with your assistantship before December 18, 2022. You will still receive your full Fall 2022 GA stipend.

In addition, ISSS will be updating your I-20 or DS-2019 program end date to December 18, 2022 if you are graduating in December and hold a GAship this term. This means your grace period to depart the U.S., or your first eligible date to begin post-completion practical training will begin December 18, 2022. Please plan for this accordingly. ISSS will adjust your I-20 or DS-2019 end date automatically based on notification that you have applied for graduation, or at the time you apply for post-completion OPT (F-1 students) or Academic Training (J-1 students), whichever comes first. ISSS will notify you when your adjusted I-20 or DS-2019 is ready to download from your ISSS portal account.

Please reach out to ISSS at international@uconn.edu if you have any questions about this change as it relates to your visa status, I-20, grace period, or practical training timeline.

Kent Holsinger

Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Biology

Vice Provost for Graduate Education

and Dean of The Graduate School

Arthur Galinat

Director, International Student and Scholar Services