Student Newsletter - November 2023
Welcome to the CCAS Graduate Student Newsletter! Designed to keep you up to date with news and events, policies and processes, and all things for CCAS graduate students!
Graduate Student Newsletter Archive
November 2023
The Student Services Team is here to advise, guide, and provide you with resources to aid in your success, as well as help you navigate university policies and procedures. Our office is located in Smith 118, and we are open during normal business hours on Monday – Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. You can schedule a virtual, phone, or in-person appointment with your Student Services Coordinator and our Career Counselors.
For our November newsletter, we have the following topics:
- Fall 2023 Reminders
- ETD Deadlines
- Career Corner
- Upcoming Student Events
- Funding/Employment Opportunities
- Events and Programs around Campus
Fall 2023 Reminders
Fall Graduation Deadline
The deadline for all degree-seeking and certificate students to apply for Fall 2023 graduation is November 15. All students who plan on completing their requirements in Fall 2023 need to apply to graduate through GWeb. Students must be registered in order to apply to graduate.
Spring 2024 Registration
Spring class registration begins November 9! Review the Schedule of Classes as you prepare for course registration. Important dates for Spring 2024 registration can be found on the Registrar’s website. We encourage you to follow the tips below for successful spring registration:
- Work with your Director of Graduate Studies to identify potential spring courses that align with your academic plan.
- If you would like to register for a course outside your department, you should seek approval from the respective department. Example: A non-Data Science student interested in completing a Data Science course must receive permission from the Data Science department.
- If you wish to take a leave of absence, please submit the leave of absence form.
- Clear any holds, including transcript holds, that may prevent you from registering. To view your holds, log in to the GWeb Information System:
- Click on the “Student Record and Registration” folder
- Next, click on “Student Records Information Menu”
- Finally, click on “View Administrative Holds”
- If you will complete your degree requirements in Spring 2024, then also apply to graduate in GWeb after you register.
Important Reminder about Official Transcripts
All new students who have not submitted official transcripts as required in their letter of admission should do so before registration begins this month. These documents were due at the beginning of the Fall 2023 term. A hold has been placed on your record and it will prevent you from registering for Spring if all required transcripts are not received. The College’s Policy on official transcripts required as part of the admissions process is available on our Official Transcript Requirements page. We accept transcripts via mail, secure e-delivery, or in-person, provided the document(s) are still sealed in the original envelope from your institution.
Please plan ahead to deliver these documents before registration opens.
Paper Mail:
If mailing your transcripts, please send them to:
The George Washington University
Mail Service L101
CCAS Office of Graduate Studies
2025 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
Digital:
We also accept transcripts sent via a secure e-scrip delivery service to [email protected]. An email from a school representative is not secure and is not acceptable as official.
Hand Delivery:
If you hand deliver your transcripts in their original unopened envelope(s), please deliver them to the CCAS Graduate Student Services office in Smith Hall 118.
Current Address
Please ensure that the current mailing address the University has on file for you is correct. You can view the address and make changes in GWeb.
Direct Deposit
If you have an award that contains either a GA salary or fellowship stipend, we recommend signing up for direct deposit for your convenience. Information on the sign-up process is available on the Human Resources website.
Academic Policy Resources
Students are responsible for adhering to CCAS and University policies and procedures relevant to the pursuit of their graduate degree, including those published in the University Bulletin, the CCAS Bulletin, and the CCAS Graduate Student Handbook.
CCAS Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Support Services
We want to remind our students that the CCAS Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is here to provide guidance and to support you as challenges across the world continue to impact us in varied ways. Please do not hesitate to reach out to DEI Director André Culbreath or DEI Program Manager Mya' Lesley-Drakeford should the need arise. They can be contacted at [email protected]. More information can be found on the CCAS DEI website.
ETD Deadlines
- November 13 - Submit the Dissertation Examination Defense Form
- November 20 - Pre-clearance by CCAS - Completed in 2 steps:
- DegreeMAP reflects all degree requirements completed except the dissertation and dissertation research courses
- Attended an ETD dissertation formatting/publishing workshop
- December 1 - Dissertation defense deadline
- December 5 - ETD form due and submitted final, approved, post-defense, electronic dissertation to the ProQuest site
- December 8 - Final, approved dissertation containing all post-defense revisions and required formatting is approved by University ETD administrator
- December 3 - Submit the ETD Access Approval Form and upload the final, approved thesis to the ProQuest site
- December 8 at 5:00 pm - Submit all requested formatting revisions and receive the approval of the University ETD Administrator
Career Corner
All CCAS graduate students have access to one-on-one career advising to gain support with resumes, cover letters, networking, interviewing, and many other areas of professional development. Be sure to utilize this critical resource today by using Handshake to schedule your advising session with Career Counselor Johnette Ruffner-Ceaser, Ed.D. To learn more about the career services available to you, please visit the Career Services website. (Note: The Trachtenberg School and Data Sciences program have their own dedicated career counselors.)
Career Spotlight: Interviewing
Interviewing for any job or internship can be very stressful. Regardless of the type of interview (e.g., phone, virtual, or in-person) or the style of interview (e.g., asynchronous, one-on-one, group, case, or behavioral), taking the time to prepare is critically important. One way to do that is to do a virtual mock interview using the Interview Prep online system available via Handshake. Along with a large number of training materials, Interview Prep records students’ answers to questions that can be saved or shared with others.
Here is one tip for effectively answering interview questions. Tip #1: Use the S.T.A.R method. Interviewers are often looking for answers that give a complete, focused picture of a candidate's experiences. The STAR method will help you do that.
- Situation – Begin with a brief description of the situation (who, what, where, when, and how). Be as specific as possible to give enough detail to understand without providing too much information.
- Task – Explain the task or goal toward which you were working. Highlight any challenges or constraints you may have faced (example: deadlines, costs, uneven distribution of work, etc.).
- Action – Describe the specific actions that you personally took to complete the task. Highlight the action steps as well as the competencies you learned (leadership, organization, problem-solving).
- Result – Finish by sharing the result(s) and focus on: What happened? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What would you change? If possible, include numbers to quantify results.
GW Career Center
Schedule an appointment for a free professional headshot and the chance to win a gift card!
In need of a professional headshot? The GW Career Center has you covered! Schedule an appointment with this link or at the GW Career Services webpage for our free headshot booth located in Suite 505 of the University Student Center
After you receive your headshot, you will have fantastic photographs to help your professional profiles and job applications stand out. And- you will be entered for the chance to win a gift card from one of many beloved restaurant locations around campus. So don’t wait- schedule your appointment today!
Upcoming Student Events
Please note the following November events. To view future events, please visit the Current Graduate Student Events page.
- Fall 2023 PhD ETD Workshop II - November 14, 4:00- 5:00pm
- The Next Step: Academic CVs and Cover Letters - November 16, 4:00- 5:00pm
Funding/Employment Opportunities
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS)
Deadline: November 14 2023
The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) is a fully-funded overseas language and cultural immersion summer program (eight to ten weeks) for American undergraduate and graduate students. The program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Students of diverse disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. You must be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this opportunity.
Languages:
- No Prior Study Required: Azerbaijani; Bangla; Hindi; Indonesian; Persian; Punjabi; Swahili; Turkish; Urdu
- One Year of Study Required: Arabic; Korean; Portuguese; Russian
- Two Years of Study Required: Chinese; Japanese
Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF)
Spring Semester Deadline: November 15, 2023
The GW Career Services Council established the Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF) to encourage GW students to pursue high-quality unpaid internships that foster career exploration and enhance their academic program while reducing the financial challenges associated with unpaid internships.
The Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF) Spring 2024 application period is fast approaching! The application will open on November 1st and close on November 15th.
Facilitated by the university's Career Services Council and funded through the generous support of alumni, parents, and other donors, KACIF provides grants ranging from $750 to $3,000 to GW undergraduate and graduate students pursuing domestic and international internships that are necessarily unpaid.
Interested students can go to the KACIF website to review more information, including eligibility requirements and application instructions. Applications will be accepted through November 15, 2023. In order to get funding into successful applicants’ hands by the start of their internships, there will be NO application deadline extensions.
Summer 2024 Paid Internship with the Federal Government
Deadline: November 24, 2023
Managed by the Partnership for Public Service, the Future Leaders in Public Service Internship Program helps bring diverse young talent to government and offers students the opportunity to apply their educational training to work at a federal agency. The program is actively recruiting its summer 2024 cohort to join the Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce as paid interns. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from across disciplines are welcome to apply. The deadline to apply is November 24, 2023.
National Park Service is Hiring
Deadline: December 1, 2023
The National Park Service Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is hiring a cohort of 16 Postdoctoral Fellows to begin in August 2024. The 16 fellows will complete original research projects and develop new interpretive and educational programming, helping the agency connect more people to places that matter by incorporating new sources and perspectives into its storytelling. For more information, visit the National Park Foundation website.
SSRC-Arnold Ventures Criminal Justice Innovation Fellowships
The Arnold Ventures Criminal Justice Innovation Fellowships will support five post-doctoral fellows who are pursuing policy-relevant causal research designed to innovate and evaluate cost-effective and scalable policy solutions that advance the efficacy and equity of criminal justice practices.
Award amount: $120,000 per year, with full benefits and annual salary increases.
Deadline: January 15, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.
Learn more here.
Events and Programs around Campus
“A Conversation with the First Native American Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Keith Harper"
The National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) invites you to their public program, A Conversation with the First Native American Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Keith Harper, which will take place on November 15 from 12:15 to 1:00 at the museum. Ambassador Harper will be joined in conversation by Erin Barclay, the Senior Official for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. At the conclusion of the program, guests will be invited to view the moccasins that Ambassador Harper generously donated to the museum. If you are interested in attending, please register via this link.
Call for Papers on Digital Democracy
Georgetown's grad student-run journal, Democracy & Society, is now accepting submissions for their 21st Volume on issues related to Digital Democracy. The journal features pieces from graduate students and recent grads from across the world, elevating issues at the forefront of policymakers' and practitioners' work. Democracy & Society welcomes submissions relating to timely topics such as institutions and digital technology, digital platforms and civil society, and eGovernance, eDemocracy, and eParticipation.
The deadline to submit is December 22nd, 2023. Submissions must be emailed to DemocracyAndSociety@gmail.
Students Finding Common Ground: US-China Projects in an Era of Strategic Competition
The US-China Education Trust will bring students, faculty mentors, and advisors from George Washington University and Beijing’s Tsinghua University together in small groups of 8-10 students from both schools. They will work together to develop a Common Ground project proposal and complete the final project in a chosen field. Projects may focus on education, energy, environment, food security, public health, agriculture or another chosen area where cooperation can thrive in an era of competition and tension between the two countries.
Each student group will complete a project that develops details of a collaborative US-China project in the chosen field. The project can take the form of a briefing paper, PowerPoint presentation, or multimedia presentation.
Students must be willing to attend approximately 5-6 group meetings throughout the spring 2024 semester with fellow students as well as GW and Tsinghua faculty mentors and advisors (approximately two hours each). Professors or small group advisors may also suggest a small amount of project-related reading material. While there is no academic credit for this project, worthy final projects may be presented virtually at USCET’s American Studies Network conference in China in fall 2024 and/or published on the USCET website.
This program is open to undergraduate or graduate GW students from the Elliot School or Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. All Common Ground project sessions, meetings, and related work will be hosted virtually. Local group members may opt to meet in person between full group sessions. All project discussions and the final project will be done in English.
Interested students should apply on the USCET website by November 27, 2023 at 11:59pm.
Upcoming Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Seminars
Equitable Research Collaborations: Building Partnerships with Integrity
Monday, November 13, 2023; 5:00 - 6:00 PM ET
Online via Zoom
Guest presenter, Roxana Lescano, JD, from Peru, will provide valuable insights on promoting equity and fairness in research collaborations, particularly those involving partners from low- and middle-income countries and underserved communities, engaging attendees in discussion around how to ensure trustworthy research through equitable partnerships. Learn more and register to attend.
Responsible Data Management: Exploring Grey Zones
Friday, November 17, 2023; 3:00 - 4:00 PM ET
Online via Zoom
Presenter: Jun Panee, PhD, Associate Researcher, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii.
Attendees will acquire an understanding of federal sponsor requirements and guidelines for data management, including data analysis, collection, dissemination and storage; FAIR principles as good practice in data management; recognize the need to balance open access with protection of privacy and confidentiality; and explore “grey zones” related to managing data in a research context. Learn more and register to attend.
Nominations for 2024 Faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards and Honors
Each year, GW honors excellence in teaching, research, and service among faculty members and graduate teaching assistants by awarding the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prizes for Teaching, Scholarship (Research), and Service; the Morton A. Bender Teaching Awards; the Philip J. Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards; the Office of the Vice Provost for Research Faculty Awards; the Writing in the Disciplines (WID) Awards, and the GW Inventor of the Year Award. As a graduate student, please consider submitting 2024 faculty and graduate teaching assistant nominations.
Please note that nomination forms for all awards must be submitted by Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. Supporting materials must be submitted by Friday, Jan. 8, 2024. For nomination forms and specific information pertaining to each award, please click on the links below, or visit facultyaffairs.gwu.edu/
Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prizes:
Morton A. Bender Teaching Awards
Philip J. Amsterdam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards
Office of the Vice Provost for Research Faculty Awards:
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Distinguished Career Awards
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Early Career Awards
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Research Mentorship Award
Writing in the Disciplines Awards:
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Joseph P. Dymond WID Distinguished Teaching Award
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WID Best Assignment Design Award
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WID Distinguished Graduate Student Teaching Award
