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The Graduate School Program Director Newsletter
April 2015
Table of Contents
GPD ADVISORY BOARD QUARTERLY MEETING ................................................................ 1
2015 GRADUATE APPLICATIONS SNAPSHOT AS OF 3/27/2015 ........................................ 1
GPD WORKSHOPS .................................................................................................................. 2
THESIS/DISSERTATION DEADLINES FOR SPRING ............................................................. 2
INCOMPLETE GRADES ........................................................................................................... 3
PLEASE ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO APPLY FOR NC RESIDENCY; UPCOMING
DEADLINES AND INFORMATION SESSION .......................................................................... 3
DEGREE WORKS UPDATE ..................................................................................................... 3
AWARDS .................................................................................................................................. 4
COMMENCEMENT AND THE DOCTORAL DINNER: ............................................................. 5
UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES ....................................... 5
GPD SPOTLIGHT –DR. GARY KOHUT, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT AND
DIRECTOR, MBA PROGRAM, BELK COLLEGE OF BUSINESS. .......................................... 6
GPD Advisory Board Quarterly Meeting
The GPD Advisory Council will hold its quarterly meeting on April 15, 2015 from 2:00-3:30 pm in Cato Hall
228. Should faculty or GPDs have any issues they would like to have addressed at the meeting, please send those
to Dean Tom Reynolds at tlreynol@uncc.edu.
2015 Graduate Applications Snapshot as of 3/27/2015
Application Status
FALL
2015
Total Apps
In-Progress (not
submitted)
8,828
3,090
2014
(census)
9,196
2,447
SUMMER 1
2015
2014
(census)
1,290
1,286
707
412
SUMMER 2
2015
2014
(census)
231
383
137
124
Accepted
Denied
Intends to Enroll
Does Not Intend to Enroll
2,008
2,143
1,155
59
3,303
2,846
2,443
697
295
131
214
27
652
167
559
79
55
5
33
3
221
20
181
27
GPD Workshops
Admission Requirements 101: A Question/Answer Forum for Graduate Program Directors
April 10, 2015, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Cato Hall 228
Can admission requirements ever be changed? How do I request a waiver of a requirement for a specific
applicant? Bring your lunch and ask all your questions at this special Brown Bag lunch for GPDs. RSVP at
http://graduateschool.uncc.edu/gpd-brown-bag-admission-requirements-101-questionanswer-forum-graduateprogram-directors
Promoting Success for International Doctoral Students
April 21, 2015, 12:30 – 1:30 pm, Center for Graduate Life, Cone 268
All doctoral-level faculty are welcome to participate in this brown-bag discussion, which will focus on strategies
for helping multilingual students succeed in their doctoral studies. Participants will learn and share ideas for
working effectively with international doctoral students, including best practices for assigning and responding to
disciplinary writing. The discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Lisa Russell-Pinson, Faculty Associate for Graduate
Writing. RSVP at https://gradlife.uncc.edu/events/promoting-success-international-doctoral-students
Thesis/Dissertation Deadlines for Spring
As some of you may recall, the deadlines for dissertations were moved later to give students more time to defend
and submit their document in order to graduate. Please do not ask for extensions of these deadlines. In order to
clear students for graduation and order diplomas, we need students to meet these deadlines.
Dissertation Deadlines:
* April 1, 2015….Doctoral defense deadline.
* April 7, 2015…...Doctoral dissertation post-defense review (required).
* April 8, 2015……Last day to submit doctoral dissertations to the Graduate School for May 2015 graduation.
Thesis Deadlines:
* April 15, 2015…..Master’s thesis pre-defense formatting review deadline (required)
* April 28, 2015…..Master’s thesis defense deadline.
* May 5, 2015…….Master’s thesis post-defense deadline (required)
* May 6, 2014…….Last day to submit master’s thesis to the Graduate School for May 2015 graduation.
** Doctoral and master thesis students have checklists indicating deadline dates for the required Graduate School
forms.
April 10th is the deadline for GASP and masters’ awards nominations – after this date no
funding is guaranteed.
Incomplete Grades
Incomplete grades from Spring 2014 must be changed to a permanent, final grade no later than Friday, May 8th,
2015. Grades still showing as “I” on Saturday, May 9th, 2015 will default to “U”. Graduate students who earn
grades of “U” are at risk of academic suspension or termination. Graduate program directors and graduate
students were notified in February regarding outstanding incomplete grades. Questions regarding incomplete
grades should be directed to Mr. James Birkett (jbirkett@uncc.edu).
Please encourage students to apply for NC Residency; Upcoming
Deadlines and Information Session
The primary purpose of the Residency Determination Office is: To evaluate Residence and Tuition Status
Applications, to assign the appropriate residency classification consistent with the requirements of the state law
and provisions of the North Carolina State Residence Classification Manual, and to provide information about
residency to students, staff and the University community.
Spring semester Student Information Session:
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2014
Time: 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Location: Denny 102
Click here for the link for students to register for the session (http://resdetermination.uncc.edu/). Sign up is open
to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Degree Works Update
Degree Works Project Sponsor, Sr. Associate Dean Susan Sell, and her staff, together with representatives from
ITS, and a Degree Works technical consultant participated in the Degree Works Technical Kickoff meeting in
early March. During this meeting we examined the Degree Works system and its technical components, including
setup, configuration, data extraction from Banner, and system management. The last week of March begins our
Scribe training. Here we will learn how to code and make changes to our programs in Degree Works. In addition,
representatives from the Graduate School staff are scheduled to attend the Degree Works Forum in early April.
The forum, which focuses solely on Degree Works, and is attended by hundreds of other Degree Works users, is a
conference held just prior to Ellucian Live. As always, contact Janet Morse, jmorse9@uncc.edu, the Graduate
School’s Degree Works Technical Specialist, with any questions or for more information.
Awards
UNC Charlotte Organizational Science graduate student Alexandra
Dunn has received the
national PEO Scholar Award!
The dissertation-year award is highly competitive; on average, one
student per state is selected. Alex is the fourth UNC Charlotte graduate student to receive this prestigious award.
Congratulations to Alex Dunn!
Call for Nominations for the Lucille P. and Edward C. Giles Dissertation-Year Graduate
Fellowship
Early Deadline: May 6
The Giles Dissertation-Year $20,000 Fellowship is awarded to promising students in the final stages of their
doctoral work who demonstrate strong potential to make a significant contribution to society by completing the
terminal degree in their chosen discipline. The purpose of the fellowship is to allow students to focus full-time on
the dissertation, thus improving quality and shortening the time required to complete the doctoral degree. Lucille
Giles valued graduate education and established this fellowship in 1990 to support doctoral students in the STEM
programs (see Appendix below). For more information please visit to the Graduate School web page:
https://graduateschool.uncc.edu/funding-resources/philanthropic-awards/graduate-school/giles-dissertation-yearfellowship.
We have funding available to make three Giles Dissertation-Year awards for 2015-2016, and are therefore
offering two solicitations.


Early deadline: May 6, 2015
Second deadline: To be determined
The May 6 deadline allows programs to “free-up” an assistantship to use for recruiting purposes. The later
deadline allows doctoral students additional time to advance to candidacy and meet the fellowship requirements.
Award Amount

$20,000 fellowship plus $1,000 for travel, health insurance, and full tuition and fees (does not include
tuition increments)
Eligibility







US citizen or permanent resident
advancement to candidacy prior to fall 2015 semester
dissertation-year sufficient for candidate to complete all requirements during award year or shortly
thereafter
acceptance precludes other employment obligations
must be on campus, engaged full-time (9 credit hours/semester)
doctoral dissertation research credit only, fall and spring semesters
dissertation topics restricted to disciplines in list, pasted below (see Appendix)
Completed application packet should be sent to: The Giles Dissertation-Year Fellowship Program, The Graduate
School, 210 Cato Hall. Contact Julie Green with any questions (jhgreen@uncc.edu).
NOTE: If nominating more than one student, please prioritize nominations.
Application Requirements
1. half-page autobiographical sketch
2. two-page (maximum) dissertation synopsis written for a “lay audience;” synopsis must address
significance of the student’s research to a field of study listed in Appendix
3. academic timeline indicating the date of the qualifying exam, date proposal defended, and expected
defense date
4. letter of support from student’s advisor addressing how student meets program objectives and eligibility
requirements (three-page limit)
5. letter of endorsement form department chair or graduate program director/coordinator
APPENDIX – STEM Disciplines
Visit the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships website for a complete list of STEM
Disciplines at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12599/nsf12599.htm#appendix
Externally Funded Awards & Fellowships
Many organizations outside of the Graduate School and the University offer fellowship and other award
opportunities to students at all levels of graduate education as part of local, national, and international
competitions. Examples of recent UNC Charlotte student successes include the NSF Graduate Research
Fellowship, the PEO Scholar Award, and the Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship.
Several websites offer searchable databases that can assist you in finding current sources of aid:
PIVOT - http://pivot.cos.com/funding_main
GrantsNet - http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/funding
GRAPES - https://grad.ucla.edu/asis/grapes/search.asp
International Education Financial Aid – www.iefa.org/
Commencement and the Doctoral Dinner:
Doctoral students graduating this spring should have received information about the Commencement ceremony.
Students and their advisors should plan to attend the doctoral graduation rehearsal on Wednesday, May 6th at
2:45. Students and their advisors are invited to the Doctoral Dinner on Thursday, May 7th at 6 pm. Please
RSVP for these events to mfreeman@uncc.edu .
Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities
April 7 - The Transition from Academia to the Workplace: A Female Perspective - - 6:30pm, Center for
Graduate Life, Cone 268
Join us for a panel discussion and a Q&A session that will offer guidance on how to be successful after
graduation. If you would like to submit a question for the panelists, please email all submissions to Erin Walker at
ewalke33@uncc.edu. Register. Panelists biographies may be viewed here.
April 17th – The Changing Academy: the importance of multidisciplinary research in advancing a career – The
day long workshop for doctoral students and post-docs will emphasize the ways in which multidisciplinary
collaboration can positively shape a research career. Topics will include post-doctoral training opportunities,
diversity in the academy and how to negotiate a job offer. Lunch is included but registration is required:
http://gradlife.uncc.edu/events/changing-academy
April 24 - Dissertation Day: Managing Stress 10:00am - 4:30pm, Center for Graduate Life, Cone 268
Are you struggling with your dissertation? Do you feel isolated? Are you stuck? Are you worried about finishing?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you should participate in a Dissertation Day! Dissertation
Days are offered on the final Fridays of each month. These writing retreats provide an opportunity for doctoral
students to devote focused time and attention to one goal—making progress on their dissertations. Dissertation
Days provide structured writing time, offer writing-related support and resources and promote community among
dissertation writers. Registration and more information.
GPD Spotlight –Dr. Gary Kohut, Professor of Management and Director,
MBA Program, Belk College of Business.
1. How long have you been at UNC Charlotte?
I have been at UNC Charlotte since 1983.
2. How long have you been a Program Director?
I have been Director of the MBA Program since 2010.
3. What do you like best about your role as a Graduate Program Director?
As Director of the MBA Program I enjoy, with the support of key stakeholders, shaping the vision and
mission of the program. Serving as a point of contact for existing and prospective graduate students,
faculty, and other administrators, the Director must embrace and lead dialogue among constituencies
within the program, at UNC Charlotte, and the business community within the Charlotte region and
beyond. I also enjoy working collegially with existing faculty to establish and lead a program of high
quality, high effectiveness, and high engagement with the business community.
4. What are some of the challenges you face in your role as GPD?
Being a nationally ranked part-time MBA program, we seek to provide students with the knowledge,
skills, and tactics that will have an immediate impact in their workplace. However, as the market for
MBA degrees becomes increasingly complex and fragmented, predicting application numbers has become
more of an art than a science. In addition, we face challenging times reflected by an increasingly
competitive MBA jobs market, resource constraints, flat or shrinking budgets, increasing student
demands, shifting student demographics, and new market threats and disruptions.
Another challenge is to respond to changing student needs with respect to the services we provide. We
have expanded our personal advising efforts as we convey to students how valuable they are in providing
an enriching educational experience. We have also augmented student networking opportunities, both
domestically and globally, through Evisors, a career advisor network.
A third challenge is comprised of applicants seeking quicker completion of the MBA degree. This has
caused us to examine our prerequisites as well as adopt an accelerated option within the program.
5. What are some the important things going on in your program now?
A vast majority of MBA programs across the country have modified their curricula to emphasize applied
and action-based learning, global content, program flexibility, and interdisciplinary courses. In response
to our continual quality improvement efforts, we have added new concentrations in the program such as
Business Analytics, Energy, and Quantitative Methods for Business. We have also formed and
strengthened dual degree programs such as the MBA in Global Business and Strategy with our partner,
EGADE, the graduate business school of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, an MBA/JD with the
Charlotte School of Law, an MBA/Master of Health Administration, and an MBA/Master of Arts in Latin
American Studies. This is only the beginning as I see additional concentrations and partnerships being
developed to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace.
6. Is there any advice you¹d give to a new GPD?
I believe that it is essential that new GPDs enjoy what they do. Clearly, their focus must be on the actions
and outcomes connected to their respective programs. They need to be able to balance a mix of leading,
coaching and inspiring with a blend of carrots, sticks and appreciation to accomplish their objectives.
Requisite skills include possessing energy and drive and being highly effective communicators who are
able to inspire students, faculty, staff, and program partners toward achieving program goals.