Graduate School

Graduate School Bulletin

March 5, 2024

 

Table of contents

Click on a category name to view that section or click on a headline to read the full announcement.

 

Articles of interest

Faculty and Staff

Recruitment

Admissions

Graduate Student Success

Opportunities for Graduate Students

Funding and awards for graduate students

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

 

Articles of interest

We Still Think Online Teaching Isn’t Real Teaching

Online courses are just as valuable as traditional classrooms. A recent article in “The College of Higher Education” offers tips for making online courses enriching and engaging for students.

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If you come across an article that would be of interest to other graduate programs, please send it to Michael Sellman, Graduate School communication specialist, at msellman@ksu.edu, to have the article featured in a future Bulletin!

 

Faculty and Staff

Interviews for Associate Dean position scheduled for this week

Graduate School constituents are invited to participate in the on-campus interview process for the Associate Dean position in the Graduate School.

The four semi-finalists will each be interviewed throughout the week. The candidates will meet the Graduate Council members, the Associate Deans, the search committee, the Dean and give an open forum presentation.

The open forums are scheduled for the following dates and times. We would love to have you, as your schedule allows, to attend these sessions. The open forum will be a 20-minute presentation on “Development and Growth Strategies for Graduate Schools at Next-Generation Land-Grant Universities” and then will be followed by a Q&A session.

The first open forum was held Monday, March 4. The remainer of the open forums will be held at the following times:

Monday March 4: 8:00am – 8:50am

Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/97561792524

Wednesday March 6: 8:00am – 8:50am

Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/92208344938

Thursday, March 7: 8:00am – 8:50am

Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/97759951133

Friday, March 8th: 8:00am – 8:50am

Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/91465972074

The name and information for each candidate will be posted in our grad resources team folder and will be sent to the graduate community the day before their campus visit.

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GTA/GRA Agreement templates – Facilitating communication

Faculty supervisors can struggle with managing graduate students in GTA or GRA roles. It helps if the supervisor and employee have discussions in advance of employment to clearly delineate the employee’s role and duties as well as expectations for both parties. In that spirit, the Graduate School took inspiration from faculty who routinely compose written agreements with their GTAs or GRAs.

The Graduate School and the Graduate Council Assessment & Review Committee partnered to create a template for GTA/GRA Agreements that is now available on the Grad Resources Teams page. This template can be used by any faculty member to facilitate communication regarding the specific duties of the graduate student (e.g., lead review sessions, restock chemicals), expectations (e.g., responding to emails within 24 hours), and expectations of the supervisor (e.g., provide timely feedback, arrange for safety training). The template includes a long list of possibilities that can be edited to fit each GTA or GRA role, but the template’s lists are not intended to be exhaustive – faculty can supplement, delete, and edit as they see fit. The resulting agreement would then be discussed with the graduate student before starting their employment.

These agreements are not legal contracts but rather tools to facilitate communication and thus avoid misunderstandings. The template is available to use at the faculty member’s discretion. If you have any questions or recommendations, please contact Dr. Michael Young, Graduate School, michaelyoung@ksu.edu.

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Graduate Council Elections for AY 2024-2025 Underway

Calls for Nominations for academic area representatives and college representatives were e-mailed to graduate faculty on Thursday, February 29.

Support from graduate faculty is paramount to the operation of the Graduate Council. Service on the Council is an excellent way to make an impact by being a part of the chief legislative and policy-formulating body of the Graduate Faculty. Council members handle course and curriculum proposals, manage and revise all policies related to graduate programs, review existing programs, and address student affairs. Members gain a much better understanding of policies and procedures and obtain new ideas, both of which benefit their home departments. To learn more, visit the Graduate Council information page.

Membership entails service on one of the four subcommittees and two meetings per month on a Tuesday or Thursday, at 3:30 pm. Regular members of the Graduate Faculty are eligible, but Special members are not. See the Graduate Handbook, Chapter 5 “The Graduate Faculty,” Sections C and D.

Volunteer today by submitting your name and department to gradinfo@ksu.edu. The nomination deadline is Thursday, March 14; self-nominations are welcome and expected.

Here's a general timeline of events:

February 29 Call for Nominations for Graduate Faculty to serve on Grad Council (3-year terms) distributed via listserv. Colleges determine their own representatives.
March 14 Final date for nominations to be sent to gradinfo@ksu.edu
March 19 Final date for nominees to accept the nomination.
March 20 Qualtrics ballots e-mailed to Graduate Faculty for voting.
March 31 Voting deadline. Colleges submit names of representatives to Graduate School.
April 1 Elections complete.
April 2 Newly elected members announced.

Departments may have only one representative on Council. Academic Area representatives must be from at least two colleges. See the by-laws of the Graduate Council for complete election procedures (Chapter 6: Graduate Council Constitution, By-Laws, and Procedures); consult Section B.1 if you are unsure of which Academic Area your department falls.

College representative vacancies:

    • Architecture, Planning, and Design - 1
    • Agriculture - 1
    • Arts and Sciences - 1
    • Education - 1

College representatives are determined by the college graduate faculty and reported to gradinfo@ksu.edu by March 31, 2024.

Academic Area representative vacancies:

    • Applied Natural Sciences - 3
    • Arts and Humanities - 2
    • Basic Natural Sciences - 1
    • Business and Education - 2
    • Mathematics and Engineering Sciences - 3
    • Social Sciences - 1

Questions about Council elections can be sent to Timon Smock at tmsmock@ksu.edu.

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Jeffrey Pickering to present Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecture March 6

Jeffrey Pickering, professor of political science and security, will present a public lecture entitled "Explaining Military Intervention in Africa" at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in the Leadership Studies Building McVay Family Town Hall, Room 114.

Pickering received the 2023-2024 Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award for his outstanding scholarly achievements and contribution to graduate education at Kansas State University.

Please read the full K-State Today article recognizing Pickering.

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Grad Student Survey Reminder

As part of the Graduate School's strategic planning process, last week we launched a survey of your graduate students. They received a reminder this week, but we would appreciate your sending a personal plea to your program’s graduate students to complete the survey. It is in your and their best interests to ensure that their experiences and needs are shared with the Graduate School because the results will inform our strategic plan.
Please encourage them to check their e-mail Clutter or Spam folders for the survey.

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New Faculty Institute to host breakfast and research support professional development event

The New Faculty Institute will host a hybrid professional development event from 8:00 – 9:20am, Tuesday, March 19 in room 201 of the Leadership Studies Building, and through Zoom.

The professional development event is an opportunity for faculty to learn about resources to support their research while networking, socializing, and enjoying breakfast.

Those who are interested in attending must RSVP by Monday, March 18 by visiting the registration website. More information can be found in the K-State Today article.

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Upcoming Events and Deadlines

March 6

Associate Dean candidate open forum, 8:00-8:50am, 121 Eisenhower and Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/92208344938

March 6

Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award Lecture: Jeffrey Pickering, political science and security studies professor, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Leadership Studies, Room 114

March 7

Associate Dean candidate open forum, 8:00-8:50am, 121 Eisenhower and Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/97759951133

March 7

March Slate Showcase: 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., 121 Eisenhower and Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/91465972074

March 8

Associate Dean candidate open forum, 8:00-8:50am, 121 Eisenhower and Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/91465972074

March 19

Know How: Graduate School Conversation – Curriculum Building, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, 121 Eisenhower Hall and Zoom

March 19

K-State Graduate Research, Arts, and Discovery Forum, oral presentations, 10:00am-4:00pm, Union rooms 227, Flint Hills, and Cottonwood

March 20 K-State Graduate Research, Arts, and Discovery Forum, poster presentations, 1:00-3:00pm, Union Courtyard
March 21 Capitol Graduate Research Summit, State Capitol Building
All Graduate School events and deadlines

Doctoral defenses

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Recruitment

Upcoming webinars for students interested in pursuing graduate education

The Graduate School is hosting webinars for students interested in pursuing graduate education, respectively graduate certificate, master's and doctoral. Students can attend one or all webinars. The Graduate School is also promoting the webinars to prospective students.

The following webinars will be held in US Central Standard Time.

March 7, 8:00am

Funding Opportunities

March 18, 6:00pm

March 20, 8:00am

The Application Process

March 25, 6:00pm

March 27, 8:00am

Why K-State for Grad Education

April 1, 6:00pm

April 3, 8:00am

Funding Opportunities

April 8, 6:00pm

April 10, 8:00am

Resources for Graduate Students

Please visit the Graduate School Webinars and Fairs website for more information.

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National Name Exchange – recruitment of under-represented students to graduate programs

The Council of Graduate Schools manages the National Name Exchange (NNE) which supports the recruitment of under-represented students to graduate programs. K-State has joined the 90+ universities that comprise the NNE. Starting in mid-March, the Graduate School will nominate qualifying K-State students for participation in the exchange. Students who respond by enrolling in the exchange will have their names and information made available to NNE member universities. K-State's Graduate School will thus have access to contact information for students at other universities that will support our targeted recruitment of students into our graduate programs.

Faculty should encourage qualifying undergraduate students to enroll if they are exploring the possibility of entering a graduate program. Invitations are open from mid-March to mid-June; most students wanting to enter doctoral programs should enroll no later than their junior year. Bridget Rainey, the Graduate School’s Ft. Leavenworth Program Coordinator, will be serving as the NNE Coordinator for K-State. For more information, please contact her at bdrainey@ksu.edu.

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Admissions

Slate CRM Implementation for Graduate School - Update

  • We hosted a Slate Know How Session on Feb. 21 and had great attendance! That recording is available in the Grad Resources folder.
  • We will host another Slate session Thursday, March 7, 2:30pm – 3:30pm on campus or via Zoom. Be sure to sign up!
  • We decided to mimic the undergraduate immigration workflow process to handle our international student application processing after admissions. Some changes will be developed to account for assistantships but overall we are excited to be in alignment and the benefits that will create while processing.
  • We completed work on allowing a student to select multiple concentrations for the programs that need that.
  • We had our kick-off meeting to begin the SIS integration for the application.

The current timeline is as follows:

    • Phase 1- Completed by November 6, 2023
      • Building Records, Forms, Events, and Communications
    • Phase 2- Completed by January 22, 2024
      • The Application form developed
    • Phase 3- Complete by April 15th
      • Workflows designed
    • Final Implementation goal: April 29th
    • Historical Data Migration into Slate by May 31st

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Admissions prioritizing international student applications for students with funding offers

Admissions is prioritizing international student applications for those students with funding offers. All other applications are being processed as soon as possible. Admissions is working hard to improve the time it takes to process international applications. All feedback that has been received is appreciated.

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Graduate Student Success

Help students plan for upcoming graduation deadlines

The deadline to graduate spring 2024 is quickly approaching. April 12th is the deadline to complete ALL requirements to graduate spring 2024. Remember, for terminal degree candidates, they must have completed all requirements to attend the commencement ceremony. Please encourage students to use the Graduate School graduation and commencement checklist. Plan early to allow time for scheduling of the final examinations, form submission and final revisions to the ETDR.

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Temporary solution for Graduate School electronic forms

Due to the disruptions to K-State IT systems and services, Etrieve forms are currently available as view only. As a temporary solution, fillable PDF forms are available on the Graduate School forms page. While we are using these forms on a temporary basis, signatures from all members of the supervisory committee are not required on the forms. This change is temporary until Etrieve functions are fully restored. Students should use the fillable PDF forms and submit them to the Graduate School by email at grad@ksu.edu.

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Thank you from the Degree Analysts

The degree analysts, Kyli Cass, Brenda Nowakowski and Angie Pfizenmaier would like to thank you for being accommodating and understanding during this time of technical difficulties. The amount of understanding has been tremendous, and it has not gone unnoticed.

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Award winners selected in 2024 3MT competition

Congratulations to the award winners and all 12 finalists who competed in the Three Minute Thesis Competition on February 22. Judges selected first and second place winners, and the audience selected a people's choice award winner.

    • Endy Lopes Kailer, doctoral student in agronomy, won first place for her presentation, “Rooting for Change: Soil Fungi and the Future of Climate Resilience.”
    • Kylee Jennings, a master’s student in regional and community planning, won second place for her research presentation, “Are Mobile Homes the Solution to the Affordable Housing Crisis?”
    • Fei Xyza Asuncion, a doctoral student in biological and agricultural engineering, was selected by the audience as the People’s Choice winner for her presentation, “Improving the Effectiveness of Insect Control by Predicting the Motion of Insecticide Particles.”

Please read the press release for more details about the 3MT winners.

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Dr. Tera Rooney Barnhardt, graduate alum, receives Distinguished Young Alumni Award

Dr. Tera Rooney Barnhardt, doctor of veterinary medicine and master’s graduate in biomedical science, Johnson, KS., is one of two recipients of the K-State Alumni Board’s 2024 Distinguished Young Alumni Award. The award recognizes two K-State graduates, 35 years or younger, who are using the scholarship, leadership and service experience they have acquired at K-State to enhance their careers and be of service to their community. Jill Applegate, undergraduate alum, is the other award recipient.

Barnhardt will give a keynote presentation on March 5 at 4:30 pm in the Student Union Wildcat Chamber. Applegate will give her keynote presentation at 3:30 pm.

Bernhardt earned her doctor of veterinary medicine in 2014 and a master’s degree in biomedical science in 2015, both from K-State.

To read more about the Distinguished Young Alumni Award, see the news article published on the K-State Alumni Association website.

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KREx upgrade

A KREx upgrade will be performed during spring break. This will cause KREx to be down for a few hours, either early morning or late evening to avoid inconveniencing too many students.

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Opportunities for Graduate Students

Opportunity to engage Manhattan community with research – Kansas Science Festival

Graduate students have an excellent opportunity to show the Manhattan community the importance of their research by presenting a hands-on, family friendly activity by hosting a booth/table activity at the Kansas Science Festival (KSF). The KSF will be held April 27 on Poyntz in downtown Manhattan. The goal is to provide the broader community with a glimpse of all the exciting ways STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) intersects with our daily lives, to spark curiosity and excitement in learners of all ages, and frankly, to have fun. March 10 is the deadline to register for a booth. Learn more and register on the KSF website.

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The 3rd annual K-State Social Media week takes place from March 4 –8

The A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication and the K-State Division of Academic Success and Student Affairs is hosting the 3rd annual K-State Social Media Week from March 4-8. Several events covering social media opportunities and insights are being offered in person, on-line, and hybrid.

All students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to attend any of the events. Registration for each event is required through K-State OrgCentral.

Students attending Social Media Week events can earn one of two $500 scholarships. Please visit the Social Media Week website for a complete listing of the events.

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Leading the Way: Women in STEM panel discussion

The Women in STEM panel discussion, “Leading the Way” will be held in Hale Library room 307 from 10 am – 11am.

The discussion will focus on empowering women to take on more significant leadership roles through their academic careers, and beyond. The panel will consist of moderated discussions. The panelists will include Chibuzar Azubuike, PhD student in leaderhsip communication, author, social entrepreneur, and scholar-practitioner; Katie Kingery-Page, licensed landscape architect and the Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design at K-State; and Caterina Scoglio, distinguished professor in the department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and director of the Network Science and Engineering (NetSE) Group at K-State.

Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and engage with the panelists.

Those who are interested in attending will need to RSVP by March 19 by visiting the registration website.

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Funding and awards for graduate students

Deadline approaching for Alumni Association awards, March 7

The deadline to nominate graduating students for a K-State Alumni Association award is March 7. Every year, the Alumni Association recognizes 18 graduating students for their accomplishments through various awards. Graduate students are eligible for many of these awards, including two awards specifically for graduate students:

    • Graduate Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service
    • Graduate Award for Outstanding Academics
    • International Leadership
    • LGBTQ+ Leadership
    • Robinson Multicultural Leadership
    • Tony Jurich Community Commitment and Leadership

More information about these awards is available on the Alumni Association website.

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International Student Scholarships application closes March 15

International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) is accepting applications for 2024 international student scholarships. The deadline to apply for these scholarships is March 15. More information is available on the ISSS website.

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Clinton Global Initiative Fellowship (CGI) now accepting applications

Applications are open for the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Fellowship. This fellowship gives emerging entrepreneurs critical tools and guidance as they build and implement programs addressing urgent global challenges. The deadline to apply is March 15.

Interested applicants can register for informational webinars that will take place weekly from Feb. 28 through March 12. To attend a webinar, please visit the CGI webinar registration website.

For more information about the CGI Fellowship, and to apply, visit the CGI application website.

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Research fellowship in translational and genomic pediatric cancer epidemiology

The University of Minnesota Department of Pediatrics and Masonic Cancer Center is looking for applicants for its training program in translational and genomic pediatric cancer epidemiology research. The program is nationally sought by scholars seeking to learn about childhood cancer. This opportunity provides one predoctoral and three postdoctoral trainees at any given time. Fellows will gain experience across the spectrum of pediatric cancer research. The goal is interdisciplinary cross-training. As of Nov. 1, 2023, there are two openings for postdoctoral fellows which must be filled by June 30, 2024.

Visit the University of Minnesota research fellowship website for more information, and to apply.

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Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Residency Graduate Fellowship accepting applications

The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratory Residency Graduate Fellowship (DOE NNSA LRGF) is still accepting applications through March 13, 2024.

The fellowship provides benefits to U.S. citizens pursuing degrees in fields relevant to stewardship of the nation’s nuclear stockpile – engineering and applied sciences, physics, materials, and mathematics and computational science.

Fellowships include at least two 12-week research residences at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories (California or New Mexico), or the Nevada National Security Site. Fellows are encouraged to extend these experiences to carry out thesis research and other studies.

Visit the fellowship’s online registration portal to apply. The Dec. 13 application Q&A video is available on the DOE NNSA Laboratory Residency Graduate Fellowship website.

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Upcoming Events and Deadlines

March 5

Coffee Chat with the Graduate School Dean, 12:00 pm-1:00 pm, 118 Eisenhower Hall, and by Zoom

March 5

Leadership Coaching workshop, 2:00-3:30pm, Zoom

March 6

TLC Professional Development Series: Open Education Resources, 12:00- 1:00 p.m. via zoom.

March 6

Graduate Student Council Open Forum, 5:00-6:00pm, 126 Leadership Studies

March 7

Funding Opportunities webinar for prospective students, 8:00 – 9:00 am via Zoom.

March 18

Library workshop: Finding Social Sciences Data Sets, 1:30pm, Zoom

March 18

The Application Process webinar for prospective students, 6:00 - 7:00 pm via Zoom.

March 19

K-State Graduate Research, Arts, and Discovery Forum, oral presentations, 10:00am-4:00pm, Union rooms 227, Flint Hills, and Cottonwood

March 20

K-State Graduate Research, Arts, and Discovery Forum, poster presentations, 1:00-3:00pm, Union Courtyard

March 22

Sarachek Predoctoral Honors Fellowship application deadline

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