10. Graduate Education

All departments with graduate programs have graduate faculty and Graduate Program Directors (GPDs).

Graduate Faculty

Members of the graduate faculty are appointed by departmental leadership and usually serve a five-year term.  Graduate faculty are selected based on their demonstrated ability to teach graduate students effectively, complete high quality creative work and to conduct scholarly research and direct the research of graduate students.  There are 4 member categories for graduate faculty: Regular, Associate, Emeritus and Administrative.  

Regular members are tenured/tenure-track faculty on campus at UNC Charlotte. 

Associate members are all other faculty not eligible for tenure (Lecturers, Adjunct, Clinical Professors, Research Associates, Visiting faculty,  etc.). 

Emeritus faculty are appointed by the Chancellor; these appointments are for life and can carry the same level of participation as Regular members. 

Administrative appointments are designated to a small group of individuals on campus such as the Chancellor, Provost, and  Deans. 

For more information on graduate faculty appointments, see:
Graduate School > Faculty and Staff Resources > Faculty Appointment

Graduate Program Directors (GPDs)

Graduate Program Directors (GPDs) or Coordinators are members of graduate faculty who are responsible for administration of the graduate program(s) in their department and serve as the primary point of contact with the Graduate School.  Although there are responsibilities that may fall under the role of GPD, many will also utilize other faculty, staff, or students in the department for other tasks (recruitment, admission committees, etc.).  

Roles and responsibilities of GPDs include the following:

Recruitment

There are many events throughout the year that GPDs or other graduate faculty/staff may want to participate in related to recruiting.  They can include, but are not limited to: the CLAS Graduate Programs Virtual Showcase, Graduate School Recruitment Fair (typically in fall, although, not in Fall 2020), Career Center Fairs (STEM and Career & Internship) in the fall and spring, and conferences (program or discipline specific, dedicated to underrepresented groups, etc.).  

Websites

The GPD plays an active role in the website content for their program(s).  Students often report first learning about a program from Google or the UNC Charlotte website.  The following are a few examples of places to ensure information is up-to-date:

• Program(s) on departments’ websites
• The Graduate School’s graduate programs inventory at Graduate Admissions > Graduate Programs.  This can be updated at the GPDNet site and is one of most visited sites the Graduate School has, so it is beneficial to have information that would be appealing to a prospective student.

Admissions

• Reviewing applications in eGRAD and effectively communicating with applicants about their status (and your review period or decision date).  
• Follow-up with applicants (in the eGRAD system and otherwise) with Graduate Program Director or faculty providing timely communication with prospects is a vital part of the admission process.  
• If changes have been made to a program’s admission requirements (e.g. no longer requiring the GRE), a GPD or other graduate faculty should communicate the change to prospects and any other applicants who many have an “In Progress” application in the eGRAD system.  This change may encourage them to complete the application to the program.  

Enrollment Projections & Planning 

• Enrollment Projections: GPDs are requested to supply enrollment projections each year in the fall for the following academic years as to what they anticipate their enrollment to be for the next 3 years.  This is submitted through The Graduate School system on the GPDNet site under the program dashboard.  It is typically due by around November 1st for the following academic years.  
• Plans, on the other hand, are used by GPDs to document strategies for their graduate program(s).  Previous plans live here as well so that GPDs can see what goals and objectives the GPD of their program previously submitted.  

Advising Graduate Students

• The GPD generally advises graduate students on the courses to take and milestones necessary to complete their degree.  Progress to degree completion can be tracked through DegreeWorks.  Early Entry approvals, petitions for a course substitutions, or other petitions are generally approved by the GPD and can be managed online, see: Academic Petition.

Funding and Assistantships

There are variations in funding sources from program to program, but oftentimes the GPD is responsible for the management of graduate student funding. Funding for students can come from a variety of places, which can make it challenging to follow. Here are a few examples of where funding for your students may come from:

1. The Graduate School.  Nominations for students are submitted through the Graduate School Electronic Graduate Payment System (eGPS)
2. External Funding – grants approved for faculty.
3. Fellowships
4. Financial Aid

Institutional Research Analytics

More information about college admissions, enrollment and graduation for CLAS programs is available from UNC Charlotte Institutional Research Analytics, see:

Admission, Enrollment, And Graduation (Degrees Awarded)

For more information about this dashboard, contact Alaina Names-Mattefs at anames@uncc.edu.