The Federal Student Debt Relief Application is now available.
Eligibility information is available on the Student Aid website and the application deadline is December 31, 2023.
Note: The Student Aid website is the only website a student should use to apply. The U.S. Department of Education has provided no other website, nor should a student be required to pay to submit the application.
The University of Connecticut is committed to assuring the highest standard of integrity in all aspects of University life and in all University and University-sponsored activities. As a result, all graduate assistants are required to take the three trainings detailed below.
ANNUAL COMPLIANCE TRAINING
The Office of University Compliance is required to provide annual compliance training on the elements of the University’s compliance program; the University’s expectations that all will act in accordance with applicable laws, policies and standards; and obligations under the University Guide to the State Code of Ethics. This training, developed by the Office of University Compliance, provides realistic scenarios and examples of how issues of ethics and compliance may arise in your work as a Graduate Assistant. Through the application of learning demonstrated in the Apply Your Knowledge sections, you can gain a deeper understanding of addressing potential compliance and ethics concerns.
All Graduate Assistants are required to complete annual compliance training.
The compliance training for Graduate Assistants is available through an online module found at Learning@Work. A link will be emailed to each Graduate Assistant allowing access to the module. The training should take approximately 55 minutes to complete.
Training content:
Additional information can be found on the following site: https://grad.uconn.edu/assistantships/training/.
Please note that consistent with Article 13 of the Graduate Employee Union contract, this training is considered part of the workload of graduate assistants.
New and continuing UConn graduate assistants who have not yet taken this academic year’s annual compliance training may complete their training at the Learning@Work website. Learners can access the training under My Learning.
More detailed Learning@Work information, including FAQs, is available. If you have difficulty in registering for training or have any other related questions, please contact Human Resources at learningatwork@uconn.edu.
If you need an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation to be able to participate in this training, please contact HR’s ADA Case Manager, Ryan Bangham at 860-486-2036 or ryan.bangham@uconn.edu prior to the training.
Kent Holsinger
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School
Kimberly Fearney
Associate Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Office of University Compliance
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
Colleagues,
Every year the Provost’s Office asks us to submit an annual report of activities and accomplishments. You will find this year’s report on our website. View the report by downloading the PDF. Last year’s report identified three priorities:
Although we have much work left to do on each of these priorities, I am pleased that we made some progress on all of them in addition to a variety of activities that advance our strategic plan. In addition to the usual graphs and tables on applications, enrollment, and degree conferral. This year’s report also includes preliminary results from a survey conducted in Spring 2022 to gauge the quality of graduate student experiences at UConn.
If you have any questions about the report, please let me know.
Kent Holsinger
The Graduate Faculty Council has recently approved revisions to the By-laws of The Graduate School. The newly revised by-laws can be viewed here. Major changes include:
The 2022-2023 Graduate Catalog is now available. The new catalog includes the updates approved by the Graduate Faculty Council last year. As a reminder, all changes to program requirements and other language in the graduate catalog must be processed through the GPAR system. Proposed changes need to be submitted well before the Registrar’s deadline (March 1, 2023) to allow sufficient time for needed approvals. The GPAR webpage provides detailed information about the system, when a GPAR is needed, and what information will be required for the request.
For a more detailed summary and any questions regarding the new by-laws or GPAR, contact Professor Mary Bernstein, Associate Dean of The Graduate School, at mary.bernstein@uconn.edu.
The Graduate School is delighted to announce this year’s Postdoc Seed Award Recipients.
Raquel Fleskes, from Anthropology, has been funded for the following project:
This pilot research project seeks to develop a new method to extract ancient DNA from clay tobacco pipestems from colonial archaeological sites in Connecticut. Pipestems are common artifacts in colonial period archaeological sites, and preserve the DNA of people who smoked from them. This project will use eight pipestems, with each divided into equal thirds, to test three different DNA extraction methods at UConn’s Ancient DNA Laboratory. The concentration and complexity (number of different DNA sequences) will be assessed to determine the most effective method of DNA extraction. This project provides a new method in DNA extraction from archaeological artifacts.
Jessie Turner, from Marine Sciences, has been funded for the following project:
What color is the ocean? Using satellites to measure the color of the ocean tells us about the productivity of phytoplankton, the base of the entire ocean food chain. To use data from satellites, we need extensive ground-truth measurements of ocean color at Earth’s surface. However, the sensors used to ground-truth ocean color satellites are expensive and difficult to build. I plan to build a set of do-it-yourself sensors to measure ocean color at low cost. I will also create instructional materials for adaptation into a course for students interested in building sensors for their research.
Deborah Good, from Physics, has been funded for the following project:
I am an expert in timing millisecond pulsars – modeling the dynamics of rapidly-spinning, small, dense leftovers from supernova explosions – to detect gravitational waves from supermassive black holes. When timing pulsars, we model and remove the effects of the interstellar medium (ISM), especially ionized gas between the pulsar and the observer. Though “trash” in the search for gravitational waves, these gas models can be “treasure” for ISM scientists. I propose to lead a task force to improve our models and bring together pulsar timers, ISM scientists, and experts in mathematical modeling, maximizing our scientific output for ISM science and pulsar timing.
Kristel Schoonderwoerd, from Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, has been funded for the following project:
A single tree can bear leaves with widely varying shapes and functions. Smaller and thicker leaves that photosynthesize rapidly occur in parts of the crown that receive ample sunlight. On shaded branches, larger, thinner leaves are borne that photosynthesize comparatively slowly. Little is known about when during development these genetically identical leaf types diverge. This project seeks to understand how leaf development of sun and shade leaves aligns with seasonal changes in light availability within deciduous canopies, from leaf loss in the fall through new leaf expansion in spring.
As a reminder, all students employed as Graduate Assistants are required to maintain full-time student status (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 employment (August 23, 2022). Please be aware that if you do not enroll in the minimum 6 credits required to maintain full-time student status, the University cannot employ you as a GA.
To register now, log into Student Admin. You can also find helpful information, resources, and to-do items specific to your role as a GA, including information about GA health insurance and deadlines for enrolling in GA payroll deductions to pay our fee bill, at the Graduate Assistant Onboarding page.
If you have any questions about this requirement or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to megan.petsa@uconn.edu.
Colleagues,
The Graduate School is pleased to announce that we will host two Faculty Affiliates for Inclusive Excellence each academic year beginning in Fall 2022. One affiliate will focus on improving support for students from minoritized communities. The other will focus on improving faculty mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with a particular focus on improving mentoring for those from minoritized groups. For both affiliates the goal in 2022/2023 is to develop resources and establish 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.
We anticipate that each affiliate will devote an average of 3-4 hours per week to their service for which they will receive a modest stipend. 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) if you would like more information about becoming an affiliate program or if you would like to nominate someone for one of the positions. To apply, email graduatedean@uconn.edu identifying which of the two affiliate positions you are interested in and including 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 8 August, and the review will continue until affiliates have been selected.
Affiliate for improving support
The affiliate who focuses on improving support for graduate students will develop and execute a program that contributes to an equitable and supportive educational environment and that fosters a sense of community. The program should include a particular focus on providing support for graduate students and postdocs from minoritized groups. We anticipate that this affiliate will collaborate extensively with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, including the cultural centers on the Storrs campus.
Affiliate for improving mentoring
The affiliate who focuses on improving mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars will design and develop a program to provide mentorship training for faculty. The program will place special emphasis on helping faculty understand the challenges faced by graduate students and postdocs from minoritized groups. We anticipate that this affiliate will draw on resources provided through the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experience in Research (CIMER – University of Wisconsin) as well as other resources. This affiliate may also participate in a “train the trainer” workshop at CIMER.
Kent Holsinger
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Kent E. HolsingerBoard of Trustees Distinguished ProfessorVice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School
The Graduate School is now accepting applications for the Conference Participation Award for a Fall 2022 Semester Award. The application period will be open from June 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022. Late applications will not be considered.
Review eligibility criteria, details, and the application form.
For questions, contact The Graduate School at gradschool@uconn.edu.
The Graduate School is pleased to announce this year’s three-minute thesis (3MT) competition, which will be held virtually on Monday, August 22nd 2022 from 12:00 to 1:30pm.
First developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, the Three Minute Thesis competition challenges research students (who have completed at least one year in a doctoral program) to communicate the significance of their projects to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes. The winner of this year’s competition will have the opportunity to submit their presentation to the global competition (virtual) in September.
We will be running multiple training sessions during the summer to help you prepare. We are especially grateful to Dr. Rory McGloin who will be leading a transformational session entitled “Preparing for the Best Three Minute Presentation of Your Life” in July. This session is open to all graduate students.
To view all the events, visit: grad.uconn.edu/graduate-students/three-minute-thesis/
To register for any of the events, visit: forms.gle/cECAy9SanA9dBzH76
UConn Today