CTS will discontinue event support and AV equipment rental effective May 15

Effective May 15, 2013, Classroom Technical Services (CTS) event support and AV equipment rental services will be discontinued. This will be the only change in services. CTS remains very invested in the design and installation of classroom presentation systems, as well as dynamic digital signage services.

If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact Wanda Marsolek.

UMSurvey to be decommissioned

Please be advised that UMSurvey will be decommissioned August 2, 2013. In its place, Qualtrics - a more robust and user-friendly survey tool - will be available to University of Minnesota affiliates.

NOTE: You must take action in order to retain data collected in UMSurvey and/or to retain survey questions. Please export the data you wish to retain from UMSurvey and save them as a CSV file before August 2, 2013.

Instructions for how to export your data are available on the UMSurvey "Accessing Your Data" web page under "Exporting Results." A forthcoming transition plan will include how to create a Qualtrics account, access to training, how to migrate some surveys, and how to upload your CSV files.

FERPA tutorial

Do you have a new staff member, or are you looking for a FERPA refresher? Check out the new FERPA tutorial. (Click on the ULearn link to sign in and then enter "FERPA" in the search box.)

If you have questions about FERPA, or if you have a topic you would like to see featured in a future FERPA Q&A, contact Dan Delaney or Tina Falkner.

Graduating Students - Loan Exit Counseling

Students who have applied to graduate this spring will be receiving emails asking them to complete any required loan exit counseling. Any questions or concerns should be directed to Student Account Assistance at stdtloan@umn.edu or 612-625-8007.

Faculty Role List Database

The Faculty Role List Database went live on April 8 and links to the database are available on the Staff and Faculty tab as well as the Students tab on the Graduate School website. If changes (e.g. additions, deletions, amendments) need to be made to faculty information, staff with edit access may update the database as needed by logging into the database and using the "add a faculty member" button or clicking on the name for a faculty member to update roles or to remove from the list. Note that email notifications are now active.

New Associate Dean for Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator

Leslie Schiff recently accepted the position as the new Associate Dean for Curriculum for the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE). One of Associate Dean Schiff's main goals is to increase the four-year graduation rate. She will also be responsible for connecting curricular efforts and information across OUE units, across colleges, and with other campus offices that serve undergraduate students.

Additionally, a new Assessment Coordinator was hired last month. Steven J. Hawks will serve as a campus-wide resource on undergraduate assessment and will work with faculty, staff, and administrators to coordinate assessment efforts of Twin Cities undergraduate student learning. He will serve as a key member of the Undergraduate Assessment Executive Committee and the Undergraduate Assessment Steering Committee.

Both positions will report to Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education Bob McMaster.

Repeat guidelines for students and Scholastic Committees

A PDF has been posted on the One Stop website that contains guidelines for undergraduate students petitioning to enroll in a course for a third time. These guidelines reflect the University's policy on repeating a course, which states students may repeat a U of M course or its equivalent once.

A PDF has also been posted for Scholastic Committees. Questions regarding this process or the policy should be directed to the student's college advising office.

How to find out more about ESUP

There are several ways to remain informed about Enterprise Systems Upgrade Program (ESUP) progress and news.

Subscribe to the ESUP blog
Information will be shared on the ESUP blog frequently. Posts can be directly delivered to your inbox by entering your email address in the "Subscribe by Email" window at upgrade.umn.edu. Once your subscription is activated, you will receive an email alerting you to any new ESUP posts late in the afternoon on the day they are published. If there is no post, you won't receive an email.

Sign up for the weekly ESUP Student update
If you'd prefer a weekly email with updates from both the ESUP blog and the Student work stream, you can be added to the distribution list by contacting Kate Sophia .

Join the Student Records Stakeholder Engagement group
Those interested in Student Records topics can join the Student Records Stakeholder Engagement Google group to receive details on Town Hall meetings and invitations to occasional surveys about topics being discussed in the Interactive Design & Prototyping (IDP) process.

Graduate Degree Plan best practice sessions

These best practice sessions served as a formal kick-off for transitioning review and accountability of the graduate degree plan from Graduate Student Services & Progress to programs and colleges. The formal transition will start July 1.

Change of status (adding a master's while pursuing a PhD)

Students on the PhD track must officially be active in a master's degree plan in order for them to initiate their master's final examination committee. The student must submit a degree plan for their MA or MS as early as possible as to not delay the completion of their degree. If the master's degree is in the same major as the PhD, the student must submit a graduate degree plan. If the student is completing a MA or MS in another program outside of their major, they must complete a change of status. If students are pursing the master's degree on the way to PhD, programs must assign an adviser for the master's degree, even if it is the same adviser for the PhD.

Faculty Role List database

The deadline to enter data was Friday, March 29. However, data can still be entered, but please email grad-wfg@umn.edu when you have completed entering the data. The database will be rolled out April 8. If data has not been entered, the student will see a message indicating the data was not entered and to contact the graduate program for more information.

2013 Doctoral Research Showcase

More than sixty recipients of prestigious doctoral fellowships presented their research in a casual and conversational environment at the 2013 Doctoral Research Showcase on April 9 from 12-2 p.m. Folks had the opportunity to interact with them one-on-one and learn how their work benefits students, scholars, and communities across the state, the nation, and the world. Visit http://z.umn.edu/drs for more information.