Hello everyone!
I hope the very early spring is going well for each of you. I’m writing this letter to all Indigenous Studies and Cross-Cultural Studies PhD and MA students, as a way to evaluate your progress within the program as we near the end of another academic year. I will also provide a few reminders at the end.
As you all know by now, the university is facing a massive budget cut that could include 41% of the statewide system’s annual budget. Though following legislative negotiations this will likely be reduced, it will still be a 1/5 cut even if lowered to half of the governor’s requested amount. This is likely to lead to changes in organization, and we will deal with it as best as we can. Reorganization of departments and colleges is likely, but I have been reassured that the PhD and MA in Indigenous Studies, and the MA in Cross-Cultural Studies, will not be eliminated. So please keep moving along in your PhD or MA work, and we will keep you all informed of any changes that might affect your degree work.
I’ve been repeatedly told by the leadership here at the university that no voice is heard more clearly and strongly than those of students, so please, if you’re so motivated, contact your legislator and inform them of your opinion regarding the massive budget cuts to the university, public education, and healthcare in Alaska.
Now, on to more practical matters, here is some information that should help you to organize yourself and your progress in the program:
·
Graduate Advisory Committee: By the end of your first semester in the program, you should be in the process of putting together your graduate advisory committee (see Appointment of Graduate Advisory Committee form:
www.uaf.edu/gradsch/forms). This is most important for MA students, since your program is 2-3 years, on average. All students—MAs and PhDs—should have their graduate committee in place by the time of their first Annual Review (by every May 15
th).
If you have been in the program for more than a year and have not established a Graduate Advisory Committee, you are far behind and not receiving the guidance and mentorship you are due as a graduate student.
·
Graduate Study Plan: By the end of your first semester in the program (at the very latest), you should have your Graduate Study Plan (GSP) in place with your Graduate Advisory Committee and the Graduate School. The GSP is your plan for progress, and it cannot be finalized without the overview (and signatures) of your Graduate Advisory Committee, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Without a GSP in place a student cannot submit a required Institutional Review Board (IRB) for fieldwork project approval, cannot be advanced to candidacy, and cannot defend comprehensive exams or dissertation. The GSP can be found at
www.uaf.edu/gradsch/forms.
·
Defenses: Each MA thesis defense, and each PhD comprehensive exam defense, and each PhD dissertation defense must have an Outside Examiner that is requested from the Graduate School at least two weeks before the scheduled defense. It is the student’s responsibility to set up.
·
Graduation: Remember that each student must fill out an intent to graduate at the beginning of the semester in which a student intends to defend and graduate. The necessary form can be found at
www.uaf.edu/gradsch/forms. Also, please remember that theses must be submitted for review in the following order: Graduate Advisory Committee, then Department Chair, then College Dean, then the Graduate School.
·
Incomplete Grades: we are finding an increase overall in the use of ‘Incomplete Grades’ (I); please be careful when requesting this from an instructor. While this does provide you with additional time to complete a class, it can make future classes more difficult due to having to do the work from a previous class. Also, and this happens more frequently than you might think, if a student does not finish the classwork by the agreed-upon due date, the class grade changes to an ‘F’, and the instructor is not permitted to stop or change this. Please use this grading option with caution, and carefully.
·
Summer Work: While we strongly encourage students to continue their graduate work in the summer, if possible, please remember that all faculty are on 9-month contracts and do not get paid in the summer. Additionally, most are doing fieldwork or other work-related travel, and so please do not assume that faculty are available in the summer—contact them each for their availability. For this reason we do not do summer defenses and graduations.
I hope this information helps, and feel free to email your Advisory Committee Chair with any questions (or me at
[email protected]).
Now, a few reminders:
·
The extended deadline for nominations for the 2019 Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley is April 1
st—only a few more days, so please contact Crystal (
[email protected]) send any nominees, your name, and some info on why the nominee should receive this award, by the April 1
st deadline. Here’s the website link:
https://www.uaf.edu/cxcs/aok-award/
·
The Center for Cross-Cultural Studies’ Indigenous Studies Programs will have a Graduation Gathering (with food provided)
for
all students on Friday, May 3
rd from 3-5 pm with good food and company. We haven’t decided yet where this will be held, but likely either at UAF or at Alaskaland (a.k.a. ‘Pioneer Park’). We’ll let you all know where this will be held soon.
·
Graduation in Fairbanks is at the Carlson Center on Saturday, May 4
th—
congratulations Indigenous Studies PhD 2019 graduates Kitty Deal, Heather Gordon, and Liza Mack!
·
Annual Reports of Graduate Committee (including attached progress report and full committee meeting) is due to the Graduate School by May 15
th each year.
As always, contact me with any questions you may have:
[email protected]. I hope you all have a very good end of the semester and an enjoyable, happy spring!
Mike