Graduate School Newsletter

October 2024

Important Announcements

GradCat 360 Wellness Week: Nourish to Flourish

October 7th-11th is Wellness Week at theGraduate School! This year’s theme is Nourish to Flourish, aiming to highlight inexpensive, accessible, and nutritious food resources to our graduate students. Please join us at our FREE events (details below) and look out for reminder emails throughout the week!

Tuesday, October 8^th, 6-7PM

Cooking with Registered Dietitian Kaitlyn Schlangen – Make a recipe with MSU’s Registered Dietitian and take home supplies to make it on your own.

Thursday, October 10^th, 5-7PM

Grad Student Community Dinner at Rendezvous– No agenda, just dinner with other grad students, on us!

Did You Know? Requirements for Graduate Degrees

Committee Selection + Program of Study (POS)

The Graduate School requires all graduate students to select their graduate committee and then submit a Program of Study (POS) near the start of their degree. First, students need to select their committee and officially submit this information to the Grad School via MyInfo. Then, students submit their Program of Study (POS) via MyInfo. A POS is a contract between the student, their committee, and the Grad School about what classes and other requirements the student needs to fulfill in order to earn their degree. For more information, please see our Program of Study & Committee Forms on the Grad School website or contact [email protected].

Graduation Application

If you submitted your graduation application for this semester, please confirm that your DegreeWorks indicates that you are a "degree candidate." If you submitted your grad app but do not see "degree candidate" listed, please contact [email protected].

Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) Formatting

The MSU Graduate School requires that all students who are writing a formal thesis or dissertation conform to standard formatting guidelines before they graduate. For students graduating in Fall 2024, the deadline to have your ETD formatting APPROVED (not just submitted) is Friday, December 6, 2024, at 5PM. All formatting requirements and deadlines, as well as step-by-step formatting guides, can be found on the ETD website. The Grad School also hosts presentations and drop-in help hours for ETD formatting, although these are not required in order to successfully format your document.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Oct. 21 – Priority registration opens for spring semester.
Nov. 11 – Veterans Day (no classes, offices closed).
Nov. 13 – Last day to drop classes with a "W" grade.
Nov. 25-29 – Fall Break (no classes, offices closed 11/28-11/29).

Funding and fellowships graphic

Funding & Fellowships

Identify Scholarships and Research Funding for Your Graduate Education!

The MSU Graduate School maintains a Funding & Fellowships webpage listing various ways you may find funding throughout your time at MSU.

The University of Illinois has an excellent Fellowship Finder featuring awards that are open to grad students from any university. It features several filters to aid your search.

The National Research Council postdoctoral program is used by federal agencies across the country to support postdoc searches. This is a great place to look when you are close to finishing your PhD and the salaries are quite good. Quarterly application deadlines.

For more funding opportunities, visit MSU's Research Funding Opportunities and the MSU Graduate School's Funding and Fellowships webpage.

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Workshops & Events

Fall 2024 Career Fair

Wednesday, October 2nd and Thursday, October 3rd

The Fall 2024 Career Fair will host over 170 employers that are looking for graduate students! MSU Career Fairs are a fantastic way to introduce yourself to hundreds of employers who are interested in you. See the AYCSS Career Fair website for a full schedule and tips on being prepared to take full advantage of this amazing opportunity.

Fall 2024 Faculty Symposium

Friday, October 25^th | Noon-2PM | NAH Inspiration Hall

The goal of the Faculty Symposium is to feature exemplary practices in pedagogy, classroom technology, teaching innovations, and the teaching-learning mindset furthered by our mutual understanding of faculty teaching practices, needs, and opportunities as educators, and to shape the future of instructional innovation on our campus. Grad students will earn credits towards the teaching certification through the Center for Faculty Excellence. This symposium may also be particularly helpful to graduate students who are TAs, regardless of certification goals!

Professional Development: GradCat 360

GradCat 360 is a comprehensive professional development program for graduate students at Montana State University. It is a series of programs and events designed by the Graduate School and departments across campus that center around nine focus areas. These areas are tailored to help students cultivate a unified set of skills and knowledge for educational success and professional preparation.

Check out our GradCat 360 Event Calendar, specifically curated for Graduate Students. We are constantly updating the GradCat 360 calendar with workshops and events that are uniquely useful for graduate students.

MSU Writing Center

The MSU Writing Center offers ongoing support to students working on graduate-level writing.