POLICY

THE GRADUATE COORDINATOR

Role

The following is a general overview of the Graduate Coordinator's position; more specific duties and responsibilities are determined by the department chair or appropriate administrator, and may vary from program to program. The complete policy on graduate coordinators is included in the Academic Policy Manual, Policy on Graduate Program Coordinators.

The graduate coordinator works with the department chair and program faculty to

• direct and coordinate the graduate program
• lead marketing and program recruitment efforts
• coordinate procedures for admission or denial of graduate program applicants
• provide initial graduate student advising
• maintain departmental graduate student records and track all students in the program
• handle graduate student petitions and appeals, lead graduate program planning and curriculum development, and coordinate program review and assessment.

Important: The Graduate Program Coordinator/Director's signature is required on all forms filed with the Division of Graduate Studies. In your absence, the department chair or other designee is given signature authority.

Change of Graduate Coordinator

New and interim appointments must be submitted to the DRGS Office.  You can either drop off the hard copy or route for electronic signatures and email to our office.

Graduate Program Coordinator Assignment Form

GRADUATE FACULTY GROUPS

The Graduate Faculty Group is identified for each graduate degree program in your college/school at the beginning of the academic year. This information is critical for verifying which faculty members are eligible to chair or serve on thesis, project, and comprehensive exam committees. Department chairs update the prior academic year's Graduate Faculty Group, DGS verifies their eligibility according to the Academic Policy, and the college/school dean gives final approval.

The graduate group shall contain no fewer than five (5) full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members with the appropriate degree. Under university policy FERP faculty may provide graduate instruction and serve as a second or third committee member, but should not serve as a chair of the committee or be listed as members of the Graduate Faculty Group.

Briefly, in order to maintain membership in the faculty graduate group, during the preceding four (4) years a member of the graduate faculty

• must be a full-time, tenured or tenure track faculty member;
• must be willing to serve and have served on and/or chaired theses, projects, dissertations, and/or examination committees;
• have taught at least one (1) graduate level course or chaired one (1) thesis, or supervised one (1) graduate student project, or chaired one (1) comprehensive examination committee;
• must show evidence of ongoing scholarly activity and possess expertise specific to the graduate/doctoral program;
• must be recommended in accordance with written program bylaws and have the approval of the department chair and college/school dean.

Policy on Graduate Faculty Groups for Master's Degree Programs

Policy on Graduate Faculty Groups for Doctoral Degree Programs

TEACHING ASSOCIATES / GRADUATE ASSISTANTS

Teaching Associateships (TAs) and Graduate Assistantships (GAs) provide part-time university employment for graduate students, offering professional growth opportunities through teaching and nonteaching experiences.

Paperwork

The “Teaching Associate & Graduate Assistant” nomination form must be filed with the Academic Personnel office.

The student must

• be currently enrolled in at least 6 units of graduate study in the department where the teaching associateship/graduate assistantship is to be held;
• hold a minimum of conditional classified standing in the discipline;
• be making significant progress toward the degree each semester;
• have a 3.0 minimum grade point average; and
• have an approved assignment ( note the limit of six WTUs or 20 hours/ week).

Procedures

• Nominations for appointments originate in the department.
• Nomination forms are signed by the department chair and sent to the college/school dean for signature.
• The college/school dean forwards nominations to the Academic Personnel office (M/S TA55) for initial processing.
• The dean of the Division of Graduate Studies reviews and approves eligibility of all nominations and returns nomination forms to the Academic Personnel office for the associate vice president’s final approval.
• The student is contacted by Academic Personnel for signature on the nomination form, which is then forwarded to payroll.

Policy on Teaching Associates

Policy on Graduate Assistants