As Dean of the Graduate School, I am pleased to be among the first to...
As Dean of the Graduate School, I am pleased to be among the first to...

Congratulations and welcome!

As Dean of the Graduate School, I am pleased to be among the first to welcome you to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. You have chosen to continue your education at one of the world’s preeminent research institutions. Our faculty and staff stand ready to help you unleash your creativity and inquisitiveness.
As we deal with the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on students and universities worldwide, UW–Madison remains committed to its current and future students, as well as the faculty and staff who will teach, mentor, and support you as you pursue graduate education. This fall, we welcomed back students and employees under a hybrid model of both in-person and online classes, maintaining strict health protocols such as physical distancing, required face coverings, and on-campus testing. For the spring semester, the university will further expand its testing program to ensure that any student who lives, studies, or works on campus will be tested for coronavirus twice a week. Academic instruction will continue to operate under a hybrid model of in-person and online classes. You can learn more about how UW–Madison is responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by visiting covidresponse.wisc.edu.
Further, we are learning from the experiences and challenges of graduate students during our unprecedented fall semester to better support your safety, health, and success in the coming semester. We are gathering responses to a current student survey now and will analyze them to improve campus services and support for graduate students in the months ahead.
Looking forward, I urge you to take full advantage of the graduate school experience, even if it looks different than you imagined. Create an Individual Development Plan to discuss expectations and goals with your mentor(s). Seek communities of support and engage with others from diverse backgrounds, across all the disciplines. Find ways to connect with other students – even if virtually at first – by looking for student organizations on campus or in your department, or reaching out to more senior graduate students for mentorship and advice. Now more than ever, we must recognize the importance of being connected to our communities for support, for opportunities to grow together, and to forge lifelong relationships.
Watch for more email communications from the Graduate School. These will include information about what to do to prepare for your first semester, as well as important updates related to public health as needed.
I look forward to personally welcoming you to our campus community. On, Wisconsin.
William J. Karpus
Dean of the Graduate School
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of Wisconsin–Madison

COVID-19 Update: UW–Madison will expand testing program, continue hybrid model

Beginning with the start of the spring semester, UW–Madison will expand its systematic testing program to ensure that all students who live on campus, attend classes, or utilize campus spaces will be tested for COVID-19 twice each week. Regular testing will be required for employees working on campus as well. Campus officials also announced plans to continue with a hybrid model of instruction for the spring 2021 semester, offering a mix of in-person and virtual classes. See the latest message regarding spring semester.
For campus-wide updates, see the COVID-19 Response website.
For COVID-19 information for graduate students, see the Graduate School's COVID-19 FAQ.

Spring academic calendar

Due to health concerns around COVID-19, the UW–Madison Faculty Senate voted this fall to adjust the spring 2021 academic calendar to shorten spring break to a long weekend and revise the start date of the semester to be six days later than previously scheduled.
Under the revised calendar, instruction will begin on January 25. The updated calendar includes a long weekend from Friday, April 2 through Sunday, April 4. There will also be no classes on the first day of Passover (Saturday, March 27). The last day of instruction will remain April 30.

FAQs for international students

If you have questions related to your immigration record as impacted by the pandemic, please review these FAQs for international students. The most common questions are answered there.

Graduate School services available remotely

The Graduate School front desk is closed to in-person visits, but services remain available remotely. From 10 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday, staff will be available for timely response to email (gsacserv@grad.wisc.edu), telephone (608-262-2433), and voice mail. Admissions staff are still responding to email, processing your applications, and issuing I20's for admitted international applicants.
Save the date!
The Graduate School would like to welcome you to campus through a self-paced, online New Graduate Student Welcome, accessible the week of January 18-24. New Graduate Student Welcome is your opportunity to hear from campus leaders, get advice from a panel of current students about graduate student life, and learn about the many campus and community resources available to you. Keep an eye out for more information about how to access the on-demand program in January.

Getting Started

Activating your NetID

You will need to activate your NetID to access services and applications such as My UW–Madison, the Course Search & Enroll app, and Office 365 email and calendar services. For future logins, you will also need to set up multi-factor authentication for your NetID account.

Enrolling in Classes

As early as Monday, December 7, new grad students can enroll for spring semester courses using the Course Search & Enroll app. You will receive an email from the Registrar’s Office at some point this week with the specific date and time you can enroll. To access the Course Search & Enroll app, log in to MyUW and select the Academic Navigator widget.
For help selecting courses, talk to your graduate program coordinator or faculty advisor. Please note that the Graduate School has enrollment requirements for minimum and maximum credits, often depending on whether you have funding.
For technical support with enrolling in classes, contact the DoIT Help Desk at help@doit.wisc.edu or 608-264-4357 anytime from 7 am to 11 pm CST, 7 days a week.

UW–Madison statement on diversity and inclusion

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW–Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background — people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
For more information, visit the Campus Climate website.
Graduate Student Life
Graduate Student Life is an essential resource for new grad students, by current and former grad students! It includes everything you need to know to get acquainted with campus: housing and transportation in Madison, libraries at UW, campus life, what to do both on and off campus, and more. Explore it today!
New Student Checklist
Check it out: The new graduate student checklist has all of the things you should do before the start of the semester. This page also has checklists for international graduate students and for graduate students with funding.
To track your progress and add your own to-do items, download the Guidebook app version of the checklist.
UW Summer Sweet Spots videos
The beauty and energy of our campus is second to none. While the warmer weather won't make its appearance for a few months, you can catch a sneak peek into some of our favorite spots to spend summer days with these relaxing videos.
Campus Area Housing
The Campus Area Housing guide includes apartments, houses, sublets and roommate openings, privately owned residence halls, and more. If you're looking for housing, start here. Campus Area Housing can also help you determine if a listing you find online is legitimate.
DiscoverPD
Get a jump start: Create your IDP. Before you begin your graduate program, take some time to reflect on where you stand and where you want to go during graduate school - and beyond - in terms of skills, interests, and strengths.
The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is the perfect tool to help you think about and track these goals throughout your graduate career. Take some time to start your IDP and get a jump start on your personal and career development!
To help you in creating your IDP, use DiscoverPD to assess your skills and learn about on-campus as well as off-campus resources to improve them.
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