Graduate School Newsletter
April 5, 2022
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
- Attend the April Brown Bag: Milestones Dashboard
- Celebrate Graduate Students in April
- Graduate Council Elections
- Upcoming Events & Deadlines
Graduate Student Success
Opportunities for Graduate Students
Graduate Student Funding and Awards
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
Faculty and Staff
Join us on April 19 for continued discussion on the Graduate Milestones Dashboard. This session will provide an opportunity for you to ask questions about the dashboard. We also encourage attendees to share their experiences and discuss how the dashboard supports their efforts to monitor and facilitate student progress. The Brown Bag will be held April 19 in 121 Eisenhower Hall and via Zoom (https://ksu.zoom.us/j/99919430807, Passcode: BrownBag).
The first week of April (4-8) is nationally recognized as Graduate Student Appreciation Week. The Graduate School encourages colleges, departments, and programs to express appreciation and recognize the accomplishments and contributions of graduate students during this week or at any time in the month of April. View a list of appreciation activities planned this month. Have an item you would like added to the list? Send it to Megan Miller (mmmiller@ksu.edu).
Election ballots have been distributed to those departments eligible to vote this year. Check Junk E-mail boxes in Microsoft Outlook in case the ballot is identified as spam e-mail. You have now the opportunity to choose the GS representatives for your academic area for the upcoming academic year 2022-2023. Please cast your vote by April 4. Here’s a timeline of events:
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- Thu, 24 MAR: Qualtrics ballots e-mailed to Graduate Faculty for voting.
- Mon, 04 APR: Deadline for ballot to be completed.
- Mon, 11 APR: New elected members informed and announced.
- Tue, 03 MAY: New members installed at Graduate Council meeting.
Having a strong Graduate Council will lead to a strong graduate education. Thank you for your role and contribution to advancing Graduate Education!
| Apr 4-8 |
Graduate Student Appreciation Week |
| Apr 19 |
Graduate School Brown Bag: Graduate Milestones Dashboard Part III Eisenhower 121/Zoom: 11:30am-1:00pm |
| May 3 |
Commerce Bank & WT Kemper Foundation DGF Award Nominations Due |
| May 13 |
Commencement: Bramlage Coliseum: 1:00pm |
| May 17 |
Graduate School Brown Bag: End of the Semester Social Eisenhower 121/Zoom: 11:30am-1:00pm |
Graduate Student Success
Last week was busy with three days of graduate student research presentations.
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- On March 29, ten graduate students presented their research posters at the annual Capitol Graduate Research Summit and had the opportunity to promote their research and the value of a graduate education to Kansas legislators. Two students were selected to receive awards (a $500 scholarship) for their presentations: Anne Lovett, MS student in Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, and Carlos Pires, PhD student in Agronomy.
- On March 30 and 31, nearly 50 graduate students gave poster presentations and talks in the annual K-State Graduate Research, Arts, and Discovery Forum. Eight graduate students received awards (a $500 scholarship) for their presentations: Andrew Horn, PhD student in Kinesiology; Justin Montney, PhD student in Kinesiology; Rintu Sen, MS student in Biological and Agricultural Engineering; Luana Simao, PhD student in Agronomy; Ketan Shende, PhD student in Biological and Agricultural Engineering; Jack Sytsma, MS student in Biology; Abigaile Weiser, MA student in Sociology; and Libby Wilson, PhD student in Biology.
Based on program feedback, the Graduate School is updating graduate certificate business processes to expedite posting and printing of graduate certificates each semester. In order to ensure prompt posting and printing of graduate certificates for spring 2022, electronic graduate certificate completion forms should be submitted by students (or staff proxy) on or before April 25, 2022 and program directors should approve electronic graduate certificate completion forms on or before April 29, 2022. Graduate School degree analysts will then review forms prior to semester grade posting to allow for certificate posting along with degree posting which begins the week following grade posting (Spring 2022 grades available in KSIS May 18, 2022). The electronic Graduate Certificate Completion form is available online.
Printed certificates will be ordered following degree and certificate posting so they can be mailed within six to eight weeks of the May 2022 conferral date which is May 13, 2022. This is the same timeline for mailing diplomas. Printed certificates with an addressed metered mail envelope will be delivered to graduate certificate program directors for signature. Signed certificates can then be placed in the envelope and sent via university metered mail.
Please remind students who are completing certificate program courses that they must submit the Graduate Certificate Completion in order to be awarded the certificate. This should be done the semester they complete the final course(s) required for the award of the certificate they are pursuing:
A complete list of graduate certificate programs with required courses is available in the Graduate Catalog.
Opportunities for Graduate Students
Graduate students are invited to the final virtual workshop of the Grad Money Hour Series with Jackie Cummings Koski on April 5 at 5pm. In this session, Jackie will cover important financial planning topics related to the transition from life as a graduate student to life as a working professional. More information and Zoom registration are available on the GSC website. Recordings of the first two sessions are also available on the website.
The Graduate School is accepting 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 from prospective students to provide insight on what life is like as a graduate student at K-State, and some volunteer their time to provide campus tours to prospective and incoming graduate students. Ambassadors also have opportunities throughout the year to support the Graduate School in representing graduate students on Graduate School and university initiatives. The application deadline is April 25. Questions may be directed to Megan Miller, mmmiller@ksu.edu.
Graduate Student Funding and Awards
Pursuing a graduate degree is demanding, and raising children is expensive, but students should not have to put their personal lives on hold while earning their degree. The Graduate Student Child Care Scholarship serves to relieve some of the financial burden of child care expenses, which in turn facilitates degree progress of graduate students who are raising families. Application deadline: April 6, 2022. Five scholarships up to $1,000 each will be awarded before the end of the spring 2022 semester.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
| Apr 4-8 |
Graduate Student Appreciation Week |
| April 5 |
Grad Money Hour Series – Transitioning to Work |
| Apr 6 |
Child Care Scholarship Application deadline |
| Apr 11 | |
| Apr 15 |
GSC Professional Development – Early Career Preparation panel discussion |
| Apr 25 |
Graduate Student Ambassadors application deadline |
| May 1 |
GSC travel award application deadline for events beginning in July |
| May 3 |
University Distinguished Professors Excellence in Doctoral Studies Award applications due |
| May 7 |
Distinguished Thesis and Distinguished Dissertation Award nominations due |
| May 13 |
Commencement: Bramlage Coliseum: 1:00pm |