Grad Links

Subscribe to Grad Links
Unsubscribe from Grad Links

April 14, 2008

Grad Links is a biweekly news bulletin from the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with news for graduate students and the faculty and staff who work with them. Please share this newsletter with graduate students, faculty, and staff. Here are the announcements as of Monday, April 14, 2008.

***Extended Thesis Office Hours

9:00-11:30 a.m. and 1:00-4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Beginning Monday, April 7, the Thesis Office will offer student walk-in hours in the morning, in addition to its regular afternoon hours. Extended hours will continue through Friday, May 2.

SPEAK Appeals

Spring 2008 SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) Appeals will be heard by the Graduate College SPEAK Appeals Panel on Thursday and Friday, May 1-2, 2008.

All SPEAK Appeals must be requested and scheduled through the department that is seeking to appoint the student as a TA. Students are not permitted to request or schedule their own SPEAK Appeals with the Graduate College. Please keep in mind that a faculty member must be present during the student's SPEAK Appeal. Questions regarding SPEAK results and the International Teaching Assistants' (ITA) orientation program should be directed to the Center for Teaching Excellence at 333-3370.

Fulbright-Hays Fellowship Workshop

Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 3:00-4:30 p.m., 407 Illini Union

The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, provides opportunities to graduate students to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. Research focusing on Western European countries will not be funded.

This workshop for students interested in the Fulbright-Hays Program offers an overview as well as application tips. For more information about the Fulbright-Hays Program, www.ed.gov/programs/iegpsddrap/.

Ready for Commencement?

If you are looking ahead to Commencement on May 11th, let us first congratulate you! For information about eligibility, registering, and ordering academic attire, visit www.grad.uiuc.edu/commencement/.

Call for Presenters and Facilitators

The Center for Teaching Excellence seeks presenters for two pre-semester orientation programs for new teaching assistants and international teaching assistants:

--The 2008 Graduate Academy for College Teaching (August 18 and 19) is for TAs and ITAs with classroom responsibilities.
--The 2008 Graduate Symposium on Grading and Office Hours (August 20) is for those without classroom responsibilities.

Faculty, academic professionals and experienced teaching assistants are invited to design engaging concurrent sessions about teaching and/or to facilitate small group sessions on foundational teaching topics. Deadline for submissions is May 12, 2008.

For details, please visit www.cte.uiuc.edu/Did/Tas/Aug08CallforPresenters.pdf.

Contact Sandy Finley at sjfinley@uiuc.edu or 333-3370 with questions.

Digital Historian Series: Using Digital Tools for Archival Research

April 23, 3:00-4:30 p.m., Room 295 Undergraduate Library

Is your research taking you to archival collections housed across the country or around the globe? Wondering how you'll manage to get the most out of your short visit? Some scholars are taking advantage of digital photography and other tools to quickly capture data, but there are things you should know before heading out of town.

Join experienced scholars and staff from the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library for our first workshop on using digital tools for archival research. This workshop is designed for graduate students, faculty or other scholars interested in using digital photography in their archival research efforts. Topics will include a discussion of the pros and cons of using digital tools in archival research; tips for planning your trip to an archive; and information on hardware, software, data back-up, and storage. There will also be a hands-on component where participants will have the opportunity to practice photographing a variety of archival documents. Be sure to bring your digital camera if you can!

If you can't make it to the workshop, check out our new research guide at
http://uiuc.libguides.com/techives.
Registration is not required but is encouraged. Please sign up at:
http://uiuc.libguides.com/techives.

Upcoming Deadlines

The Graduate College Events and Deadlines page consolidates all of our calendar information into one, easy-to-read source. Please visit it at www.grad.uiuc.edu/events/, or click on Events & Deadlines under Features on the main Graduate College page.

FRI, April 25:

Last day to elect credit/no-credit option for a second half-session course or to change from credit/no-credit option to a regular grade

Last day to drop a second half-session course

Last day to add name to May degree list

Last day to deposit May master's theses

WED, April 30:

Last day of Instruction

Useful Links

Assistantship Clearinghouse - www.grad.uiuc.edu/clearinghouse/
Events and Deadlines - www.grad.uiuc.edu/events/
Fellowship Opportunities - https://www.grad.uiuc.edu/fellowship/
Graduate Handbook - www.grad.uiuc.edu/gradhandbook/
Guide to Graduate Life at Illinois - www.grad.uiuc.edu/survivalguide/
Past Grad Links - www.grad.uiuc.edu/pubs/gradlinks/
Thesis Handbook - www.grad.uiuc.edu/thesis/thesishandbook/

To unsubscribe to Grad Links, send an email to listserv@uiuc.edu with a subject unsubscribe and the command SIGNOFF grad_grad_links-l as the body of the message.

For additional information, contact the Graduate College at (217) 333-0035 or visit the Web at www.grad.uiuc.edu.