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Thesis/Dissertation Assistantships

Spring and summer 2010 semesters

Nomination deadline: Review of nominations will begin on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009

The Graduate School is pleased to have identified funding for a limited number of Thesis/Dissertation Assistantships for master’s and doctoral scholars who have completed all program requirements, who have successfully defended their thesis/dissertation proposals, who are working full time to defend, who plan to graduate by the end of the spring or summer 2010 semester, and who will not be receiving graduate student support for the spring/summer 2010. Please note that any student who is already fully funded will not be eligible for consideration.

Each Thesis/Dissertation Assistantship recipient will receive a stipend ($5,625 for spring 2010 assistantships/$3,750 for summer 2010 assistantships/$9,375 for spring/summer 2010 assistantships) which the Graduate School will disburse on the 1st and 16th of each month for the period of appointment. Tuition support (no fees) will be credited to the student account upon verification of enrollment in, with intention to complete for credit, a minimum of 9 credit hours of graduate coursework for the spring 2010 semester and 3 credit hours of graduate coursework for the summer 2010 semester. Please note, because of end-of-fiscal year processing deadlines, in order to receive summer tuition support, students must be registered on time (i.e., not retroactively) for a class that begins before June 22, 2010.

Qualifying students must be nominated to the Graduate School by their program directors. Nominations will be evaluated on a competitive basis of scholarship, methodology, clarity of style and presentation, strength of recommendations and academic history. Nominations and all supporting materials for the Thesis/Dissertation Assistantship must be submitted electronically as soon as possible to Dr. Sherry Sandkam, Associate Dean, Graduate School, at ssandkam@vcu.edu. Review of nominations will begin on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 and will continue until available funds have been awarded.

Please submit the following materials as attachments to a single e-mail, preferably as a single PDF document for each student nomination.

  1. A one- to two-page summary of the thesis/dissertation topic.
  2. A full curriculum vitae.
  3. An e-services copy of the student’s VCU academic history.
  4. Two letters of recommendation, which should be attached as Word documents, along with all other materials, to the single e-mail nomination submitted to Dr. Sandkam.
  5. A transmittal nomination form completed by program director [Word document].

Important note to students who are receiving any type of need-based financial aid: check with your financial aid counselor for an advisement regarding how receipt of this award might impact your financial aid package.

Dessert Bar

The Annual Dessert Bar is back! Get ready for some good food and lots of sugary sweets.

MCV Campus
Tuesday, Dec. 1
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Kontos Building, First Floor

Monroe Park Campus
Wednesday, Dec. 2
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
University Student Commons, Richmond Salons
Please RSVP to lafloyd@vcu.edu so there’s enough for everyone.

USC&A Program for Graduate and Professional Students: Fall 2009-Spring 2010 [PDF]

MCV Campus street vendor lunch guide

Find your next lunch on the MCV Campus with the street vendor guide [PDF]. Special thanks to John T. Stranix, M.D. candidate, class of 2012.

GSA Executive Committee

The results from the GSA Executive Committee elections are in. 

Those still thinking about becoming a representative can fill out an application on the GSA Web site and e-mail them to lafloyd@vcu.edu or powelljp2@vcu.edu. The GSA will be accepting applications for representatives though the summer and beginning of the fall semester. The Representative council should have a minimum of two representatives from each school/college.

Congratulations to:

Executive Committee

Jacob Powell
President

Fatima Yousofi
Vice president

Pragya Surjan
Secretary

Dina El-Mahdy
Treasurer

Keith Dowler
Communications chair

Rosann Peterson
Symposium chair

Representative council

Angelica Bega-Hart
College of Humanities and Science, English

Ryan S. Newcomb
College of Humanities and Science, Wilder School, Public Administration

Jennifer Valentine
College of Humanities and Science, Wilder School, Sociology

Justin Patel
School of Business

Reetika Bhardwaj
School of Medicine, Biochemistry

Tobias Guennel
School of Medicine, Biostatistics

Sheinei Salee
School of Medicine, Microbiology/Immunology

Stephanie Wagner
School of Social Work

SGA Senate

Because of you, grad students Fatima Yousofi and Sara Cox won seats in the recent SGA senatorial election. In fact, out of 60 students running for 25 seats they came in first and fourth.  That is a considerable accomplishment because before this election there were no graduate students in the senate. Your GSA looks forward to working with them and the rest of the SGA Senate on the issues that most concern you. Congratulations Fatima and Sara!

Election results can be viewed online at www.vcusga.com.

Poictesme

Poictesme (pronounced pwa-tem), VCU’s literary and arts journal is seeking to publish new work for its upcoming issue. Poictesme publishes fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, drama, and art by undergraduates, graduates, faculty, staff and former members of the VCU community. Submissions can be sent to pwatem@gmail.com.

For more information, visit http://poictesme.vcustudentmedia.com, or contact the editors at pwatem@gmail.com.

Graduate School Mentorship Program
Graduate School Mentorship Program in the news

VCU Grad Gazette newsletter [PDF]

The Graduate Junction

The Graduate Junction is the first Web site to give graduate researchers an easy way of making contact and communicating with other researchers who share their research interests no matter which department, institution or country they work in.