Hacking Grad School: How to Stay on Track and Finish

Dr. Aura Young, Doctoral Services Specialist
When she’s not in the office, Dr. Young enjoys getting outdoors, cooking, and fielding the hundreds of questions her daughter asks every day.

Whether you're a new grad student or you've been here a while, you probably still have a few hurdles ahead of you before you get that diploma.

Sometimes grad school can feel like jumping through a series of hoops. First there's coursework, followed by exams, then you defend your dissertation or thesis proposal, spend ages researching and writing, undergo your final defense, and then graduate--all while teaching, presenting at conferences, and preparing for job talks.

Jumping through hoops!

What do you do when graduate school (and life!) throws a lot at you?

As a recent grad school survivor, my biggest advice is to take advantage of the academic support UNC Charlotte offers--and to do it sooner rather than later. This includes the CGL's writing support, your field's subject librarian at Atkins, and helpful Graduate School staff, such as myself.

Here's a run-down of the indispensable resources that are out there just waiting for you!

• DegreeWorks, which is basically a beefed-up unofficial transcript, can be accessed at my.uncc.edu . This is where you'll go to see how many credit hours you still need to complete and which which academic milestones are next (proposal defense, final defense, etc.). You can also check DegreeWorks to make sure everything you've done so far has been recorded correctly (sometimes you might need to remind a professor to turn an IN Progress grad to a Final grade, for example). DegreeWorks shows who your advisor is, lists your dissertation or thesis committee members, and it indicates whether you're currently enrolled or have applied to graduate. All you have to do is check it online, which is a pretty low-investment way to stay on top of things. 

• If you've never used a citation management tool (like EndNote) or gotten research advice from a librarian, visit Atkins Library's graduate student services. And don't wait until you begin writing your dissertation! Subject librarians are there to help you find the materials you need, and learning EndNote when you first come to grad school will save you loads of time with your term papers, journal articles, and thesis or dissertation. 

• A lot of students begin grad school with not-so-great writing skills, and a lot of professors assume everyone's already learned to write. This is why the CGL offers writing resources that are specially-tailored for grad students. There's always room for improvement, so don't be shy about visiting a tutor or joining a weekly writing group. Develop your writing habits and the quality of your writing while you're still coursework, and your efforts will pay off--especially when you begin writing your dissertation or thesis. 

• If your research involves animals or people, you'll need to have it approved by the Institutional Review Board or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Maybe you haven't encountered this sort of ethical oversight previously in your studies. Bear in mind that you'll have to submit protocol applications, so in order to avoid issues or delays, visit the Office of Research Compliance, be as detailed as possible with your applications, and apply as soon as possible. The committees who ensure the ethical treatment of human and animal subjects are a resource, not just unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. 

Once you near the end of your journey here at UNCC, a lot will happen. But when it's time to defend and graduate you don't want the added stress of worrying about paperwork and missed deadlines.

My final piece of advice is to anticipate this final push, and make sure you know what the graduation requirements are prior to your last semester. Well before you defend your thesis or dissertation you should make a formatting appointment or attend a formatting workshop. (Workshop registration can be found on the CGL calendar, I can be reached at aura.young@uncc.edu or aurayoung.youcanbook.me,and for thesis writers, Julie Green's email is jhgreen.uncc.edu). At these appointments and workshops we not only check your formatting, but we also explain all of the final submission procedures and requirements and make sure you're on track to graduate. If something's not quite right, we'll work to help you finish.