GradConnections Weekly: Special Edition for New Students

July 28, 2020

In this issue: Preparing for the fall semester, Smart Restart, and more.

Tips for Grads: Looking ahead to the fall 2020 semester

Personal Effectiveness
By Kirby Livingston, PhD Student

Whether you are starting your first year in graduate school or your fifth, the upcoming fall semester will look different than any we have experienced before. To ensure a safe, productive, and enjoyable semester, we will need to keep abreast of university policies while adapting to new ways of teaching and learning. GradConnections Weekly will continue to bring you critical and timely information for grad students, and the university maintains websites with up-to-the-minute information on COVID-19 and the Smart Restart plan.

While the situation is evolving, UW–Madison currently plans to begin fall classes as scheduled on Sept. 2 with a hybrid model that includes a mix of in-person and online classes. Campus has finalized course times and modalities for most courses. You can check your course schedules to make sure that you do not have any schedule conflicts and are enrolled in courses with modalities that you are comfortable with. If you wish to ask questions or learn more about the Smart Restart plan, a series of Virtual Town Halls is being offered, including an International Student Town Hall today at 7 pm CDT and one addressing Instructional Continuity on Friday at 11 am CDT.

As part of the precautions outlined in the Smart Restart plan, free COVID-19 testing will be available across campus. In addition to these changes to many aspects of university life, we can all do our part to help keep the community safe and healthy by practicing behaviors recommended by public health officials: wear a mask, stay 6 ft apart, wash hands frequently, and stay home if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.

If you have an assistantship or other campus job, be sure to read the university’s latest communication to employees about resuming on-site work. Many employees, including many graduate students, will continue to work remotely, although with research activities scaling up and undergraduates returning to campus, on-site activities will be resuming as well. If you have questions or have not been notified by your employing department by early August, contact your supervisor.

Look out for more updates in upcoming Tips for Grads columns and in the Announcements section of GradConnections once you begin receiving regular issues in September, and keep an eye on our events, fellowships, and employment for opportunities to further your personal, professional, and academic development.

Key links for more information:

Smart Restart website: smartrestart.wisc.edu
FAQs for admitted graduate students

Campus prepares for a Smart Restart

View the university’s plan for returning to in-person instruction this fall and learn about health measures being put in place for everyone on campus.

When you arrive on campus, do your part to help keep the community healthy and safe:

Wash your hands frequently
Wear a face covering, required indoors on campus and in outdoor spaces where physical distancing is not possible
Stay 6 feet apart from others when possible
Stay home if you experience symptoms of illness

Already enrolled? Check your schedule for updates

Updates have been made to the fall 2020 Course Schedule to ensure a Smart Restart. If you haven't already, now is the time to check your course schedule for updates to the modality (in-person or online), day, time, and location of your classes. Follow these steps for checking your course schedule.

If you still need to enroll in courses, check out our June Special Edition of GradConnections for information about enrollment and more steps to prepare for fall.

International students

If you are an international student preparing to arrive on campus on an F-1 or J-1 visa, visit the International Student Services (ISS) website for helpful pre-arrival guidelines, details about mandatory orientation for international students, and information for dependents.

ISS continues to monitor issues affecting international students and frequently updates its international student COVID-19 FAQs page with the latest information.

Learn about grad life at UW–Madison

Want to get to know campus a little bit better before you arrive? Graduate Student Life is your go-to resource for information on getting around Madison and the UW campus, how to access campus resources like computing support and the libraries, and more. Explore the site today!

The Graduate School invites all newly admitted graduate students to attend:

New Graduate Student Welcome

Wednesday, August 26, 2020
11 am - 4:30 pm
Online - Participate from anywhere!

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from the Graduate School and campus leaders, get advice from a panel of current students about grad student life, learn about the many campus and community resources available to you, and connect with other new graduate students from across campus.

Already registered? Great - we can't wait to (virtually) meet you! Stay tuned for details on how to connect with us and other students during New Graduate Student Welcome through our social media communities.

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Why did I get this? You are receiving this email because you have been admitted as a graduate student at UW–Madison and have not declined your offer of admission. If you do not plan to attend UW-Madison and received this email in error, make sure you have declined admission in Online Status Check via MyUW. If you have already done so, contact the program to which you applied to ensure their records are correct. Don't want to get these emails? Email us at communications@grad.wisc.edu and we will remove you from this email list.

Photos by UW–Madison, University Communications

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