Graduate Admissions Quarterly

NEWSLETTER

First Edition * August 2014

Graduate College Important Dates to •RememberTips for Accessing Transcripts Off-•CampusOngoing Improvements in Admissions•Tips for GRADS Dashboard•FAQ’s from Graduate Program Directors•

Recent Issues Raised by a Program •CoordinatorIssues for Discussion•Recruiting Events Fall 14•Recruitment Materials•Recap of Recruiting Efforts 2013/14•Grad Admissions Reminders•

In This Issue

Graduate College Important Dates to Remember

Tips for Accessing Transcripts Off-CampusAre you going to be off-campus but need access to transcripts through GRADS Dashboard in order to make admission decisions? Missouri State University’s Passport VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the solution!

Installation Guide: https://experts.missouristate.edu/display/csvhelpdesk/VPN+Client Access Passport VPN: https://ntg.missouristate.edu/Services/PassportMessage.aspx Technical Support: http://helpdesk.missouristate.edu/about-us/contact/

Friday August 22nd, 2014:• The fall 2014 application will be removed from the online graduate application. No new applications will be accepted past this point without exception. Monday, September 15th, 2014: • The fall 2014 Census Date is the day all university numbers are officially determined. No students who applied for fall 2014 can be admitted into the program, without exception. Thursday, October 2nd, 2014 (Date is Open to Change)• : Program Director’s Meeting for fall 2014. The meeting will include announcements, updates to software, updates to the process, reminders, question and answer time, etc. More details will be forthcoming and a Meeting Request will be sent in Outlook.Friday, October 3rd, 2014: • Thesis research funding application deadline. Saturday, November 15th, 2014:• Graduate Program Recruitment Mini-Grant deadline.

Ongoing Improvements in Graduate AdmissionsGRADS Admission Manual:• A GRADS Dashboard procedural manual has been prepared for new Program Directors involved in the graduate admissions process. It remains a work in progress but is available upon request. Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.): • Graduate Admissions has created an extensive list of Frequently Asked Questions gathered from the phone calls we receive and exploring individual program webpages. For prospective students browsing the MSU website it is crucial that this information be accessible. To help in providing some consistency across the graduate level-related webpages we will be asking for your input with regard to your specific program and encourage all programs to add the FAQ’s to each of your program’s webpage.

Tips for GRADS DashboardThe Include Inactive Applicant checkbox in GRADS Dashboard (located on the left of your Apply Filters button)allows you to view all applications that have been submitted to your program by applicants since fall 2009 that have been inactivated. This includes applications with the Application Status of ‘I-Incomplete Items Outstanding,’ ‘S-Sent to Department,’ ‘D-Decision Made’ and ‘A-Action Required by Student’ that have been inactivated for one reason or another, either related to time expiration or student withdrawal.

Digitalization of Student Files: • The Graduate College has been converting previously graduated student records to a digital format for the last year. This process is expected to be completed by the end of October. We expect this to speed up the processing of returning Missouri State graduates at the undergraduate and graduate level. We will begin the process with current student records once the older records are completed.

Question: Why am I being sent graduate applications despite the application not having a GRE/GMAT/MAT score?

The Short Answer: The short answer is the GRE/GMAT/MAT is a program-specific requirement and Graduate Admissions only evaluates for the minimum Graduate College admission requirements before sending to the program.

The Long Answer: The longer answer is that each and every one of the 40+ graduate programs has its own long list of departmental requirements of which about only half require the GRE/GMAT and half do not. In part because of the large number of programs with equally long lists of departmental requirements Graduate Admissions does not make exceptions for holding applications based on any of those departmental requirements. At the point when the minimum Graduate College admission requirements are met the application is sent to the Program Director. This is done out of fairness for each program considering many programs would like us to hold applications for specific departmental admission requirements. In this way, by not making exceptions to this we keep it fair for all programs and keep our office from being swamped by specific requests from each program which would bring the processing of applications to a crawl.

Frequently Asked Questions by a Program Director

Recent Issues Raised by a Program Coordinator1. Deadline: Although July 20th is the official fall semester deadline for a graduate program application, Graduate Admissions considers this a “soft” deadline. “Soft”, in that, Graduate Admissions continues to accept graduate applications after July 20th, to process them and to send them to the department once minimum Graduate College admission requirements have been met. At this time, Graduate Admissions uses the July 20th deadline as a specific point in time when we cannot guarantee an applicant that his/her application will be processed in time to allow him/her to begin classes in the fall semester. In the past, this deadline delineated when the Graduate Application fee increased from $35.00 to $60.00; however, this changed last fall and a late fee is no longer applied to late applications.

2. Online Out-of-State Program Acceptance: A rapidly changing environment in determining the acceptance of MSU online programs outside of Missouri’s borders has led to some questions about the responsibility for determining program approval across state lines. However, determining Online Out-of-State approval has been the responsibility of the program in conjunction with Dr. Gary Rader in MSU Outreach in the past and this has not changed. While Graduate Admissions has taken a more active role in providing online out-of-state applicant information to Dr. Gary Rader it is still the responsibility of the Program Director in conjunction with Dr. Gary Rader to determine program approval across state lines. A detailed listing of Missouri State online program acceptance by state can be found online at http://outreach.missouristate.edu/ArticulationAgreements.htm. Application fee refunds are available in this case by contacting Graduate Admissions.

Topics to be Discussed at Fall 14 Program Directors’ Meeting

For map legend click on the map to view on the Web

The fall recruitment calendar is jam-packed this year! Misty and her GAs, with the help of Dr. Tomasi will be hitting the road to visit some old favorites and some new places. There are 30 confirmed events and 6 tentative events making this the busiest recruitment season to date.

Sept. 9.....................Oklahoma State University Ag, Food, Environmental & Natural Sciences Career Fair

Sept. 17 ...........................................................University of Arkansas Diversity Networking Reception

Sept. 18 .........................................................................University of Arkansas Graduate School Fair

*Sept. 19 ........................................................... University of Missouri-St. Louis Internship & Job Fair

Sept. 19 .........................................................................MKN Heartland McNair Research Conference

*Sept. 23 ...................................................................................Kansas State University Career Fair

Sept. 23 .................................................................... Arkansas State University Graduate School Fair

*Sept. 24 ............................................Ouachita Baptist University Graduate & Professional School Fair

Sept. 24 ...................................................................... St. Louis University Career & Grad School Fair

Sept. 29 ...................................................................... University of Missouri-Kansas City Career Fest

Sept. 30 ......................................................................... Northern Illinois University Grad School Fair

Sept. 30 ......................................................................................... Westminster College Career Fair

Oct. 1 ......................................University of IL Urbana-Champaign Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 1 ....................................................................................................... Truman State University

Oct. 1 ...................................................Southern IL University-Edwardsville Career & Grad School Fair

Oct. 2 ....................................................................2014 Chicago Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 7 .................................................... Southern IL University-Carbondale Career & Grad School Fair

Oct. 8 ......................................................................... Murray State University All Majors Career Fair

Oct. 8 .........................................................................University of Central Missouri Fall Career Expo

*Oct. 8 .....................................................Henderson State University All Majors Graduate Career Fair

Oct. 9 .........................................................Southeast Missouri State University All Majors Career Fair

Oct. 16-18 ................................................. FIU McNair Scholars Research Conference Grad School Fair

*Oct. 16-18 ........................................................................................ SACNAS National Conference

Oct. 21 ...........................................................Augustana College Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 21 ................................................................... Northwest Missouri State University Career Expo

Oct. 21 ......................................................................................................... MSU Opportunity Fair

Oct. 22 ...........................................................Monmouth College Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 22 ...................................................................Knox College Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 23 ........................................................... Bradley University Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 23 ................................................................................... College of the Ozarks Fall Career Day

Oct. 24 ............................................................ Millikin University Graduate & Professional School Fair

Oct. 30-31 ..........................................................................................................Mercy Benefit Fair

Oct. 31-Nov. 2 ..........................................................MAEOPP McNair Research Conf. Grad School Fair

Nov. 5 ......................................................................... University of Central Arkansas Fall Career Fair

Nov. 6 ................................................................................Pittsburg State University Fall Career Fair

*Tentative events-if interested in attending please contact Misty at 417-836-6079

Recruiting Events Fall 2014

Recruiting Materials

Admissions GuidesThe final edits are being made on our new Graduate Admission Guides, and we’ll be able to give these to prospective students at recruitment events this fall.

BrochuresIf your program does not have a current brochure and you need one, Misty and her GAs are more than happy to help you. This service is free and the Graduate College will pay up to $400 towards printing of your brochures.

Recap of Recruiting Efforts 2013-14WebTrafficWe continue to increase our website views, but this past year has really jumped in numbers, especially with new visitors to our site. This is due to • Traffic from our KY3, KSPR33 online ads and our state-wide re-targeted ad• HotCoursesAbroad.com: a site dedicated to help international students find graduate programs.

This generated approximately 80 additional inquiries per month. (A joint effort between the Graduate College and International Programs, which was renewed for another year.)

Date Range Total people visiting New VisitorsAugust 1, 2012 – July 31, 2013 71,313 37.70%August 1, 2013 – July 31, 2014 114,498 70.2%

Top 5 Countries Top 5 StatesUS MissouriIndia KansasChina IllinoisSaudi Arabia TexasBangladesh Arkansas

Graduate College Virtual FairApproximately 12,000 prospective students from across the world were invited to attend our first vir-tual fair. With an interactive profile page and chat rooms (hosted by CareerEco), individuals were able to learn more about their programs of interest.• Invitees came from the past 1 ½ years of students met at career and grad school fairs, those who

completed our “Request for Information” form on our website, current MSU Juniors and Seniors, targeted Facebook ads throughout the US and the local community via KY3 & KSPR 33 online 1-day ad blast campaign

• 52 programs participated • 150 prospective students registered• 60 active prospective student participants in chat rooms throughout the day

RemindersGraduate Progra• m Webpages: Graduate Programs are responsible for keeping their graduate program webpage up to date, but Graduate Admissions is trying to help as much as possible. If you receive an email from us pointing out an error we found but don’t know who updates/fixes your program’s webpage please let us know and we can contact the Office of Web & New Media to resolve the issue.

Suggestions: • Graduate Admissions always accepts suggestions on the admissions process as well as suggestions to make GRADS Dashboard more user-friendly. Send suggestions to Michael Edwards at MichaelEdwards@MissouriState.edu.

Training: • Graduate Admissions is always available for one-on-one or group tutorials on using GRADS Dashboard or other Graduate related software or processes. If you wish to have a new member in your office trained to use GRADS Dashboard please contact us to arrange a time and a place for the training.

Advertising• The Standard• KSMU/OPT• Facebook• KY3/KSPR33 websites• Re-target online ad: KC, St. Louis and Columbia areas• PSU and Library monitors

Did You Know?This past year, our very own Michael Edwards stepped in to help with recruitment by visiting Iraq twice (fall and spring). This was made possible by HCED (The Higher Committee for Education Development in Iraq) and Education USA, along with our International Program’s office. We have received 3 applications to date from this effort.

Graduate College Admissions OfficeAdmissions Coordinator: Michael Edwards 836-5330Admissions Evaluator: Sue Dover 836-5331Graduate Assistant: Ed Keohane 836-5331

Marketing & Recruiting Coordinator: Misty Stewart 836-6079Graduate Assistant: Cherah Higgs 836-8829Graduate Assistant: Teresa Simpson 836-8829

Graduate College Admissions Email: GraduateAdmissions@MissouriState.eduGraduate College Web page: http://graduate.missouristate.edu/GRADS Dashboard: https://www.secure.missouristate.edu/AuthPin/Signon.asp