Timely Topics Series
Information you need, presented right when you need it.
About Timely Topics
Timely Topics is a series of opportunities to engage with subject matter experts on topics relevant to those who support and advise graduate students and programs.
Every session is available to all UConn faculty and staff and provides information and tools that will help you best support your students and program.
If you have any questions or topic suggestions for the Timely Topics Series, please contact Megan Petsa (megan.petsa@uconn.edu).
Upcoming Sessions
Thursday, September 14 at 11am - Racial Microaggressions and the Cumulative and Deleterious Effects on Historically Excluded and Racially Oppressed Faculty, Staff, and Students
Thursday, September 21 at 11am - Graduate Admissions: Program Application Processing in Slate and Admissions Cycle Kick Off!
Full Fall 2023 schedule coming soon!
Resources from Previous Sessions
Advising and Mentoring
Advising and Mentoring Historically Excluded or Racially Oppressed Graduate Students
Slides | Bibliography | Video
This session, facilitated by Professor David G. Embrick and Professor Stephany Santos, discussed the experiences of graduate students of color, the challenges of mentoring and best practices toward better mentoring, and provided action items and ideas to make change.
Spring 2023
Advising International Students
International graduate students can face significant challenges on their transition to new social and academic climates at UConn and are impacted by various policies and laws that differ from their domestic colleagues. This session discussed the logistical challenges specific to advising international graduate students.
Fall 2020
Career Outcomes for PhDs and Implications for PhD Training
Slides | Video | Additional Resources
Learn more about the career outcomes for PhDs and implications for doctoral students. The slides supplement the recorded presentation and discussion led by Dean Kent Holsinger and Kay Gruder from the Center for Career Development.
Fall 2021
Digital Dissertations: How to Embark on Digital Scholarship at the Graduate Level
Learn more about digital dissertation formats and how to start out with born-digital scholarship. While digital dissertations have been around for decades, questions and confusion remain about where to begin, how to approach tech issues, getting your advisory team on board, meeting institutional parameters, and learning how digital scholarship can boost skill sets and career options.
Spring 2022
From Expectations to Evaluations: The Importance of Timely Feedback with Provost Lejuez
“How Are You Doing?”…and Other Scary Questions
These slides will help advisors respond to a student they believe may be struggling and discuss campus services and helpful resources and approaches.
Fall 2020
Information for New Graduate Faculty Advisors
Neurodiversity and the Advisor/Advisee Relationship
This session discusses findings from a series of focus groups centered around the experiences of neurodiverse graduate students in STEM programs, the impact their advisors have on their experience, and ways advisors can support and empower neurodiverse graduate students in their programs.
Spring 2023
Provost Lejuez on Graduate Student Mental Health and the Role of the Advisor
Supporting Graduate Students with Disabilities
The Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) is vested by the University with the authority to engage in an interactive process with each student and determine appropriate accommodations on an individualized, case-by-case, class-by-class basis. Information regarding how to support your students with disabilities can be found here.
Fall 2021
Understanding Employment Rules and Opportunities for International Students: CPT, OPT and On Campus Employment
Employment for international students during and after graduate school can be complicated. International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) discusses the nuances of CPT and internships, the differences between post-completion, thesis-pending, and STEM extension OPT and how each type may affect both on campus and post-graduation employment, and the regulations around on campus employment.
Spring 2022
Using Annual Reviews to Help Graduate Students Succeed
Slides | Video | Additional Resources
Providing feedback to graduate students is a vital part of ensuring their success. As part of our ongoing effort to foster good graduate student mentoring and facilitate communication between graduate advisors and advisees, The Graduate School has developed resources to help departments and advisors use annual reviews for doctoral and MFA students. The resources include a template that programs can use as a guide and modify to meet their specific needs. This Timely Topics session discusses why annual reviews are important to graduate student success, reviews The Graduate School Annual Review template, and provides guidance on conducting annual reviews.
Fall 2021
Using IDPs (Individual Development Plans) & Career Exploration Tools with Doctoral Students
Learn about IDP and Career Exploration Tools of value to doctoral students, including MyIDP, ImaginePhD, and InterSECT Job Simulations, as they explore career diversity and seek faculty guidance and support as they navigate desired educational and professional goals.
Fall 2020
What Does Talking About Career in the Classroom Have to do with Equity?
Learn about career inequity, the implications for marginalized and first-generation students, and how to help by incorporating career development instruction via assignments and through course conversation.
Fall 2022
When the Plan Isn’t Solely to Pursue An Academic Job: Nurturing Career Conversations with Your Advisee
These slides provide useful information regarding how advisors can direct positive impactful career conversations with students can be found here. These conversations can be supportive of each students’ pursuits, yet also informational.
Spring 2021
Writing Effective Reference Letters for NSF GRFP Applicants
Reference letters are a key component of a strong application package. The most effective letters provide detailed and specific information about how an applicant meets the NSF merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. This session with the Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships targeted key strategies on what faculty can do to help prospective applicants by way of reference letters.
Fall 2021
Graduate Assistants (GAs, TAs, RAs)
GA Leave, Academic Leave, or Time Off?
Learn about the differences between GA leave (including medical), academic leave of absence, and GA time off requests and which is the most appropriate for different circumstances. We will discuss policies and procedures, contractual obligations, and supervisor obligation in determining approvals.
Fall 2021
Graduate Students on Special Payroll
Preparing for Fall: Graduate Assistant Payroll Procedures
An overview of how to successfully add your GAs to payroll for the 2023/24 academic year, including SmartHR templates, important dates and deadlines, outline the payroll audit process, and discuss the most common mistakes and ways to prevent them. This session will also share detailed information about the role and importance of the Supplemental Description of Duties Form and will provide an overview of GA health insurance and information departments should be aware of to best help their GAs transition into their employee role.
Spring 2023
International Teaching Assistants
This session focused on International Teaching Assistants, including the English proficiency policy and how it intersects with hiring TAs, who needs to provide proof of English proficiency (and when!), ITA orientation, and the microteaching test.
Spring 2021
Setting Up for Success: Recruitment, Offer Letters, and Hiring of GAs
Everything you need to know as you recruit incoming GAs and prepare to reappoint continuing GAs, including identifying eligible grads, how to determine stipend level, what information needs to be in the offer letter (and what shouldn’t be in there), and more. We also went over the recent revisions to the offer letter templates and how the English Proficiency Policy for TAs intersects with payroll so that departments can communicate with their GAs and plan accordingly.
Spring 2023
Supervising Graduate Assistants
Resources and Referrals for GAs List | Slides | Video
This session featured a facilitated dialogue around Graduate Assistant supervision and discussed the intersection of the employee role and the academic role, approaches to address employee performance and misconduct, and ways to connect a struggling GA with assistance and support.
Spring 2023
Updates to the GEU Contract
Workflow and Tools When Recruiting & Hiring GAs for Non-Academic Units
Graduate students have a wealth of knowledge and skills that make them incredible assets as Graduate Assistants (GAs). As more non-academic units offer graduate assistantship positions than ever before, The Graduate School and the Center for Career Development partnered to offer guidance on what non-academic units should take into consideration when recruiting and hiring a GA, including best practices for creating a job description that will attract a strong applicant pool, how to advertise open GA positions, and how to handle the administrative and payroll aspects of appointing a GA in a non-academic unit.
Spring 2023
Admissions and Recruitment
Fellowships Processes and Updates
Graduate Admissions: Program Application Processing in Slate
An overview of the process The Graduate School uses before programs see their applications (Initial Grad Audit bin) and what programs should be looking for in their program review process (Program Audit bin). This session also covered the difference in accessing graduate admissions requirements versus program requirements, how to upload recommendations, and checking materials on the checklist.
Fall 2022
Graduate Admissions: Reading and Reviewing Applications in the Slate Reader
A guide to review applications in the Slate reader, includinb best practices for application review, how to fill out reader review forms, queue applications to others, and enter final program admission decisions. This session also covered timelines for application review and official admission decisions.
Fall 2022
Graduate Admissions 2022-2023 Cycle Debrief
Holistic Admissions and Diversity Recruitment
Holistic admissions review is a more equitable, inclusive approach to considering applications for admission and evaluates applicants using a variety of metrics. This session will discuss best practices for using information from a variety of sources to get the fullest picture of each applicant's potential and how The Graduate School can support your department’s efforts to recruit a diverse applicant pool.
Fall 2022
The Graduate School’s New Student Orientation: An In-Depth Look
Learn more about TGS’s experiences in building and implementing our orientation program, the philosophy that guides our planning and implementation, and our transition to an online orientation format. The information in this session may be helpful to you as you prepare and implement your department orientation.
Spring 2021
Managing Your Graduate Program
All About Grad Enrollment
The materials from this session will help you utilize the graduate enrollment tools available to you most effectively and cover resources The Graduate School provides to departments, where to find specific information (or who to ask), and enrollment processes managed by the TGS, such as degree time limits and extensions, voluntary separations, and reinstatement.
Fall 2020
Community Engaged Scholarship
This session introduced the concept of Community Engaged Scholarship, delved into how partnering with communities can advance research, and discussed how engaged scholarship is a tool and an opportunity to teach, mentor graduate students, advance science, and have an impact on the community.
Spring 2023
Fellowships and Awards with the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships
The Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships (ONSF) advises and mentors students at the University of Connecticut who are competing for prestigious, nationally-competitive scholarships and fellowships.
Spring 2021
Updating Your Catalog Copy and Using the GPAR System
A review of the process and deadlines for making changes to the Graduate Catalog through the online GPAR system and demonstration of how the GPAR system can be used for other program changes, including approvals of new programs and other program modification.
Fall 2021
