June 15, 2021

This newsletter is distributed to department heads, graduate program directors, graduate program contact staff, and graduate faculty. Graduate students receive a weekly email on Mondays from the Graduate Student Council. Information about student events and opportunities are also shared here to keep graduate program administrators, faculty, and staff informed.

CollegeNet Update

If KBOR approves at its June meeting KSU’s proposed fee structure, the Graduate School admissions team must update all program codes in CollegeNet. Each code line must be revised and this is a laborious process. We estimate that this process will take place from June 24 to July 20. After the process is completed, the Graduate School will provide you an update and might ask for your help in “testing” the system to ensure that all changes have been correctly made.

Kudos to the Graduate School Degree Analysts

Over 800 graduate students graduated in the spring semester, and the Graduate School degree analysts (Angie Pfizenmaier, Jamie Clark, and Stephanie Wacker) played an important role in the students reaching this milestone. Our degree analysts process hundreds of documents each semester and work daily with enrolled students, faculty, and staff to facilitate graduate student degree progress.

Graduate Program Directors

Program Review Reports now due

Program Review Reports (PRR) for the graduate programs listed at the link here (PDF) are due today, June 15. Guidelines for this KBOR Full-Cycle assessment are posted on the Graduate School website. Examples of reports showing best practices are available and the report outline (PDF) can be found on the Office of Assessment website. Please e-mail your reports to gradinfo@ksu.edu with a courtesy copy to assessment@ksu.edu.

Monthly Brown Bag Series begins June 21

The Graduate School is launching a monthly brown bag series to discuss items related to graduate students, faculty, and curriculum. The topics will be developed based on input received from the graduate program directors, graduate faculty and other constituents. The Brown Bag series begins with a session on June 21, from 11:45am to 12:45pm to address the following topic: “Graduate Students’ Needs: Input from students and Grad constituents.” Dean Petrescu will share the results of surveys conducted in the spring semester and discuss next steps in using the information.

Encourage students to serve as Graduate Student Ambassadors

The Graduate School continues to accept applications for new Graduate Student Ambassadors to share their K-State experiences and to welcome prospective and incoming graduate students to the K-State community. If you have students who are proud and passionate to be a K-State student and would be positive representatives of their program and the graduate community, please encourage them to consider this service role. Graduate student ambassadors respond to email inquiries and provide campus tours to prospective and incoming graduate students. Application deadline is June 18. Questions may be directed to Megan Miller, mmmiller@ksu.edu.

Contribute to Grad Chat Bot Knowledge Base

The Graduate School is seeking volunteers to help build the knowledge base for a new graduate chat bot by July 15. If you are interested in serving on a task force for a period of 2-3 weeks to review and develop Q&A for the chat bot, please notify Dr. Megan Miller (mmmiller@ksu.edu) of your interest. Information will be forthcoming for those interested. 

Graduate Applications Processing

The internal deadline to recommend admission for International applicants for Fall 2021 was February 1st. This includes individuals who are: Living outside of the United States, applicants who are currently enrolled at an institution in the United States who plan to graduate in spring and plan to travel outside of the United States prior to August.

Departments are encouraged to submit their program recommendations for both International and Domestic applications for admission for Fall 2021.

Graduate School Exit Survey

Traditionally, the Graduate School has provided exit survey reports every five years. We are at the five-year mark for providing a report. By the end of the summer, we will provide reports of exit survey responses as follows: master summary of data from all respondents, summaries by college, and reports for programs scheduled to complete KBOR Program Review Reports, programs scheduled for mid-cycle reviews, and programs undergoing external accreditation.

Graduate Student Success

NEW checklists to guide students through graduation requirements

The Graduate School has revised the graduation and commencement checklists for our students. Please work with your students to utilize these checklists well in advance to help them be successful in meeting their target graduation date.

Key updates to note include:

• Each semester listed on the website contains its own checklist and includes a printable version (PDF), but students should still refer to the web-based lists, which include linked text directing them to more information, forms, surveys, etc.
• There are separate lists for graduation requirements and commencement participation requirements.
• Important dates and information regarding diplomas and final transcripts have been incorporated into the checklists.

Save the Date! Graduate Student Welcome and Orientation Activities

The Graduate School looks forward to welcoming graduate students for Fall 2021 with a revised orientation format! To help new students have a successful start to their graduate career, we are planning several activities in July and August.

• In the week of July 19th, we will offer Zoom sessions to provide information for new GTAs, GRAs, and GAs, and to provide logistical guidance on getting started for all new students. These sessions will be repeated by Zoom in the week of August and will be recorded.  
• On August 18 from 1:00-5:00pm, we will host an in-person graduate student experience welcome session (also streamed and recorded via Zoom). The session will be especially beneficial for new graduate students, but returning students will also benefit both new and returning students.

Dates of the Zoom sessions, registration, and other details will be provided in the coming weeks.

The Histochemical Society Cornerstone Grants

Application Deadline: June 30, 2021

The Histochemical Society’s Graduate Medical Trainee and Graduate Student Cornerstone Grant is encourages interest in histochemistry and histochemical-based research techniques in early-career physicians and scientists. This grant will provide funds to assist graduate medical trainees and graduate students in conducting research involving immunohistochemistry or histochemical techniques and in situ hybridization. The 2021 grant amount is $2,000. Applicants must be graduate medical trainees (residency or fellowship), graduate students (PhD or thesis-based Master’s), or combined degree program students. Click here to submit an application for a Cornerstone or Capstone Grant.

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

View the Graduate School’s full calendar of events.