Graduate School Weekly Newsletter
November 16, 2021
Table of contents
Click on a category name to view that section, or click on a headline to read the full announcement.
Faculty and staff
Doctoral Examination Committee Changes
New Initiative: Graduate Milestones Dashboard launching this week
Incomplete Grade Reports - update
Attend DGF Lecture by Dr. Caterina Scoglio, Nov. 17
December Brown Bag Celebration - Dec. 13, 11:30am
Save the Date - January Brown Bag
Recruitment Strategies Round Table Discussions
International Students Admissions
Graduate student progress
Opportunities for graduate students
Application open for Graduate Student Leadership Development Program
Arts, humanities, and social sciences research grant application due Nov. 17
Spring 2022 Donoghue Fellowship
Recruitment Funding Grants for Fall 2022 admits
Personnel Updates
New employee - Executive Assistant
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
Faculty and Staff
Doctoral Examination Committee Changes
The Graduate Council recently approved a change to the composition of doctoral examination committees. The role of outside chairperson has been dissolved and the major professor or a co-major professor will assume the responsibilities that heretofore were those of the outside chair: responsibility for conducting the final examination in an orderly manner, evaluating it as a test of the candidate’s expertise, submitting the final examination ballot, making other reports as appropriate or required, and return the signed ballot and evaluation form to the Graduate School immediately after the oral examination. Visit the Graduate Handbook online for more information:
This change supports progression towards graduation for graduate students, efficiency in conducting and managing the dissertation defense, and empowers the examining committee to conduct the final defense.
For students who already have an assigned outside chair we are working on identifying the best way to incorporate this change. The ETDR form will be revisited.
New Initiative: Graduate Milestone Dashboard launching this week
The Graduate Student Milestones Dashboard is launching this week! The development of this dashboard is part of the Graduate School’s efforts to enhance our collaboration with graduate programs to facilitate student success. Semesterly and annual analysis of dashboard reports conducted by the Graduate School will facilitate data-based decision making and identification of best practices. While the Graduate School will focus on trends and averages to guide our interaction with programs, the dashboard will also be a useful tool for programs to examine student-level data.
Next steps: The Graduate School is working with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment to grant access this week to deans, associate deans, department heads, graduate program directors, and graduate program contact staff. Individuals will be notified when access is granted. The Graduate School will pilot the reporting process with program of study completion. Based on feedback from the November 15 Brown Bag, a Brown Bag will be scheduled in January for further discussion of plans for using the dashboard, giving programs time to explore the dashboard and the Graduate School to share initial reports.
Dr. Megan Miller, Graduate School student success coordinator, is leading the dashboard initiative. Questions should be directed to her at mmmiller@ksu.edu.
Incomplete Grades Report - update
To launch this initiative, incomplete grades reports were sent to three units as a trial run for wider dissemination. The Graduate School received positive feedback from these reports and found them useful. They provided feedback for refinement. The Graduate School appreciates the collaborative feedback from unit coordinators and faculty and will revise the reports to better serve the needs of the graduate program coordinators.
Attend DGF Lecture by Dr. Caterina Scoglio, Nov. 17
Dr. Caterina Scoglio, professor in the Mike Wiegers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and 2021-2022 recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award will give a public lecture of her work via Zoom on November 17 at 3:00pm. The title of Scoglio’s talk is, “Network Approaches for Mitigation and Forecast of Infectious Diseases.” All are welcome to join. We look forward to seeing you at the DGF lecture!
December Brown Bag Celebration - Dec. 13, 11:30
The Graduate School invites you to a celebratory Brown Bag session with coffee and cookies! As we conclude our first semester of university activities retuning to mostly in-person since the start of the pandemic let’s use this opportunity to reflect on how we have adapted to change to support student success and share ideas to continue to strive for excellence in graduate education at K-State. The Graduate School will provide cookies and coffee.
- Attend in-person: 121 Eisenhower Hall
- Attend via Zoom: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/94668870738?pwd=UGMreUZ0RHV0dTV6K09OV0tWbUtMZz09
Meeting ID: 946 6887 0738
Passcode: brownbag
Please let us know if you plan on attending in-person by December 10. RSVP here.
Save the date for January Brown Bag – Milestones Dashboard: Program of Study Pilot Report
The Spring 2022 Graduate School Brown Bag series will kick-off on January 26 at 11:30am. In this session, we will take a deeper dive into the Graduate Milestones dashboard with discussion focused on pilot reports for program of study completion. Meeting location and Zoom details are forthcoming.
Recruitment Strategies Round Table Discussion
The Graduate School will conduct round table discussions in December and January for graduate programs to share recruiting strategies and best practices. If you would like to attend a session, please fill this survey and we will contact you for scheduling:
Admissions
International Student Admissions
The Graduate School, in collaboration with International Admissions and International Student Services, are revising the current International student estimated cost of attendance amounts. Cost of attendance amounts are based on costs for a standard academic year. Current amounts shown on Affidavit of Support forms, and Assistantship Forms will be updated soon. The Graduate school will be creating a webpage with all of the new information, updated forms, and information about summer costs. A link will be provided for this new webpage as soon as it is available.
Graduate student progress
Commencement
For the students who completed all degree requirements by November 12th and plan to participate in Graduate School commencement on December 10th, the commencement website provides ceremony details.
A formal registration is not required to attend the commencement ceremony. However, terminal degree candidates (PhD, EdD, and Master of Fine Art) need to complete a brief form to provide hooding faculty information.
Please encourage the terminal degree candidates to complete this form by November 29, 2021.
Opportunities for graduate students
Application open for Graduate Student Leadership Development Program
Applications are being accepted for the Spring 2022 cohort of the Graduate Student Leadership Development Program (GSLDP)! This program provides K-State graduate students an opportunity to develop leadership skills to make positive change in their work, studies, and student organizations. Application deadline is November 30, 2021.
Arts, humanities, and social sciences research grant application due Nov. 17
The Graduate School is now accepting applications for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Small Grant Program to support research expenses for master's and doctoral students in these disciplines. Grants up to $1,000 will support direct research costs such as travel to an archive, data collection, or exhibition and performance expenses for graduate students doing original research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Application deadline is November 17, 2021. Funds will be available after Jan. 15, 2022.
Spring 2022 Donoghue Fellowships
The Graduate School is accepting nominations for Timothy R. Donoghue Graduate Scholarships for graduate students who are admitted to begin their program in Spring 2022 and have been offered an assistantship.
- Limited funding is available to support up to five students admitted for Spring 2022.
- Each graduate program may submit one nomination.
- Learn more about the nomination process and scholarship guidelines.
- Nominations are due November 30, 2021. Selected students will be notified by December 9.
NOTE: A separate call for nominations will be made later this semester for Donoghue Fellowships to support applicants admitted to graduate programs for the Fall 2022 semester.
Recruitment Funding Grants for Fall 2022 Admits
The Graduate School is accepting applications for recruitment funding grants. The grants assist graduate programs with hosting campus visit events in the spring for applicants admitted to doctoral programs (or terminal degree master’s programs) for Fall 2022.
- Programs will receive up to $500 per student attending the recruitment event and a maximum of $5,000.
- Programs will be expected to make the travel arrangements and provide any additional funding necessary to support activities.
- Complete the online application form by December 10, 2021. Funding decisions will be made by December 22.
Direct questions to Dr. Sarah Reznikoff, Interim Associate Dean of the Graduate School, at sarahrez@ksu.edu, 532-6191.
Personnel Updates
New Employee - Executive Assistant
A Wildcat welcome goes out to Miranda Schremmer, the Graduate School's newest team member. Miranda has been a member of the Wildcat family for the last 9 years in the College of Veterinary Medicine and she is very excited to transition to her new role in the Graduate School. In her free time, Miranda enjoys spending time with her two sons, husband, and three dogs and is an amateur cake decorator. Miranda will serve as Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School. Miranda can be contacted by emailing mquint@ksu.edu or calling the Graduate School at 785-532-6191.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
| Nov 17 |
Application deadline for Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences small grant program |
| Nov 30 | Application deadline for Graduate Student Leadership Development Program |
| Dec 10 | Graduate School commencement, 1:00pm, Bramlage Coliseum |
| Dec 10 | Recruitment Funding Grants application deadline |
| Dec 13 |