Updates to Admissions Processes for Incoming Students

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To the UConn Community,

In an effort to keep you informed about events occurring in the Graduate Admissions Office, we’re sending you some information about updates to our processes.

To assist students who aren’t able to go to a testing center, The Graduate School has begun to accept the Duolingo English Test as evidence of English proficiency. Any applicant with access to a computer and a webcam can take the test.

In addition, ETS has recently updated their service to allow for online testing options for TOEFL and GRE. You can visit their website for more information ETS Testing Updates due to COVID-19.

Virtual events for prospective and admitted students can be held through The Graduate School’s online application and CRM system. Please contact marie.leblanc@uconn.edu for more information. Virtual events can include virtual infosessions or virtual orientations.

We are continuing to process admission for students, and matriculations have resumed. Because we continue to work remotely, both of these processes are experiencing some delays. We appreciate your understanding and patience at this time. If you have any questions or concerns, contact anne.lanzit@uconn.edu.

The Graduate School has developed a webpage with answers to Frequently Asked Questions for prospective, admitted, and current students as well as faculty and staff. If you have any additional questions, email gradschool@uconn.edu, and we will work to answer you directly and shape our page to assist others.

We hope that you are all staying healthy and safe.

Kent Holsinger and Anne Lanzit

Updates Regarding COVID-19 Pandemic

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Dear Colleagues,

The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic is accompanied by extraordinary measures attempting to contain it. First and foremost, The Graduate School is concerned for the safety, health, and well-being of students, faculty, and staff of the University of Connecticut and the communities in which they live. Please heed the advice of public health experts to protect yourself and those around you. 

Governor Lamont signed an executive order on March 20 directing all non-essential functions in Connecticut to suspend operations beginning Monday, March 23 at 8:00pm. As a result, the President, Provost, and Vice President for Research have determined that all on-campus research at all campuses must stop and all labs close at the same time. The suspension of activity will last through at least April 22. The University will allow only critical research support functions to continue. Critical functions are those that are necessary to allow research to resume after this suspension (e.g., care of research animals or plants, maintenance of cell lines, maintenance of research equipment). Please refer to the Critical Research Infrastructure Inventory for more information. In addition, all University-sponsored travel out-of-state has been suspended, except in very limited circumstances. Please refer to the COVID-19 Travel Advisory and Guidelines for more information.  

Graduate students and their advisory committees should immediately develop plans for thesis and dissertation research that take into account these restrictions. We know that Governor Lamont’s restrictions to non-essential functions are now in place through at least April 22, but it is prudent to plan for the possibility that they will last substantially longer. Graduate students and their advisory committees should plan for the possibility that research involving on-campus facilities or out-of-state travel will continue to be limited through the entire summer, possibly even longer. The appropriate modifications to research plans will differ dramatically from discipline to discipline. They are likely to differ from student to student within disciplines. The Graduate School has developed a set of guidelines and questions for graduate students and faculty to consider as they adapt to these challenges. Please consult them carefully, and contact The Graduate School at gradschool@uconn.edu if you have any questions. Given the unchartered territory, we also welcome your ideas that might be useful to other graduate students and faculty. We will update the guidelines periodically as new information and advice becomes available. 

Please take care of yourself and everyone around you. 

Kent Holsinger 

Office Closing Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

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To our UConn Community,

Due to concern about the COVID-19 (coronavirus) contagion, The Graduate School office will be closed from March 16th until further notice.  Our staff will primarily be working remotely during this time and the best way to reach us will be through email.  We will respond as quickly as possible and may be able to schedule phone and/or video meetings as needed. As always, feel free to email gradschool@uconn.edu with any concern, and we will get your e-mail to the right person and respond as quickly as possible.

During these extraordinary times, please be assured that The Graduate School continues to consider how the pandemic is and could affect academic work.  The leadership of The Graduate School is well placed on the working groups that are meeting regularly to anticipate and ameliorate issues, while making plans to ensure that the business of the university moves forward.  We have been impressed by how thoughtful our administration has been, though it is true that we cannot think of everything.  It is our goal that you feel supported. If you have a question for which you do not know the answer or concern that does not seem to have been addressed, please let us know.  We will either direct you toward the solution or work with you to create one.   

The COVID-19 situation continues to change very quickly. The health, safety and well-being of our community is our highest priority and continually guides our preparation, thinking, and actions. 

To address specific questions for graduate education audiences, please refer to the “Frequently Asked Questions” links in the side navigation of this web page.

More information about COVID-19 is available at this website: https://uconn.edu/public-notification/coronavirus

Thank you,

The Graduate School

Run for the UConn Graduate Student Trustee Position

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This fall, the Department of Student Activities will run a special election for the position of Graduate Student Trustee.

The current Graduate Student Trustee is unable to fulfill the Fall 2019 or Spring 2020 semesters of their term. This special election will elect a new Graduate Student Trustee to fulfill these remaining two semesters. A new election will take place in Spring 2020 for a new Graduate Student Trustee to serve in the position for the next two-year term.

All graduate students (including all regional and professional schools) are eligible to run for this position. Graduate students who are interested in campaigning for this special election need to submit an Intent to Run application due September 13th, 2019 at noon.

To find out more about the Graduate Student Trustee role and election, including position requirements, qualifications for candidacy, election timeline, and to complete an Intent to Run Application: please visit https://vote.uconn.edu/gradtrustee/.

Voting for this special election will take place October 1st, 2019 – October 3rd, 2019.

If you have any questions, please contact Student Trustee Election Committee Chair, Krista O’Brien at krista.obrien@uconn.edu.

UConn PhD candidate, Shreya Kulkarni, awarded Baxter Young Investigator Award

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UConn PhD candidate, Shreya Kulkarni, awarded Baxter Young Investigator AwardShreya Kulkarni, PhD candidate of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy, has been awarded the Young Investigator Award by Baxter for her research on ‘Reconstitution of high concentration lyophilized protein formulations.’ Shreya was presented with the award at Baxter’s international headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. Shreya and her advisor, Professor Robin Bogner, presented the research to members of Baxter’s organization and winners of other awards. Reflecting on the award, Shreya stated that “it is a great honor to receive this highly competitive award. None of this would have been possible without the continued support and guidance from my advisor Professor Robin Bogner. Dr. Bogner has been instrumental in motivating me to delve deeper into every research problem. I would also like to thank my thesis committee and our collaborators for the helpful discussions and suggestions on my thesis research. I feel very lucky to be part of the Pharmaceutics program at UConn!”

Please join the Graduate School in congratulating Shreya for her outstanding accomplishments!

PwC Innovation Challenge UConn Winner

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Please join The Graduate School in congratulating Mac Montana, winner of the UConn round for this year’s PwC Innovation Challenge. Mac is responding to the following question from the competition and will now continue on to the global competition.

We are living through a fundamental transformation in the way we work; automation and “thinking machines” are replacing human tasks, changing the skills that organisations are looking for in their people. But what will the future look like? PwC has developed four scenarios in their Workforce of the Future study: a Red World where innovation rules; a Blue World where corporate is king; a Green World where companies care, and a Yellow World where humans come first.

Assuming you find yourself on a journey that looks like it ends in a “Green and Yellow Worlds” scenario where Companies Care and Humans Come First, what are the pros and cons for you? what skills will be important for individuals to thrive in this world, and how do you plan on adapting to it?

https://youtu.be/j8syKJWBaJw

Marth Award 2018: Maria Luz Fernandez

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Colleagues, students, family, and friends gathered recently at a reception to celebrate with Professor Maria Luz Fernandez, this year’s recipient of the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award.  This award, established by the UConn AAUP to honor Ed Marth, former Executive Director of the UConn AAUP chapter, recognizes a faculty member for outstanding leadership and dedication to excellence in mentoring graduate students. As a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Dr. Fernandez has epitomized all of the qualities celebrated by this award.  Not only is she a world-renowned scholar, but she is also a tireless advocate for graduate students and graduate education more generally.  She has supervised over 50 graduate students (PhD and MS), regularly publishing with student co-authors, and has played a prominent role in the recruitment and retention of minority graduate students at UConn. Dean Kent Holsinger from The Graduate School presided over the ceremony conferring this award to Dr. Fernandez and led the toast honoring her many contributions.2018 Marth Award Winner

Faculty Recognition: The Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award

The UConn AAUP established the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award to recognize the leadership and dedication of Edward Marth, former Executive Director of the UConn AAUP Chapter, and to encourage and reward outstanding mentoring of graduate students by UConn Graduate Faculty members. Recipients will have had direct and significant impact and involvement with graduate students, outstanding commitment and effectiveness as a mentor of graduate students, and have demonstrated unusual effort to provide consistent mentoring of graduate students during the course of their careers at UConn. Recipients of the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award are UConn Graduate Faculty members who have extraordinary records of excellence and effectiveness in activities such as facilitating smooth transitions for both entering and exiting graduate students; showing sensitivity to students’ academic, personal, and professional goals and needs; being accessible to students; playing an active role in coaching graduate students through the graduate school experience and connecting them to appropriate intellectual and professional networks; and, guiding graduate students toward intellectual and professional independence.

The Dean of The Graduate School distributes a request for nominations early in the fall semester, and the award is typically announced in the final week of the semester.

Past Recipients:

Elizabeth Jockusch (2015-2016), Shareen Hertel (2014-2015), John Mathieu (2013-2014), JC Beall (2012-2013) and Dipak Dey (2011-2012).

October Grad Gatherings

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PuppyThanks to all who attending our Grad Gatherings Puppy Playtime event this October. We are grateful that North Star Dogs could partner with us to hold this event and hope to bring more dogs to campus again at some point in the future!

Tuesday, December 6th we will be holding another dog-themed Grad Gathering: Build-A-Husky. We will be in Student Union 304C from 5-6PM for folks to build their own stuffed animal husky while supplies last and enjoy some cocoa and cookies. We hope to see you there!

Sarah McAnulty receives AAUW Fellowship

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SarahMcAnulty_WhaleSarah McAnulty of the University of Connecticut’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology has received a American Association of University Women American Dissertation Fellowship. With this award, Sarah will conduct her thesis work on the Hawaiian bobtail squid and its symbiosis with a bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio fischeri. Sarah’s work is uncovering how animal immune cells distinguish between their beneficial bacteria and others they encounter. For more information about AAUW Fellowships, please visit: https://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/educational-funding-and-awards/