Graduate Student Success Through the Graduate Lifecycle
Retention, Progression, & Completion (RPC) Team
The Grad Academy: Innovative Leadership, Professional, and Career Development
Graduate Badges
Graduate College Co-Curricular Certifications
Grad Rebel Programs
Online Surveys and Mandatory Annual Individual Development Plans
Navigating Graduate Student Campus Business: Guides and Tutorials
The Graduate College employs a student lifecycle model for all degree-seeking graduate students. The lifecycle model is used in our Grad Rebel Gateway portal and student messaging; in our nonacademic advisement to support progression through required forms and milestones; and in all of our workshops, events, and professional/career development opportunities. We organize students into one of six categories: early-, mid-, late-career master’s and specialist/Artist Diploma students, and early-, mid-, late-career doctoral students. Based on the stage of the lifecycle that a student occupies they will get targeted and personal messaging and information to help them successfully progress to a timely graduation. Graduate certificate-seeking students should refer to the Certificate section within the Late-career students section of this Graduate Student Handbook for more details.
GRADUATE STUDENT SUCCESS THROUGH THE GRADUATE LIFECYCLE
Retention, Progression, & Completion (RPC) Team
The RPC team is an organizational unit within the Graduate College that facilitates the degree progression and completion of each student. The RPC team helps graduate students through the graduate lifecycle to: progress toward degree and/or certificate completion; understand program requirements; navigate policy, procedural and form requirements; proceed through the thesis and dissertation submission process; understand and complete all certificate and degree requirements. The RPC team also verifies and confers students’ degrees and certificates. Students should contact the RPC team at grad.rpc@unlv.edu throughout their student lifecycle for assistance with forms, degree requirements, and graduation processes.
The Grad Academy: Innovative Leadership, Professional, and Career Development
The Grad Academy is the central hub for evidence-based graduate student professional and career development programming. Beginning in fall 2019, we have transitioned from a virtual center to a designated space in the University Gateway Building. We offer more than 60 workshops, 11 signature events, and career support each year in addition to offering four co-curricular certifications and 10 programs. All of these are free professional and career development opportunities for graduate and professional students.
While all students are able to attend any workshop, our goal is to help students prioritize their experiences and provide resources that will be most useful to them as they need particular skills in the course of their degree program. We accomplish this by providing an organizing framework that clearly shows students the topics of workshops, programs, activities, the learning objectives, the format of delivery, the time commitment required, and what level of student is poised to most benefit from the experience. To accomplish this, we have broken down professional and career development across the master’s and doctoral student lifecycles.
Graduate Badges
Graduate badges are digital micro-credentials that showcase you have a certain accomplishment, expertise, or level of proficiency in a topic area. Graduate badges are earned through the completion of readings, watching videos, attending workshops, and assignments. Because a digital badge is simply an image, its value comes from the data stored inside the image, the metadata. The metadata explains what the badge represents, how and when it was earned, what reputable institution issued it, and if/when it expires. Graduate badges are valuable because they allow you to translate your experiences and soft skills not captured in official academic documents. We recommend that you display your digital badges where they will be seen often, such as your email signature or LinkedIn account. If you have a personal webpage, you can embed your badges directly into the webpage. The Graduate College is currently offering three badges in the areas of Financial Literacy & Wellness:
- Financial Wellness Today Badge
- Investing in Your Future Badge
- Building an Investment Portfolio and Financial Security Badge
Graduate College Co-Curricular Certifications
These non-credit bearing certifications are free, year-long programs. Students are accepted as a cohort, complete a number of program requirements, and submit a culminating experience in order to fulfill requirements and earn the certification. The free application cycle for each certification opens at the start of the spring semester for the following academic year. We currently offer the following certification programs:
Upon completion, Graduate College certifications are posted on the students’ transcripts.
Grad Rebel Programs
All of these programs help graduate students build and refine transferable skills that can be used in a variety of career pathways. Students are accepted as a cohort and need to complete a number of program requirements. The free application cycle for each certification opens at the start of the spring semester for the following academic year. We currently offer the following certification programs:
- Grad Rebel Ambassadors Program: Ambassadors are among the best and brightest graduate students on campus and they act as the face of the College at our campus and community events, in meetings with prospective and current donors, and they participate in advocacy work with local, regional, and national engagement. Grad Rebel Ambassadors are highly visible members of the Graduate College team who help cultivate a strong graduate community and strengthen ties between the Graduate College, alumni, and community members. These students receive scholarships for their participation in this prestigious program as well as training in multiple skills and areas to prepare them for their ambassador roles..
- Grad Rebel Advantage Program: Provides cohorts of UNLV undergraduate students with mentorship, workshops, professional development opportunities, and scholarships to help prepare them for graduate studies, whether at UNLV or elsewhere. Graduate students have the opportunity to serve as mentors to a small sub-group of program participants.
- Rebel Research and Mentorship Program: Pairs undergraduate and graduate students – who are overseen by a faculty mentor – on research/scholarly/ creative projects to provide them with the opportunity to learn from one another and gain valuable skills. Participants receive scholarships and are funded to attend a conference to present their research/scholarship/creative activity at the end of the program.
- Grad Rebel Writing Boot Camp: A biannual, weeklong program that assists students working on major writing pieces, including theses, dissertations, and publications. A free intensive writing experience with optional writing groups that continue year-round.
- Grant Writing 101: A biannual program that introduces students to the grant writing process, including the steps to find, evaluate, and obtain grant funding. After completing this program, students will be ready to apply for the Get That Grant! Program.
- Graduate College Medallion Program: Honors exceptionally involved and high-achieving students with medallions to be worn at commencement to mark their accomplishments.
- Post-Graduate Career Pathways Program: Helps graduate students explore and prepare for a variety of career options after completing their graduate program.
- Grad Alumni Ambassadors: UNLV graduate degree holders who work with the Graduate College to help represent the graduate alumni body. Goals include building a strong graduate alumni community; working with the Graduate College to extend mentorship, professional, and career development opportunities to current students; and strengthening ties between Graduate College alumni, and our broader community members.
- Graduate career development resources to help students prepare for life during and after their graduate studies; and
- Graduate College events to highlight, celebrate, and build a strong and thriving community of graduate faculty and student scholars and collaborators.
Online Surveys and Mandatory Annual Individual Development Plans
Each fall, an optional Graduate Student Life and Climate Survey is distributed for students to complete which allows us to compare graduate student experiences, satisfaction, and needs, year over year.
Each winter, graduate students are required to complete a mandatory annual evaluation called an Individual Development Plan (IDP), which is reviewed and approved by the student’s advisor (where applicable) and graduate coordinator.
Students are also required to complete an Exit Survey as part of their graduation procedures.
Navigating Graduate Student Campus Business: Guides and Tutorials
Academic Calendar Deadlines: How to look up the registration add/drop deadlines for your classes.
Adding Addresses: Instructions for students who want to add, edit, or remove addresses from MyUNLV.
Adding Names: Adding/editing preferred, degree, or application names on your student account.
Auditing a Class: Step-by-step guide to auditing a class.
Enrollment Appointment Guide: Locating your Enrollment Appointment in the Rebel Student Homepage.
My Planner Guide: Adding classes to MyPlanner in your Student Center.
Ordering Official Transcripts: Step-by-step guide for ordering official transcripts.
Registration Guide: Tips and tricks for enrolling in classes.
Unofficial Transcripts: Step-by-step guide for downloading your unofficial transcripts.
Waitlist Guide: Adding, swapping, and dropping waitlists.
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