Our Academic Context: UNLV and NSHE
History of the Graduate College
The Organizational Structure of the Graduate College
Our Vision and Mission
Our Guiding Principles and Core Values
The Graduate College Brand Statement
Graduate College Location: 2nd Floor of the University Gateway Building
Graduate College Contact Information
Appointments and Tours with Graduate College Team Members
Visit Us
Graduate College Strategic Goals
Equal Opportunity
Our Academic Context: UNLV and NSHE
UNLV wishes to acknowledge and honor the Indigenous communities of this region, and recognize that the university is situated on the traditional homelands of the Nuwuvi, Southern Paiute People.
UNLV is one of eight institutions of NSHE, which consists of two doctoral-granting universities (UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, a state college (Nevada State College), four comprehensive community colleges, and the Desert Research Institute (campuses in Las Vegas and Reno). UNLV offers artistic, cultural, and technical resources and opportunities to the community it serves and its annual impact to southern Nevada’s economy is estimated at approximately $2.51 billion (UNLV NWCCU Self-Report, Feb., 2019), and growing. The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, founded in 2014, will add about $800 million a year by 2025 and over a billion a year by 2030 in economic impact. UNLV promotes research, scholarship, and creative activities by students and faculty that respond to the needs of an urban community in a desert environment, as well as regional, national, and international issues.
UNLV is recognized as a regionally accredited university by the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). UNLV attained Carnegie Very High Research Activity (R1) status in fall 2018 - the gold standard for university research and recognized as one of the top American research universities, as designated by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
UNLV’s mission is referred to as our Top Tier initiative. Our collective goals are to achieve excellence in research, scholarship, and creative activities on the part of faculty and students; establish a thriving and multidisciplinary health sciences campus; provide outstanding educational opportunities and support student success at all levels; build a strong infrastructure to ensure that UNLV is efficient, effective, and poised to provide exemplary 21st century higher education to a diverse and thriving community of faculty and student scholars; and to expand community engagement so that UNLV serves and responds to the needs of our community and community members are engaged with and support our university. The Graduate College is deeply involved with, and committed to the success of, these Top Tier initiatives.
History of the Graduate College
The UNLV Graduate School was founded in 1965 and we graduated our first 11 master’s students in 1967. Our first doctoral student, an Ed.D., graduated in 1977 and we granted our first Ph.D.s in 1991. It is fair to say that the first 55 years of graduate education at UNLV have been characterized by growth and maturation. In 2018, UNLV was recognized as a Carnegie R1 university and the UNLV mission aims to achieve Top Tier excellence by 2025. This strategic plan builds on this history of continual growth, improvement, and modernization, despite being a young college operating in a resource limited environment. Our modus operandi is to face challenges, fix problems, and innovate to enhance the quality and caliber of graduate education at UNLV. We are committed to establishing Carnegie R1 graduate education in a socially just, inclusive, and equitable manner. Our path is unique and bold thanks to the strength we derive from our diversity, and the unique benefit of being a MSI with an inclusive community of scholars. Please visit our Graduate College website for a more comprehensive overview of our history.
The Organizational Structure of the Graduate College
The Graduate College reports to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and is the central organizational unit that coordinates, advocates for, and supports graduate education at UNLV. The Graduate College is a service unit with both administrative and academic missions, serving a broad base of constituents including prospective and current students, graduate alumni, academic and administrative faculty and staff, postdoctoral scholars, and community partners. Interdisciplinary graduate programs and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs are both housed in the Graduate College. We work closely and collaboratively across campus to fulfill our mission in support of program excellence, faculty and student success, innovation, and campus and community impact.
The Graduate College has four interconnected and closely collaborating units that together comprise a broad base of support for the UNLV graduate community. These areas are:
- Infrastructure Services, which supports the campus graduate mission and is comprised of:
- Finance & Business Operations
- Graduate Assistant Program
- Scholarships
- Fellowships
- Business and budgets
- Systems & Data
- Communications & Marketing
- Advancement & Development
- Academic Affairs, which coordinates and supports our academic mission and handles:
- Interdisciplinary graduate programs (IGPs)
- The Graduate Council and committees, as well as Top Tier working groups
- Academic Support Services: graduate curriculum (course and program review, innovation, management); graduate faculty status; the Graduate Catalog and Student Handbook; graduate entries in the Degree Directory; and Plan of Study forms
- College awards
- Assessment and accreditation
- Academic excellence
- Support for graduate faculty and student research, scholarship, creative, and professional activities
- Enrollment Management, which runs our Welcome Center and co-leads our Recruitment, Retention, Progression, & Completion (R2PC) student lifecycle success efforts, including:
- Recruitment
- Admissions
- First enrollment and retention
- Successful student progression
- Timely graduation
- Degree conferral
- Student Services, which provides comprehensive student support services, including:
- Nonacademic advising and management of academic appeals
- Student advocacy efforts
- Graduate College event management
- Coordination of the Graduate Commons
- The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
- Inclusive Servant Leadership, which ensures excellence and impact by articulating a vision and promoting core values; providing strategic coordination; aligning resources with mission; building and inspiring strategic collaboration to advance Graduate College and university goals; leading development, advancement, and advocacy; and realizing our strategic plan.
- The Graduate College organizational chart is available online.
Our Vision and Mission
To be nationally recognized for research excellence, diversity, customizable and interdisciplinary academic experiences, and our vanguard approach to professional and career development. We are just, equitable, and inclusive, and we foster transformative educational experiences that result in graduates who are innovative scholars, experts, professionals, and leaders who help solve complex regional, national, and global challenges.
With an institutional mission of advancing graduate education at UNLV, the Graduate College supports more than 175 graduate certificate, master’s, specialist, dual-degree, and doctoral programs. We work closely with departments and the graduate faculty to provide UNLV’s more than 5,000 graduate students with high-quality academic experiences through coursework, research, scholarship, and creative activity, and innovative professional and career development opportunities. We strive to create an innovative and thriving scholarly community and provide consistently strong support for our diverse student body and top-notch graduate faculty, while offering outstanding graduate experiences and services that enhance student learning, provide customizable experiences, and facilitate graduate student success.
Specifically, the Graduate College fosters collaborative leadership to build a forward-thinking, data-driven, and diverse top tier, MSI graduate community that:
- advances UNLV’s R1 standing and Top Tier aspirations;
- delivers rigorous, leading edge graduate programs in which excellence, innovation, and opportunity flourish;
- strives to more closely mirror undergraduate diversity and expand our international graduate student community;
- is committed to increasing inclusion, equity, and social justice by embracing diversity and fostering an anti-racist, anti-sexist, socially just and inclusive MSI graduate community;
- partners to provide innovative personal, academic, leadership, career, and professional development opportunities to students;
- ensures consistent, transparent, and fair implementation of policies and processes;
- exemplifies a culture of inclusion, innovation, and seeks to make a positive impact;
- delivers outstanding service to all our constituent groups through a variety of in-person and virtual service modalities;
- recognizes and supports the graduate faculty and promotes their interests;
- seeks and secures a diverse base of funding to support students and provide robust financial resources and services that promote financial well-being;
- provides R1 competitive GA packages and benefits to the graduate community;
- and cultivates a dynamic, well-connected, and inclusive scholarly community in which the highest quality research, scholarship, creative, and professional activities thrive.
Our Guiding Principles and Core Values
The Graduate College is committed to a data-informed continual improvement model to advance the following guiding principles: excellence, equity, diversity, innovation, accountability, resilience, and positive impact.
To enact these principles, our mission is driven by core values that inspire us to act and interact with: empathy, kindness, respect, inclusivity, ethics and integrity, a collaborative spirit, and servant leadership.
The Graduate College Brand Statement
We have established branding that aligns with and reflects our vision and values.
In our administrative mission, we are committed to providing “100% Solutions.”
The Graduate College team is a one-stop-shop for questions related to graduate education at UNLV. Our team is committed to providing helpful, accurate, and comprehensive information and answers, 100 percent of the time, or to connect the student/faculty/staff or community member with the correct person or office to assist them.
In our academic mission, we are driven by and committed to facilitating “Inspiration, Innovation, and Impact.”
Our job is to inspire, innovate, and make an impact. These three words capture the heart of graduate education. We are motivated to stimulate and support: 1) inspiration and persistence; 2) innovative programs, education, scholarly, and professional activities, and solutions to complex challenges; and 3) impactful opportunities, actions, and outcomes that offer a brighter future for our students, community, nation, and the world.
Graduate College Location: 2nd Floor of the University Gateway Building
In fall, 2019, the Graduate College moved into their new space in the University Gateway Building (GTW) on the eastside of Maryland Parkway. Built to be a hub for the entire graduate community, the Graduate College Gateway space includes faculty/staff offices, a Graduate College Welcome Center, a Gateway Grad Commons study space and computer lab for graduate and professional student use, and multiple shared-use spaces including conference rooms and large flexible meeting spaces.
Graduate College Contact Information
Welcome Center
Graduate College
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
4700 S. Maryland Pkwy. Suite 200
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Email: gradcollege@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-3320
Fax: 702-895-4180
Recruitment
Future Students
Email: grad.recruitment@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-4543
Campus Location: GTW 231
Admissions
Graduate Certificates and Degree Programs
Application Deadlines
Information for Newly Admitted Students
Email: gradadmissions@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-3367
Campus Location: GTW 231
International Recruitment and Admissions
Prospective International Student Information
Email: internationalgrad@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-3367
Campus Location: GTW 231
Student Retention, Progression, & Completion
Information for Current Students
Email: grad.rpc@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-2702
Campus Location: GTW 231
Student Services
Email: gradrebel@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-5579
Campus Location: Gateway Graduate Commons
The Grad Academy
Email: gradacademy@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-5980
Campus Location: Gateway Graduate Commons
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Postdoctoral Affairs
Email: OPA@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-5579
Campus Location: GTW 211
Academic Affairs Support Services
Faculty and Staff Resources
Email: gradcurriculum@unlv.edu
Email: gradfacstatus@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-1200
Campus Location: GTW 220
Communications & Marketing
Questions and Comments
Email: vaneh.darakjian@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-1698
Campus Location: GTW 217
Systems & Data
Grad Rebel Gateway Student Portal
Email: grad.systems@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-1100
Campus Location: GTW 216
Financial Services, Business Operations and GA Office
Financial Services, Scholarships/Fellowships, and GAs
Email: gradfinancialsvc@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-4273
Campus Location: GTW 231
Advancement & Development
Grad Alumni Information
Support the Graduate College
Leadership
About the Graduate College
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate College - Dr. Alyssa Crittenden
Graduate.Dean@unlv.edu
Associate Dean - Dr. Emily Lin
GradAssociateDean@unlv.edu
Vice Provost for Global Education Initiatives and Graduate Enrollment Management - Kara Wada
Kara.Wada@unlv.edu
Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Services - Dr. Valarie Burke
Valarie.Burke@unlv.edu
Visit the Contact page of the Graduate College website to view the most up-to-date version of the Graduate College Organizational Chart and current staff bios and contact information. Additional information may be found on the Graduate College website.
Appointments and Tours with Graduate College Team Members
Set up personal recruitment appointments and/or tours at gradrecruitment@unlv.edu. To meet with a Graduate College representative in an area beyond Recruitment, please use the contact information provided above.
Visit Us
We accept walk-ins Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on the second floor of the University Gateway Building at: 4700 S. Maryland Pkwy. Las Vegas, NV 89119.
Graduate College Strategic Goals
Inspired, Innovative, and Impactful Graduate Education: A Strategic Plan for Excellence, 2021-2026
Goal 1: Provide robust support and engage leading-edge practices to promote student success throughout the lifecycle (recruitment, admissions, enrollment, progression, degree completion, graduation) and advance strategic Graduate Enrollment Management (GEM) campuswide, while diversifying our graduate student population and promoting equitable outcomes.
Goal 2: Cultivate a diverse, inclusive, and equitable campus environment for students from all backgrounds in order to enrich the graduate experience, strengthen our UNLV graduate community, diversify future workforce leaders, and in so doing, foster socially just, equitable, and inclusive interactions and outcomes on campus, and beyond.
Goal 3: Encourage and support a Carnegie tier one research-intensive environment of scholarly, professional, and creative opportunities for students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty that promotes excellence and innovation; advances knowledge; addresses complex regional, national, and global challenges; and graduates innovative leaders and thinkers who make a positive impact in their fields and their communities, and are able to adapt amidst social, economic, cultural, and technological change.
Goal 4: Provide a strong infrastructure of support for graduate faculty to facilitate program innovation and excellence, and ensure the delivery of consistently high-quality, tier one, transformative student experiences that lead to diverse career pathways and post-graduate success.
Goal 5: To provide nationally recognized, research-informed leadership and professional development opportunities, as well as co-curricular microcredentials, to ensure that all graduate students have career-ready transferable skills that supplement and enhance their academic training and support post-graduate success.
Goal 6: Collaborate with the Graduate Council, the Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA), Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA), Latinx Graduate Student Association (LGSA), Faculty Senate, and other campus groups to: encourage strong, transparent, and inclusive faculty and student governance; empower advocacy by and for the graduate community; and promote opportunities for graduate student and faculty success.
Goal 7: Establish and nurture strategic and lasting alumni and community partnerships to leverage advocacy for the graduate mission, collaborate to provide transformative student experiences, and establish a robust base of philanthropic support for our graduate students.
Goal 8: Cultivate and enhance a values-driven, team-centric Graduate College work environment in which employees exemplify our values and principles; provide 100% solutions; professionally grow and thrive; and feel personally supported, valued, and empowered to lead and succeed.
Equal Opportunity
UNLV is an equal opportunity institution. UNLV is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504 institution. All applicants to the Graduate College, and admitted students, will receive equal consideration, access to programs and activities, and equitable and just treatment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or covered US veteran status. Diversity is our strength; you are welcome here.
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